Why does my steak look more rare when it's cold?

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aaron_mky

Assistant Cook
Joined
Mar 18, 2015
Messages
4
Location
Nottingham
Hi All,

I have been cooking a lot of steaks recently and monitoring the 'doneness' using a meat thermometer.

Whenever i cook a steak to medium-rare it always look medium-well done (after 5 - 7 mins of resting) but when the steak starts to cool and after eating half of the thing, the steak turns pink to my preffered doneness and looks really appertising.

Is it because i am not allowing it to rest long enough?

Thanks

Aaron
 
Steaks continue to cook from residual heat for about 6-7 minutes after removed from direct heat, so when you serve what you consider a medium rare steak, it will will continue to get more done and turn into a medium or medium well. Taking this into consideration is important to some.
 
I suspect that, as the steak cools, it also dries a bit. As the meat dries, it darkens from pink to red.

If you're satisfied with how the meat is cooked when you eat it, pay no attention to the appearance of the leftovers.

If you are not satisfied with how the meat is cooked, take it off the heat earlier and continue to ignore how the leftovers look.
 
Rocklobster's link explains why steak turns brown when cooking. It also explains why the meat sometimes turns red again. It explains it detailed scientific/chemical terms.
 
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