Gauging Doneness

The times, temperatures and cooking methods for meat presented here were all well tested, but recipes can tell you only so much. You need to know how to gauge doneness by feel to be able to guarantee you’re going to cook your meat right. Softer meat is rarer meat. Firm, resistant meat is over-cooked. You can use your hand to help you gauge what every level of doneness feels like, but there’s no better teacher than the piece of meat in front of you. Prod it when it hits the heat (that’s raw), then regularly after that, paying attention to how much more resistance it offers.