Easily check for the doneness of meat without using a thermometer by comparing how the meat feels with the feeling of your hand as you touch different fingers together.

Photography Credit: Elise Bauer

There are two basic methods to test for how done your meat is while you are cooking it—use a meat thermometer, or press on the meat with your fingertips.

The problem with the meat thermometer approach is that when you poke a hole into the meat with a thermometer, it can let juices escape, juices that you would rather have stay in the meat. For this reason, most experienced cooks rely on a “finger test” method, especially on steaks (whole roasts are better tested with a thermometer).

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My mother has been trying to get me to test meat with my fingertips for years, and for years, being somewhat of a scaredy cat (won’t it burn my fingers?) I ignored, avoided, ran away from the idea.

Then my friend David showed me up. Here’s a guy who loves to grill but doesn’t know how to boil water. (Really. Cannot boil water. Just ask him, he’s proud of the fact.) David taught me how to test for the doneness of meat using this method and these days half the time I don’t even bother with a thermometer.

Now the point of this story is not to embarrass David (though that would be fun, if it were even possible) but to encourage you, if like me, you’ve been shying away from trying this approach. This really isn’t rocket science.

This is one of those things that gets easier with practice. The next time you cook a steak, even if you are still planning to rely on a meat thermometer, press on the meat here and there while it cooks, and compare the feeling of the meat with the following finger test. With practice, you will become more confident.