And as for people who cook their beef well-done, well,
let’s just say that you have a special place in my heart right
next to Star Wars Episode I and that kid who stapled my
arm to the table in second grade.
Conclusion: For most people, 130° to 140°F is best.
Q: I’ve heard folks say I should never stick a fork in my
steak to flip it. Any truth in that?
Watch a Johnsonville Brat commercial, and you’ll be told
that poking with a fork is one of the cardinal sins of sausage
cookery, and they’re right: a sausage has an impermeable
casing for a reason—to keep all of those rendered fats and
juices right in there with the meat. Pierce it, create holes, and
you’ll see a fountain of golden juices spring forth, like out
of a kid after a long car ride. A steak, on the other hand, has
no such casing to protect it—so, is it OK to poke or not?
I cooked two steaks of known weight side by side. The
first I carefully turned with tongs each time. The second, I
used a fourchette de cuisine (that’s what French cooks call
those two-pronged kitchen forks) completely
indiscriminately, mercilessly (though not excessively)
poking the steak this way and that as I flipped it. Afterward,
I weighed both steaks again. The result? Exactly the same
weight loss.
Poking with a fork to turn the steak is a completely risk-
free move.