The “Goldilocks Approach To Grilling”

The single most asked question I get at supper clubs is: “Can you teach my husband to grill?”. Most of the time the complaint is that the steak is overcooked. The key to grilling the perfect piece of meat is the touch test, just like with Goldilocks.

The Goldilocks touch test

• The meat can’t be too hard (Overdone)
• The meat can’t be too soft (Underdone)
• The meat has to be in-between (Just right – medium rare*)

Here is where my wife interjects: “What is easy for some is hard for others”. It is true that knowing what is perfect takes a little practice, but it can be taught. At Kraft Food Ingredients we had a promotion where Sales personnel had to go into customers facility and prepare a demonstration of grilled beef. To pull this off we did training on the touch test. We gave them three pieces of meat:

• One that was cooked to well done. (It was as hard as a brick)
• One that was cooked to rare (It was as soft as my stomach)
• One that was cooked to a perfect medium rare (It was in-between well done and rare)

After that we had the Sales people do a little practice and the concept became clear. Granted these Sales people were smart folks. Many had degrees in food science. But, most were admittedly lousy cooks. Anyone can train themselves with a little practice.

When in doubt… cheat!

I have seen one of the best chefs I know cut a little slice to check the doneness of a piece of meat. There is nothing like being able to confirm the touch test with visible confirmation. I know that this breaks one of the golden rules of cooking in that when you cut a piece of meat you lose the juice. The way I look at it is, that if you have a guest that likes more well done than medium, they don’t like juicy anyway. You could serve them shoe leather and they will not know the difference (but I digress). By making a little slice you get confirmation and you also accelerate the cooking for the those that like more well done meat.

Rack of lamb has become my signature dish. The testimony behind it is that multiple times I have had guests tell me beforehand that they don’t like lamb. After trying my rack of lamb they become lamb lovers. The key to this dish is the perfect medium rare and the Goldilocks touch test with a little slice to check gets you there.

Check out the recipe.

For your next supper club dinner party (or any meal) try out the Goldilocks touch test and let me know…

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Notes: *I have asked chefs at fine ding restaurants what is the most asked for meat temperature. The consensus is that 85% of diners prefer medium rare