Is It Done Yet?

Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 1:43 pm

Is it done yet?

With experience, you can learn to judge how well done a piece of meat is by touching it—the firmer it is, the more done it is. And in a pinch, you can always make a cut to take a peek. But for large cuts of meat and bone-in pieces, an instant-read thermometer is still your best way to gauge doneness.

An instant-read thermometer only gives an accurate reading if inserted at least a couple of inches deep, so you can't use it on the thinnest cuts (in such cases, use visual clues).

The internal temperature tends to go up 5 to 10 degrees as meat rests off the heat, so pull your food off the grill a few degrees shy of the temperatures listed below.