great looking steak! for some reason, even though i do exactly what you jsut described, my steaks (usually a 1 to 1.5 inch thick NY strip) don't ever come out as red on the inside, even though the thermapen reads about 120 when i pull it. i really want my steak red in the middle, a little bit rarer than medium rare, and a little bit more done than rare. but it never turns out that way. instead, it's always a bit more done than i like, and hence, more tough...

maybe it's b/c i don't rest it long enough before eating it. i usually scarf it down about a minute or two after it's finished.