How To Tell If Steak Is Undercooked

A perfectly cooked rare steak is harder to pull off than it may seem. The inside needs to have an internal temperature of at least 125°-130°F. Any less and the steak is considered raw and undercooked. Which is unsafe to eat. After the steak is seasoned and placed on a grill it quickly becomes brown on the outside. But it still could be soft and raw on the inside. It’s very hard to tell if a steak is done just by looking at the outside. And it becomes even harder as the meat gets thicker. This is why you need a good quality meat thermometer. The best way to tell if a steak is undercooked is by using a thermometer. Insert the point of the thermometer into the center of the beef and take a reading. Any less than 125°-130°F and the meat is undercooked.

But what about if you’re not the one doing the cooking? If you’re at a restaurant and order a rare steak how can you tell if it’s undercooked? It’s hard to know for sure without a thermometer but there are some things you can look for. First, push down on the steak. Raw steak feels really soft and spongy. Next, cut into the meat and check the center. It should be red and not blueish. Give it a touch, the center should be warm but not cool. The texture should be tender but not soft and mushy. Rare steak feels a lot different than raw meat.

The juices flowing from a rare steak will be red, but less so than raw meat.

Cooking a steak enough so that it’s safe to eat while preserving its flavor and tenderness isn’t easy to do. But with experience and the right tools you can do it.

How To Know If Steak Is Undercooked?

If you’re cooking the steak yourself the best way to tell if its undercooked is with a meat thermometer. The internal temperature has to be at least 125°-130°F in the center of the thickest area of the steak.

But if you’re not the chef then it’s a bit harder. The best way to spot an uncooked steak is cutting the center open and taking a look inside. An undercooked steak can look good from the outside with nice browning and sear marks but still be raw inside.

The center should be warm to the touch and not cool.
Color should be red but not blueish or purple.
Texture should be tender but not soft and mushy.

Determining the doneness of a steak without a meat thermometer is harder to do. But you can do it by examining the center of the steak.

When in doubt, don’t eat the steak. Diners that eat rare steak know what it should look and feel like inside. If it looks undercooked have the chef cook it a little longer. eating undercooked meat can be harmful.

1. Meat Thermometer

If you cook your own steaks at home the best way to check doneness is with a meat thermometer. It’s the easiest and most accurate way to determine whether or not your steak is cooked properly or still raw inside. And it’s very easy to use.

While the steak is still on the heat, find the thickest part. Usually this is dead center of the steak but in some cuts the thickest area could be off to one side. Porterhouse steaks are sometimes butchered like this. Stick the point of the thermometer into the center of the fattest area and take a reading.

For a rare steak the internal temperature needs to be at least 125°-130°F. Anything less than this and your meat is undercooked.

There are two main types of meat thermometers on the market:

Instant Read: An instant read meat thermometer is a probe with a digital display. The great thing about instant reads is that they give a temperature reading much faster. But they require batteries.
Analog: Old fashioned meat thermometers have an analog dial on the end of a probe. They’re just as accurate as an instant read but work slower. However they don’t require batteries.

Meat thermometers aren’t just for checking if the steak is undercooked. Steaks have a variety of doneness levels which include:

Rare: 125°-130°F.
Medium Rare: 130°-135°F.
Medium: 135°-140°F.
Medium Well: 140°-150°F.
Well: 150°-160°F+.

Using a meat thermometer is the best way to cook a steak to a desired doneness. They ensure you won’t undercook or overcook your meat.

Undercooked steak is raw and potentially dangerous to eat. Overcooked steak loses it’s moisture and fat which makes it taste dried out with a tough and chewy texture.

2. Examine The Steak

If you don’t have a meat thermometer or aren’t the one cooking the steak, the best way to determine if a steak is undercooked is by examining the center.

Feel: First, press down on the steak to check the feel. This takes a bit of time to learn but an experienced chef can tell if a steak is done by pressing on it. A rare steak is tender inside but it shouldn’t feel soft and mushy. If the steak is overly soft and spongy then it’s most likely undercooked.
Slice: Next, cut open the inside at the thickest part of the steak. The color should be bright red but not blueish or purple. Touch the inside, it should be warm but not cool. Stick it with a fork, the texture of a rare steak is tender but not mushy.
Juices: When you cut into a steak juices will run out. A rare steak will have red juices but they’ll be slightly less red than an undercooked steak. If you’re used to eating rare beef you’ll notice a difference.

If you’ve ever eaten a perfectly cooked rare steak you’ll know the difference between rare and raw. It’s pretty easy to spot once you cut the steak open. And when in doubt, cook it a little longer. It can be unsafe to eat undercooked steak.

What Does Uncooked Steak Look Like?

Even though a steak may look done on the outside, it can still be raw on the inside. This can happen on a really hot grill that quickly sears the outside without taking the time to slowly cook the inside.

A steak should be seared first on very high heat and then moved to a lower temperature to slow cook the inside. When this temperature change isn’t done properly a steak can look charred on the outside and raw in the center.

The uncooked center of a steak will look like raw meat. It’ll be cool to the touch, have a mushy texture and be bluish red.

It’s a fine line between undercooked and rare steak. So how do you tell the difference? The best way is with a meat thermometer. But that only works if your the one doing the cooking. If you’re a diner checking a steak you ordered the best way is by feel and sight.

Cut the steak open at it’s fattest part and examine the inside. An undercooked steak will be very soft and mushy to touch even if the sides are browned. Rare steak is tender but its not as soft as raw meat. The color will change from blueish red to a bright red and the center will feel warm and not cool.

