How to Use Your Face to Tell When Your Steak is Done

With grilling season just getting underway, you'll want to brush up on your ability to deliver whatever level of meat-doneness is requested. The best and most accurate way to make sure your steak is always cooked to perfection is to use an instant-read thermometer: Grill 'til 125 degrees Fahrenheit for rare steaks, 155 degrees for well-done, and somewhere in between for all the other preferences (see specifics here). But maybe you forgot to bring your thermometer to the party, or you don't have one, or you do have one but can't quite remember where you had it last. For those cases, Food52 has developed a system of determining when your steak is ready that doesn't require cutting into it too soon—and all you need is your own face.

With one hand, feel the firmness of the steak and with the other compare it to different points on your face that translate to different levels of doneness: cheeks for rare, chin for medium and forehead for well-done. Just remember not to switch hands halfway through.