Doneness is an issue of personal preference. One person's medium-rare may seem very rare to someone else, and those who prefer their meat well-done should be allowed to enjoy it that way.

According to the USDA, beef steaks and roasts should be cooked to a minimum of 145 degrees. For ground beef, the minimum is 160 degrees.

Cooking Light follows the USDA temperature guidelines. If you like your beef rare, cook it to a lower temperature than the recipes direct, but remember that ground beef should always be cooked to 160 degrees.

It's important to know when the meat has reached the desired degree of doneness. For larger cuts of meat, use a thermometer (preferably one that's an instant-read), and remove the meat from the oven when it's slightly more rare than you like it. After a roast comes out of the oven, its internal temperature will continue to rise by 5 to 20 degrees. The higher the cooking temperature, the greater the carryover.

Though using a thermometer is the only way to truly know how done meat is, for steaks, the "nick, peek, and cheat" method works well: Nick the meat with a sharp knife and take a peek inside to check its doneness. Don't worry about juices escaping when you cut into the meat; the small amount you'll lose is preferable to under- or overcooking your steak. As you become more experienced, you will be able to determine whether a steak's done just by touching it.

When braising, the only tool you need to check for doneness is a large fork. Plunge the fork into the center of the meat, and try to lift it: If the meat slides off the fork, it's done; if it hangs onto the fork, cook it longer.

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