Rare to Well Done

Life is awash in small pleasures so long, and you look down long enough to see them. One pleasure in that category is food. Even more specifically, I find great pleasure in a good steak. I have spent most of my life searching for the perfect steak experience. In that journey, I have had many winners and a few losers. Overall, it has been an epic journey. Occasionally, I will come across a fellow meat connoisseur, and our discussions flow around all things steak. These conversations also include notes on esoteric aspects of steak. Today, I would like to share something significant my research has shown. Rare to Well Done. What your steak temperature says about you.

Rare to Well Done

First up, we have Blue. Most people are unfamiliar with this because it is a rare request. For this one, the steak is only seared for a minute or two on each side to achieve a crisp crust while keeping the center almost entirely uncooked. Temperature-wise, it is 110 degrees or less. The outside will be browned and seared, while the interior will be a deep red color, almost like raw meat. These people simply say IDGAF and embrace the flavor of almost raw steak. They are masters of the Irish goodbye and are often mistaken as aloof serial killers.

Rare

Slightly more common is rare. Chefs sear these steaks. These steaks and the inside show a bright red color center. The center is somewhat cool with a temp in the 125–130-degree range. This is what I consider to be the Goldilocks zone. The absolute perfect balance of all things steak. If this is you, then you are a driven but patient person. You don’t enjoy waiting around and don’t suffer fools well. You will commit time and energy to deeply meaningful things. Steak is one of them.

Medium Rare

Medium rare is our next stop. Like rare, Chefs sear these steaks. The inside shows a dimmer red color center. The center is slightly cool with a temp in the 130–145-degree range. These people are very active but will pause life for a good steak. With that, though, they expect performance. They will send an overcooked steak back in the blink of an eye. These people are good friends but will openly question your life decisions.

Medium

We are now moving to medium. My friends, this is approaching the final frontier of flavors. Medium steaks are firmer and less juicy since more of the moisture evaporates away. The extra cooking time melts the fat fully, just before the point where it starts rendering out of the meat. Coming in at 140-145 degrees, the meat has a warm pink center. Medium people are generally medium in everything. They drive the speed limit and have a Labradoodle named Sparky.

Medium Well

Medium well is where I begin to judge you. Inside a medium-well steak, the meat is hot and only has a slightly pink hue in the very center, with little to no color on the edges. On average, this steak’s internal temperature reaches between 150 and 155 degrees. I mean, come on. This is the person who buys apple pie bourbon and pretends to like Scotch. They park poorly and have a collection of empty coffee cups on the floor of their car.

Well Done

Our last stop is well done. A well-done steak spends the maximum amount of time on the heat, resulting in a center with no pink. If you want to cook your steak to this level of doneness, make sure to stop cooking it when the temperature hits 155°. I have a few words for this. It is rumored that some restaurants will ask you to leave if you order steak this way. This person is in need of intervention. They are intentionally robbing themselves of joy and will take you with them. These people wipe down the silverware at the restaurant before they eat. Be it fear of undercooked meat or just an unwillingness to be happy, we may never know.

In the end, we can all agree on one thing: steak is delicious. While I may take a jab at your choices, they are lighthearted. We are all brothers and sisters in beef, and regardless of your choices, I salute you.