View Poll Results: How do you like your steak?
Rare
13
13.68%
Medium rare
61
64.21%
Medium
14
14.74%
Medium well
5
5.26%
Well done
1
1.05%
I don't eat steak
1
1.05%
Voters: 95. You may not vote on this poll
How do you like your steak? Doneness? How prepared? Etc.
Aug 22, 2011, 6:13 pm
#271
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Aug 22, 2011, 7:25 pm
#273
Join Date: Apr 2010
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My standard response (for both steaks and burgers) is "as rare as you can legally make it" (since some states have legal restrictions on how rare meat can be prepared).
I usually get a look from both my fellow diners and the server. 36 years and going with no food poisoning!
I usually get a look from both my fellow diners and the server. 36 years and going with no food poisoning!
Aug 22, 2011, 9:30 pm
#274
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Posts: 334
Surprised this thread isn't locked already. I'm sure 80% of the people here like ranges that help the beef taste good and the other 20% were raised by people with really crappy culinary skills and thus they want their meat well done or ruined.
Odd that a fight hasn't broken out yet. I tend to avoid places that will serve well done steaks. That means that there's a better restaurant in town who are good enough to make the choice to piss off the well done types.
Odd that a fight hasn't broken out yet. I tend to avoid places that will serve well done steaks. That means that there's a better restaurant in town who are good enough to make the choice to piss off the well done types.
Aug 22, 2011, 10:02 pm
#275
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Surprised this thread isn't locked already. I'm sure 80% of the people here like ranges that help the beef taste good and the other 20% were raised by people with really crappy culinary skills and thus they want their meat well done or ruined.
Odd that a fight hasn't broken out yet. I tend to avoid places that will serve well done steaks. That means that there's a better restaurant in town who are good enough to make the choice to piss off the well done types.
Odd that a fight hasn't broken out yet. I tend to avoid places that will serve well done steaks. That means that there's a better restaurant in town who are good enough to make the choice to piss off the well done types.
Nevertheless, I'll repeat what I said in the post #244:
"For a place that doesn't specialize in steak, having a limited range [of cooking temperatures] is excusable, if still poor form; for a place that specializes in steak, if you can't cook to the full range and come out with a quality product, you should be in a different business."
Now, those who've said that making a medium-well or well-done steak come out well may take a slightly different preparation may well be right - I don't check how kitchens prepare it, but I've had enough places prepare good medium-well and well-done steaks to know that some manage it quite well whatever they're doing, and at the kind of prices good steak-specialty restaurants charge, "we don't usually do it" under the assumption that steaks are produced assembly-line style is being unreasonable.
Aug 22, 2011, 10:40 pm
#276
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We're thinking about how the steak is prepared..
I'm thinking my steak is better with sauteed mushrooms, and some steamed veggies..
I'm thinking my steak is better with sauteed mushrooms, and some steamed veggies..
Aug 22, 2011, 11:12 pm
#277
In memoriam
Join Date: Aug 2002
Programs: AA EXP "Life is good! Really good.""
Posts: 4,923
I often get nicely prepared well-done steaks. Sometimes I send them back because it is not what I ordered or wanted to eat. Sometimes I just mumble.
Latest was an okay restaurant, quite nice actually, but not a place known for great food, so instead of medium rare I took a guess and asked for rare for the relatively inexpensive steak. In fact, I actually said blue, and the waitress nodded in understanding. Steak arrives, I cut into it and it is medium-well served on a sizzling hot platter. I prop it up on forks to keep it from cooking further waiting to get the server's attention. It went back and a new one returned cooked to my expectations with the statement "it's the lighting, the other one looked fine in the kitchen." No. It wasn't fine. It was medium well. Even well. No pink. New one was fine, but certainly not blue. Not even rare, but medium and okay for what it was.
At home I've cooked a few that were not cooked and needed a few more minutes on the grill, but I have never been served a steak in a restaurant that was too rare. Never.
In the US I order rare and get medium, in Europe I order medium rare and get rare. It's not about cooking, it's about semantics.
Latest was an okay restaurant, quite nice actually, but not a place known for great food, so instead of medium rare I took a guess and asked for rare for the relatively inexpensive steak. In fact, I actually said blue, and the waitress nodded in understanding. Steak arrives, I cut into it and it is medium-well served on a sizzling hot platter. I prop it up on forks to keep it from cooking further waiting to get the server's attention. It went back and a new one returned cooked to my expectations with the statement "it's the lighting, the other one looked fine in the kitchen." No. It wasn't fine. It was medium well. Even well. No pink. New one was fine, but certainly not blue. Not even rare, but medium and okay for what it was.
At home I've cooked a few that were not cooked and needed a few more minutes on the grill, but I have never been served a steak in a restaurant that was too rare. Never.
