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….

Just made a fresh batch of pitas using this recipe.