It is summer-time here in Victoria, BC, and we are getting a pretty good batch of nice weather. That means it’s steak time. I really like steak, but I also really like science, so I am usually still thinking about science while eating steak.
There has been advice around that recommends warming up a steak to room temperature before cooking it. I have always subscribed to this advice, and I am a little bit embarrassed to say that I had never really give it much thought before. The concept makes sense. I like rare steak, and I wouldn’t want the interior of that steak to still be cold after I barely cooked it.
After a quick recall of heat transfer equations, I remembered that most heat transfer rates have a factor comprised of temperature differentials in them. An equation for heat transfer rate in conduction follows:
Disregard everything except for the T1 and T2 at the top. T1 – T2 is the temperature differential between the two materials. In this case it is the temperature of the BBQ and the meat. Let’s assume that the BBQ is a constant 300 degrees C. Meat straight from the fridge is around 2 degrees, and meat left out in a room would probably be around 15 degrees. Meat straight from the fridge would have a factor of 298, and meat left out in the room would have a factor of 285. Because cooking a steak doesn’t take very long, I don’t think that the difference between these two factors would make much of difference.
time to go test this….
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