In the US I order rare and get medium, in Europe I order medium rare and get rare. It's not about cooking, it's about semantics.
Aug 23, 2011, 1:11 am
#278
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In the US I order rare and get medium, in Europe I order medium rare and get rare. It's not about cooking, it's about semantics.
Aug 23, 2011, 1:14 am
#279
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: UK
Posts: 11,969
The only way that you can achieve a steak that is all of the following:
(a) cooked to the same degree all the way through
(b) cooked to the exact same degree time after time exactly the way you like it ie replicable
(c) produce a rare steak that is always safe to eat ie pasteurised
(d) retains more of it's natural juices
(e) always softer and better textured than setting fire to or simple searing it
..... is by using sous vide and fry or grill finishing. In my view it produces an incomparable result.
(Pith helmet on!)
(a) cooked to the same degree all the way through
(b) cooked to the exact same degree time after time exactly the way you like it ie replicable
(c) produce a rare steak that is always safe to eat ie pasteurised
(d) retains more of it's natural juices
(e) always softer and better textured than setting fire to or simple searing it
..... is by using sous vide and fry or grill finishing. In my view it produces an incomparable result.
(Pith helmet on!)
Aug 23, 2011, 7:41 am
#280
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: on the Llano Estacado
Posts: 2,652
How about from somewhere other than Applebee's?
The Mrs. has us both on a diet trying to fit into suits for an upcoming wedding. We get 1 night out per week if we don't go crazy. A client gave me a $25 gift card to Applebee's and the Mrs. discovered that they have an assortment of meals under 550 calories. OK, a couple are based on a 7-ounce sirloin, the rest are shrimp or salad. I figure, how bad could they mess up a sirloin?
Well, I found out. Pre-seasoned with some salty concoction, the "grill marks" have an off-putting chemical aftertaste, the steak was undercooked and still rubbery. The accompanying broccoli & carrots were nicely crunchy but also drenched in some salty, gelatinous solution.
Awful, just awful. It took several servings of ice cream to rid my mouth of the taste.
The Mrs. has us both on a diet trying to fit into suits for an upcoming wedding. We get 1 night out per week if we don't go crazy. A client gave me a $25 gift card to Applebee's and the Mrs. discovered that they have an assortment of meals under 550 calories. OK, a couple are based on a 7-ounce sirloin, the rest are shrimp or salad. I figure, how bad could they mess up a sirloin?
Well, I found out. Pre-seasoned with some salty concoction, the "grill marks" have an off-putting chemical aftertaste, the steak was undercooked and still rubbery. The accompanying broccoli & carrots were nicely crunchy but also drenched in some salty, gelatinous solution.
Awful, just awful. It took several servings of ice cream to rid my mouth of the taste.
Aug 24, 2011, 12:48 am
#281
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How about from somewhere other than Applebee's?
The Mrs. has us both on a diet trying to fit into suits for an upcoming wedding. We get 1 night out per week if we don't go crazy. A client gave me a $25 gift card to Applebee's and the Mrs. discovered that they have an assortment of meals under 550 calories. OK, a couple are based on a 7-ounce sirloin, the rest are shrimp or salad. I figure, how bad could they mess up a sirloin?
Well, I found out. Pre-seasoned with some salty concoction, the "grill marks" have an off-putting chemical aftertaste, the steak was undercooked and still rubbery. The accompanying broccoli & carrots were nicely crunchy but also drenched in some salty, gelatinous solution.
Awful, just awful. It took several servings of ice cream to rid my mouth of the taste.
The Mrs. has us both on a diet trying to fit into suits for an upcoming wedding. We get 1 night out per week if we don't go crazy. A client gave me a $25 gift card to Applebee's and the Mrs. discovered that they have an assortment of meals under 550 calories. OK, a couple are based on a 7-ounce sirloin, the rest are shrimp or salad. I figure, how bad could they mess up a sirloin?
Well, I found out. Pre-seasoned with some salty concoction, the "grill marks" have an off-putting chemical aftertaste, the steak was undercooked and still rubbery. The accompanying broccoli & carrots were nicely crunchy but also drenched in some salty, gelatinous solution.
Awful, just awful. It took several servings of ice cream to rid my mouth of the taste.
and the Ice Cream is a perfect remedy that a restaurant can't usually mess up.. I mean.. you scoop it ready made into a bowl..
Speaking of certs.. we've got a $50 gift card to burn at East Side Marios.. anybody ever try the steak there.. I think there was a steak and shrimp combo available.. but not sure about the quality and quantity of portions?
Aug 24, 2011, 7:18 am
#282
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Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Either at the shooting range or anywhere good beer can be found...