Both a raw and rare steak will have red juices flowing from it when you cut in, but raw steak has slightly more red. As steak is cooked its juices get clearer.

The smell will be slightly different too. A properly prepared rare steak has a cooked meat smell. While undercooked steak still smells like raw meat in the center.

Is Medium-Rare Steak Safe To Eat?

Medium-rare steak is perfectly safe to eat. It should have an internal temperature of at least 130°-135°F.

Medium-rare is actually a good temperature to order a steak when you eat out because it gives the chef a little room for error. If the meat is undercooked a little and it falls into the rare temperature range it’ll still be OK to eat.

A medium-rare steak should be warm and reddish in the center with pink on the outsides towards the edges. It should be tender and juicy on the inside with a nice sear on the outside.

A rare and medium-rare steak don’t look that much different. The main thing you’ll notice is very slightly less red in the center and more pink towards the outside. It’s only about a 5°F difference so the two steaks are very close in taste, texture and appearance.

As steaks get further away from raw they get safer and safer to eat. Medium-rare is the 2nd level up just after rare.

Medium-rare and medium are the two most popular ways diners order a steak at a steakhouse. They’re tender, juicy and taste great while looking less red.

The juices from a medium-rare steak are clearer and look less like blood. Which turns some people off from eating a rare steak even though the red isn’t actually blood.

Tip: If you cook your steaks rare at home using a meat thermometer consider ordering steaks at a steakhouse medium-rare instead. The taste and texture are about the same but it gives the chef a little more room for error. If a medium-rare steak is undercooked a little it should still be OK to eat. However if a rare steak is undercooked even a little it may not be safe to eat.

How To Fix An Undercooked Steak

The only way to save an undercooked steak is to put it back on the heat. Throw it right back on the grill, in the pan or into the oven on low heat and let it cook a few minutes more. However when you do this you run the risk of drying out the steak. I usually drizzle a little olive oil on it or some butter to keep it moist. I also cover it with a lid to keep in some moisture.

Use a lower grill temperature when cooking the inside of your steaks. Extremely high heat is better for a quick sear but low heat is best for cooking the inside.

Remember to let the steak rest for about 5 minutes after you take it off the heat. Then check the inside. A steak will continue cooking inside as it rests.

If you’re in a rush consider cutting the steak into smaller portions or even slices. The smaller the steak the faster it cooks.

Thin steaks cook faster than thick steaks because it’s hard to heat the inside of a fat steak without burning the outside. The best way to avoid undercooking your steak is searing the outside with a super hot grill or skillet and then moving the meat to a lower temperature. A sear locks in the steaks juices and keeps it tender. Let your steak sit on medium-low heat until its done. This slow cooks the inside but doesn’t burn the outside.

Can You Get Sick From Eating Rare Steak?

Rare steak is safe to eat if it’s prepared and cooked properly to an internal temperature of at least 125°-130°F. This is hot enough to kill bacteria that could make you sick.

When handling any type of meat you must store it properly and keep it fresh. It’s possible to get sick eating rare steak if it’s not fresh meat. I recommend cooking beef as fresh as you can get. If you marinade beef in the fridge limit it to a few days max.

If you have to store steaks longer than a few days do it in a freezer.

No matter where you buy your beef, check it to make sure its fresh. Here are a few things you can do:

Visual: Fresh beef should have a bright red color throughout the entire steak without any color changes. If the meat is purple it may have been thawed and then re-frozen. If it starts to get dark that means its going bad.
Touch: Fresh steak should bounce back when you press it.
Smell: The smell test is one of the best ways you can tell if beef is fresh. It shouldn’t have any weird or fowl smell. Fresh meat hardly smells at all other than a hint of blood.

If the meat has even a faint fowl smell I wouldn’t eat it. I also wouldn’t eat beef if its starting to turn dark. This means its in the process of going bad. Steak is best when the meat is as fresh as possible. And this is especially important when you’re cooking the steak rare. As steak ages it can grow bacteria that can be harmful to your health.

What Happens If You Eat Undercooked Steak?

There are a few health risks associated with eating undercooked beef.

Steak can carry a variety of dangerous bacteria with adverse effects associated with food poisoning. These include Salmonella, E.coli, Shigella, and Staphylococcus. Luckily all of these harmful bacteria can be killed by properly cooking the steak.

Beef can also have parasites such as Tapeworm. These can also be killed off by cooking the beef to at least 125°-130°F which is considered a rare steak. However I recommend cooking steak to at least medium-rare to medium. Especially if the meat has been sitting for over a day or two.

Anything below that temperature is considered undercooked steak which carries a higher risk of health consequences.

If you do eat undercoooked beef it could make you sick. Go to a hospital immediately and seek medical care.

Summary: How To Tell If Steak Is Undercooked

But what about if you’re not the one doing the cooking? If you’re sitting at a restaurant and order a rare steak how can you tell if it’s undercooked? It’s harder to know for sure without a thermometer but there are some things you can look for. First cut into the meat and check the center. It should be red and not blueish. Give it a touch, the center should be warm but not cool. The texture should be tender but not soft and mushy. rare steak feels a lot different than raw meat.

Cooking a steak enough so that it’s safe to eat while preserving all the flavor and tenderness isn’t easy to do. But with experience and the right tools you can do it.

If you have any questions or comments about steak E-mail any time.