What do your steak ranges mean?

2 comments

1. The amount that it is cooked.

   Rare – 120° F core temperature with a cool center that is very tender

   Medium rare – 130° F core temperature with a warm center

   Medium – 140° F core with pink, firm center

   Medium well – 150° F with a brown, firm center

   Well done – 160° F+ with a grayish brown, firm, drier center.

2. Broadly speaking “Rare” = Pink inside/less cooked and “Well done” = No pink/completely cooked. And “Medium” = Pink in the middle/ cooked more than Rare but less than Well Done. Medium Rare is just between Rare and Medium and ditto for Medium Well. There isn’t really an “exact” science for it.

   I’m sure there is probably an organization or five that gives “official” descriptions of them but for the most part it’s all kind of depends on the people saying it. One person’s Rare is another’s Raw and one Person’s Well Done is another’s dog food… that the dog won’t eat.

   I’ve always heard that as a general rule when you go to a new restaurant assume Rare means “they cooked it just enough to legally serve it to you and maybe a little less” and ask for what you want based on that.

   Personally I’m a Medium Rare kind of person.