Posts: 51,030
I enjoy my steaks medium rare. Yes, I've sent them back if they were overcooked. I've also had a few occasions where I've told the server, "Yes, I enjoy steaks medium rare. However, this is still raw." 
Aug 24, 2011, 7:40 am
#283
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: UK
Posts: 11,969
MENTION the phrase “French mustard” to the average Briton and they will think of the mild, dark brown kind that was popularised by the Norwich-based firm Colman's.
However to most French people this is a mystery - one French blogger described it as “that sweet English stuff they have the nerve to call ‘French Mustard’.”
In fact the nearest real French equivalent - called moutarde brune - or sometimes moutarde de Bordeaux - is not very common in France where the best-known mustard is Dijon, especially as sold by market leader Amora Maille.
British-style “French mustard” would also be classed as a “moutarde douce” - a term used for certain sweeter, milder mustards in France.
Dijon is a dark yellow, with a milder taste than English mustard, but still with more bite and a more classic mustard taste than the sweetish, savoury, “French mustard”.
In fact, Colman’s French Mustard is now unobtainable, since they stopped the line after 65 years, following an EU competition law ruling in 2001 after parent firm Unilever also acquired Amora Maille. It was told to sell the brand or stop making it.
Even so, “French Mustard” can still be found in Britain - for example, Waitrose do an own-label one.
Real French mustards should also not be confused with “French’s mustard” - a classic hot-dog style condiment that is the best-known brand in the USA. This, as its makers insisted during the Iraq war, has strictly nothing to do with France, but is a family name.
As for real French mustards, there is controversy at Amora Maille after it announced it was closing its headquarters and factory in Dijon - though it will retain a mustard shop there. Production will continue at its factory to the east of the city at Chévigny, which Unilever points out is still part of “Greater Dijon.” The company cited economic difficulties with running a town-centre site.
However to most French people this is a mystery - one French blogger described it as “that sweet English stuff they have the nerve to call ‘French Mustard’.”
In fact the nearest real French equivalent - called moutarde brune - or sometimes moutarde de Bordeaux - is not very common in France where the best-known mustard is Dijon, especially as sold by market leader Amora Maille.
British-style “French mustard” would also be classed as a “moutarde douce” - a term used for certain sweeter, milder mustards in France.
Dijon is a dark yellow, with a milder taste than English mustard, but still with more bite and a more classic mustard taste than the sweetish, savoury, “French mustard”.
In fact, Colman’s French Mustard is now unobtainable, since they stopped the line after 65 years, following an EU competition law ruling in 2001 after parent firm Unilever also acquired Amora Maille. It was told to sell the brand or stop making it.
Even so, “French Mustard” can still be found in Britain - for example, Waitrose do an own-label one.
Real French mustards should also not be confused with “French’s mustard” - a classic hot-dog style condiment that is the best-known brand in the USA. This, as its makers insisted during the Iraq war, has strictly nothing to do with France, but is a family name.
As for real French mustards, there is controversy at Amora Maille after it announced it was closing its headquarters and factory in Dijon - though it will retain a mustard shop there. Production will continue at its factory to the east of the city at Chévigny, which Unilever points out is still part of “Greater Dijon.” The company cited economic difficulties with running a town-centre site.
Aug 24, 2011, 8:43 am
#284
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Saundersfoot
Posts: 716
The only way that you can achieve a steak that is all of the following:
(a) cooked to the same degree all the way through
(b) cooked to the exact same degree time after time exactly the way you like it ie replicable
(c) produce a rare steak that is always safe to eat ie pasteurised
(d) retains more of it's natural juices
(e) always softer and better textured than setting fire to or simple searing it
..... is by using sous vide and fry or grill finishing. In my view it produces an incomparable result.
(Pith helmet on!)
(a) cooked to the same degree all the way through
(b) cooked to the exact same degree time after time exactly the way you like it ie replicable
(c) produce a rare steak that is always safe to eat ie pasteurised
(d) retains more of it's natural juices
(e) always softer and better textured than setting fire to or simple searing it
..... is by using sous vide and fry or grill finishing. In my view it produces an incomparable result.
(Pith helmet on!)
Last edited by indianwells; Aug 24, 2011 at 9:00 am
Aug 24, 2011, 9:31 am
#285
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: UK
Posts: 11,969
So in practice ie in reality - no - basically the steak is in fact cooked. All you're doing is caramelising the outside and adding colour to make it more attractive. It cooks the outer few millimeters. Compare that with cooking all of the steak from the outside ie the traditional frying / grilling method then it's very precise. With grilling / frying - the outside will always be considerably different from the middle. This method avoids it almost completely.
I can assure you I get a pretty good seared crust - but it won't give you leathery if that's what your after - unless you over do it. It's just a very high temperature for a shorter period.