How do you like your food?

How do you like your steak? These 12 doneness levels are worth knowing

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Taste is subjective; what seems overcooked to some may be perfect to others. What is too salty for one person might be too bland for someone else. Fortunately, over time, certain terms have been widely agreed upon to describe and distinguish the different stages of the cooking process and the varying degrees of seasoning typically used. Everyone knows what "well done" and "rare" mean, but many other words can describe how we want our food, often with great precision. Do you use any of these?

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If "rare" is still too cooked for your taste, then "extra-rare" or "blue" describes the doneness level you're looking for in a piece of red meat.

This is a steak that is lightly seared on the outside but remains red and cool on the inside. To achieve this, a blue steak is cooked for a very short period of time, just enough to brown the surface. The result is a steak that is soft and tender, perfect for those who love a melt-in-your-mouth texture.

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One of the two most well-known terms for doneness, "rare" describes a steak that is browned on the outside but remains very soft and red on the inside. The center is warm, though not hot to the tongue, typically cooked to an internal temperature of about 120–125°F.

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What if you don’t want your steak to be too juicy, but not dry either? Then you ask for it "medium rare." This steak is firm and browned on the outside, but still very tender in the center, with a warm red middle and a slight pink ring around the edge. This is considered by many chefs as the ideal doneness for flavor and texture balance.

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Pink but not too juicy. That is a good, short definition of a "medium" cooking point. This steak has a small ring of gray-brown on the outside and a warm pink center, with only a hint of red. For cuts with more marbling, this is the point where the fat begins to melt, enhancing flavor and tenderness.

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A bit more cooked than "medium," "medium well" is the point at which a steak starts to become noticeably firm. The meat is mostly gray-brown throughout, with only a slight hint of pink remaining in the center.

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You know this one. "Well done" is the most thoroughly cooked level of doneness on the menu. The steak is uniformly brown or gray throughout, with no trace of pink in the center. It’s typically quite firm and can be tough to chew, though it can still be flavorful, especially with the right cut and seasoning.

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Most people consider this level of doneness flavorless, dry, and tough to chew, but some genuinely enjoy it. An overcooked steak is usually solid light gray throughout, with a heavily charred exterior that can add a distinctive, smoky flavor.

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Moving on from meat doneness, you’ve probably heard this one. Al dente is an Italian expression meaning "to the tooth," used to describe pasta that is cooked just enough to remain firm to the bite.

In contemporary Italian cooking, it’s considered the ideal texture for pasta and is achieved with a relatively short cooking time.

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Sometimes you don’t want your egg soft-boiled, but you don’t want it hard-boiled either. A medium-boiled egg offers the perfect middle ground. At this stage, the white is fully set, while the yolk remains jammy, thick and creamy, but not runny.

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How do you like your broccoli? Cooked but not overdone or soft, right? The correct term to describe this cooking point is "tender crisp." Broccoli or asparagus prepared this way is cooked until tender while still retaining a slight crispness.

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When fully cooked, the meat of a fish should easily separate into flakes. A "flaky" fish is well-done, tender, and moist.

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A "seared" fish is cooked quickly over high heat—usually in a pan—to create a browned crust while keeping the interior less cooked. This technique is often used for tuna or salmon.

Which is your favorite name?

From Elvis to Ariel: 12 baby names that were popularized by celebrities

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Ever notice how some baby names seem to suddenly pop up everywhere? Celebrities, hit songs, and famous artists have a way of turning not-so-common names into household favorites. Whether it’s a chart-topping single or a star-studded baby announcement, pop culture leaves its mark on what we name our kids. Take a look at 12 of these names that got a boost from the spotlight.

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The King of Rock 'n' Roll himself, Elvis Presley, has been the inspiration for the naming of countless babies. His appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show," one of America's most popular television programs of the mid-20th century, spawned an uptick in babies named in his honor. The same goes for his untimely passing in the 1970s.

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The name Sienna has gained popularity in baby name registrations since 2005. That year marked a turning point after Sienna Miller's breakout roles in Alfie and Layer Cake.

Her rising fame helped push the name into the spotlight, leading to a noticeable increase in its use among new parents.

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When Titanic hit theaters in 1997, it became a cultural phenomenon. It was the highest-grossing film ever at the time, and held that record for many years. Titanic catapulted Leonardo DiCaprio to international fame, cementing his status as a heartthrob and launching a successful acting career.

The movie’s impact went beyond the box office: it even influenced baby names, generating a huge spike in popularity for the name Leonardo.

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The Disney brand has had an unquestionable influence on baby name trends. No other company has shaped naming choices quite like Walt Disney Entertainment.

Whoever had a child in the past decade has likely encountered the lasting impact of Frozen. The film sparked everything from Halloween costumes and merchandise to endless rounds of karaoke and, of course, a surge in babies named after Elsa, the Ice Queen herself.

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There's arguably no other band that's had a cultural impact as widespread and as lasting as The Beatles. The surge of Beatlemania during the 60s guaranteed the band's worldwide popularity, and many a baby was named after Liverpool's best and their songs.

The Lennon-McCartney-penned song, "Hey Jude," helped generate a big spike in popularity for the name Jude around the time when the song was released.

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Zendaya first gained attention in 2010 with her role on the Disney show Shake It Up, and her star has only risen ever since. She’s taken on major roles in projects like Euphoria, the Dune franchise, and Challengers, becoming one of the most recognizable household names in entertainment.

Before her rise to fame, the name "Zendaya" was so rare it didn’t even appear in the Social Security dataset. But with each new hit, the name has steadily grown in popularity, inspired by the actress’s continued success.

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The name "Elon" has seen a notable rise in popularity since 2013. That year marked a turning point when Tesla’s stock began skyrocketing in value.

As the company (and its CEO, Elon Musk) continued to make headlines, the name gained more attention, leading to a steady increase in its use.

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They were certainly not as popular as the Beatles, and some might consider them a one-hit wonder, but the American rock band The Knack also left their mark on the lists of popular baby names.
The song that spearheaded the band's rise to fame, "My Sharona" from 1980, generated a spike in the register of births of baby girls named, you guessed it, Sharona.

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Forrest Gump (1994) had such a noticeable cultural impact that it sparked a one-year surge in babies named Forrest. The film’s widespread popularity left its mark on parents, many of whom were inspired by the character’s virtues of honesty and kindness.

Some parents likely chose the name to reflect the same goodness embodied by Tom Hanks' iconic role, while others simply couldn’t shake the name out of their minds after seeing the film.

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The 2005 song "Hey There Delilah" is a ballad that says the name Delilah a large number of times. It's the signature song of the American pop band Plain White T's.

This song was very popular in its day, and it left a significant cultural fingerprint, producing a massive spike in kids named Delilah.

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Trinity brought something fresh to the action movie genre: a strong, independent female character in a space often dominated by men. Her role in The Matrix broke new ground, offering audiences a different kind of action hero.

The film’s impact extended beyond the screen, influencing baby names. In 1998, the year before The Matrix was released, 557 babies were given the name Trinity. By 2004, that number had jumped to 5,729.

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Another Disney movie_,_ The Little Mermaid, tells the story of a mermaid girl who sacrifices her voice for legs. Loosely based on a darker version of the story by Hans Christian Andersen, the film skyrocketed the name Ariel into a huge hit. Over 6,000 babies were given the name shortly after the movie's debut.