Technique: Cooking Beef to Desired Doneness

Epicurious has produced a bunch of technique videos, including one that is hands down the best guide I’ve ever come across for how to tell the doneness of a steak without using a thermometer or (shamefully) cutting it open.

In fact, in the category of all-time hand-related techniques, I'd rank this just ahead of the finger multiplication in Stand and Deliver and just behind Steve Jobs' insistence that the iPhone should eschew a stylus and utilize a touchscreen.

The basic gist is to compare the tenderness of beef to the tenderness of the flesh at the base of your thumb. The tenderness with your palm open is raw. Touch your index finger and your thumb and then test again; it should be slightly tougher. That's rare. Middle finger and your thumb is medium-rare, etc. Genius, right?