Food - Drink
The Baking Tool To Test Steak Doneness Without A Thermometer
By WILLIAM DELONG
A meat thermometer gives home and restaurant chefs the most precise way to test whether meat is rare, well done, or anything in between. However, if you don't have a meat thermometer to test the doneness of your steak, there is an alternative that's very inexpensive and you might already have if you like to bake cakes.
“A good way to test the temperature of a thick cut of steak if you don’t have a thermometer is to use a cake tester,” says Denis Crutchfield, the chef de cuisine of Craft in LA. To gauge the meat’s temperature, touch the skewer to your wrist after pushing it into the steak; this area is sensitive and the best place to feel how hot the tester is.
To try this trick, stick the cake tester into the very center of the steak and hold it for five seconds. After taking it out, touch the tester to your wrist — if you feel no temperature difference, your steak is medium-rare, while a slight warmth means medium doneness and hot tester means it's medium-well to well done.