I make no secret of the fact that I highly recommend purchasing an instant-read meat thermometer to make sure your meat is cooked to your ideal temperature. But if you don’t have an internal thermometer, there are a few ways to judge the doneness of your steak using just your hands!

Testing steaks for doneness by touch will take a bit of experience, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to gauge how well your steaks are cooked just by feel. That way, you won’t have to cut into them to determine how rare, medium, or well-done your meat is.

Also, check out how to get those perfect cross-hatch grill marks on your steaks!

How to Test Steaks for Doneness without an Internal Thermometer

The Poke Test

• For Rare (120 degrees F): Your meat should be red and just warm in the center. It will feel squishy and soft when poked with a finger.
• For Medium-Rare (125-130 degrees F): The meat will still be red in the center, but the steak will be hot throughout. It will yield but not be squishy when you poke it.
• For Medium (130-135 degrees F): The meat will be pink in the center but not red. It will yield gently when poked, but has firmness.
• For Medium-Well (135-140 degrees F: Medium-well steaks will have a slightly grayish center with some pink right in the middle. It should feel fairly firm when poked, but not hard. 
• For Well-Done (over 140 degrees F): Most steak lovers aren’t interested in well-done meat. But if you are one, you’re looking for meat without any pinkness, that is brownish gray all the way through. It will feel quite firm.

The Hand Test

There are plenty of versions of this “is it done?” test available, and I like the way William Rice describes it in The Steak Lover’s Cookbook. Rice says, “It will take some practice to turn the following ritual into a practical skill, but soon the touch-system will be your number-one guide to judging doneness.”

• For Rare: Let one hand hang limp. With the index finger of the other hand, push gently into the soft triangle of flesh between the thumb and index finger of the hanging hand. It will offer very little resistance, give way easily, and feel soft and spongy. That is the feel of a rare steak.
• For Medium-Rare: Extend your hand in front of you and spread your fingers. Press the same spot with the index finger of the other hand. The flesh will be firmer but not hard, springy, and slightly resistant. This is the feel of medium-rare steak.
• For Medium: Make a fist and press the spot. It will feel firm and snap back quickly, offering only a minimum of give, as does meat cooked to medium.

Remember Carryover Cooking!

And make sure to let the steaks rest for about 5 minutes before slicing them. This allows for carryover cooking, the fact that the internal temperature of meat will continue to rise for a few minutes after the steaks are removed from the heat.

While resting, the meat reabsorbs the juices so they stay in your steak where they belong, and don’t run out all over the cutting board, leaving you with dry, gray meat.

Must-Try Steak Recipes

Skirt Steak Street Tacos

Steak and Cheese Quesadillas

Grilled Flat Iron Steak