What does Medium-Rare feel like?

Poorly cooked meat is a crime. Little else in life makes a grown man cry and some countries have gone to war over less. The answer my friend, is on the end of your arm.
It's your hand (unless you have a hook screwed in there, then you'll need to rely on
a friend.) Useful even close to fire, your hands can help you guess at done-ness.

OK, so you are at the grill and you want to rock it old school. No silly thermometer
forks that light up and yell "DONE!" for you. Nooooo. Not for you.

Should I start from the start?

1.) You gotta get good meat. Spend some cash. Skimp on snack crackers, buy bruised fruit, but don't EVER skimp on steaks. And don't think it's ok to get any of these thin, cheapy, grisly steaks either - go for a thick, meaty, good one. I like Rib Eye. NY Strip too.

2.) Season the meat. Don't drown it in salty bottled marinades- if you trust your meat (and in a perfect world, you can) you can get by with salt, pepper, garlic powder, maybe a sploosh of soy sauce. (Adds that umami flavor, trust me, just a tiny bit is all you need.) Rub the seasonings in good with your hands and keep in the refrig if not cooking right away. Important tip: You want your steak to come to room temp BEFORE tossing it on the grill.
Why? The better to sear it, my pretty... the better to get a nice crust that seals in the flavor and makes your tongue very, very happy.

3.) HOT grill-no big flamers, just make sure it's hot. If you don't have a grill just run down to Home Depot and buy one. I'll wait here for you. Go ahead, take the truck. We need sod too, while you are out. Thanks.

4.) Resist the temptation to fiddle with your meat. You will flip it at the most 3 times and the entire cooking time will be about 10-13 minutes (more if you have Fred Flinstone do your meat buying for you), so back off and just let the grill
do it's magic.

Now then. How do you like your steak? It's up to you to figure out (without cutting it open) when it's done. With practice, it's easy.
The trick? Use your hand. Flop one hand palm down and with your other
pointer finger touch that fleshy part between your thumb and your pointer (index) finger-that's RARE. Using each finger gives a different
sense of doneness. Your pointer finger is RARE so that means your pinky is WELL DONE (or in my house- TRASH!)
OK, so: pointer finger to fleshy thumb area = RARE
Middle finger to fleshy thumb area = MEDIUM-RARE
Ring finger to fleshy

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