Thermal treatment of meat makes its tissue to contract and harden. During cooking the meat becomes more elastic.

The degree of cooking can be assessed using i.e. a touch test - using the index finger to touch the meat:
• Raw meat should be soft;
• Poorly fried/cooked meat remains soft, but is beginning to be resilient;
• Medium fried meat is more compact and quite springy.
 

This test gives an approximate assessment of the degree of cooking/frying of meat. In order to do an accurate assessment of the degree of cooking of meat it has to be measured by the temperature. Temperature of meat immediately after cooking varies depending on the degree of cooking: