How do you have your steak?

Sean

At dinner tonight I had a 15 minute argument with someone who insisted on having their steak incredibly well done. I don't usually care how other people eat their food but it pissed me off that this person refused to even try a piece of rare meat, purely on the fact that it looked 'too bloody' rather than any sort of taste preference! So I got to thinking, how does everyone in here prefer to have their steak cooked?

For me it can't be anything more than rare, and if it is high quality meat, incredibly rare.

Paulathon

Never order your steak 'well done' because the kitchen staff will drag out the oldest unsold cut of meat, and char it beyond all recognition. Ordering rare or medium rare forces them to use something fresh. Just one of the tidbits you learn from Anthony Bourdain's 'Kitchen Confidential'.

Apreche

There is no doubt that less cooked meat tastes better. However, I really like the outside of the steak to be seared nicely to carmelize whatever sort of flavoring you put on that bad boy. Also, while rarer meat tastes better, I don't like cold meat. The meat must be hot all the way through. Thus, I usually order medium.

Neito

I don't even think you can order a rare steak in Massachusetts. It's a health regulation. Thus, I order Medium.

Hank

I like a steak medium rare: get a nice rib-eye, let it sit on the counter for about 30 or 45 minutes (cover it with a towel and keep it out of the dog's reach), this avoids the cold inside issue Scott brings up. Take your cast iron skillet ($15 at your local hardware store) and get it hotter than hell over high heat. Rub a small bit of oil on the steak, salt and pepper. Put it on the skillet and don't move it for 30 seconds, not matter what you smell or see or inhale. Flip and repeat.

You can pull it off and rest it 10-15 minute now and it'll be great, on the rare side of medium rare. If you want it more done, finish it in the oven.

I like mine with blue cheese and something green and a glass of red wine.

Another beef preparation I have gotten to like is Kitfo, an Ethiopian dish. the beef is raw, chopped, and mixed with some butter and served with some sort of crumbly cheese. Like steak tartar and carpaccio, it is the essence of beefiness. I'm going to an Ethiopian place tonight, and ordering that for sure.

Mosquitoboy

I live in Massachusetts and in cheaper restaurants like Unos and Applebees you can not even order medium rare. It sucks.
I love medium rare. It's warm, it's tasty, and it has never gotten me sick.

kage_rod

I don't even think you can order a rare steak in Massachusetts. It's a health regulation. Thus, I order Medium.

I think you're talking about Blue Rare - it's basically barely touched by the grill before thrown onto a plate. Now -that- is dangerous. And it's still cold in the middle, especially if they got it frozen from the cooler, which happens in the rushes... ><;
I like rare - medium rare. I've never figured out really which is which, I just like bloody and warm and -yum-. I find that the longer they're cooked, the harder and tougher they are, the grosser it is to me. My dad used to make steaks and other meats -really- well done (I can't remember if it was because he forgot, preferred it that way, or just wanted to make sure it was cooked...).

I learned pretty much all my steak stuff through Denny's. I cooked there for about two three months, and they explained how to figure it out (poorly, I may add, because I don't understand much).. They'd move their fingers and poke that piece of meat between their palm and thumb. ... I still dun understand how that works.

Viga

I like my steak nice, brown and hot with that small sliver of pink in it. It's not well done or quite medium. It's just that. Add A1 sauce and potatoes! Eggs if it's the morning.

kage_rod

POTATOES! =3 They are the win.

I never understood why steak + eggs = good...

Rym

I eat my steak basically raw, merely seared briefly and lightly seasoned with pepper.  I prefer it to be warm in the center, but otherwise uncooked.
Prime rib, however, should always be eaten medium or thereabouts.  Many people who prefer rare meat will make the mistake of ordering a rare prime rib in the course of their lives, only to be served a tough, flavourless mass.  Prime rib benefits greatly from some manner of cooking.

Apreche

It pretty much comes down to this. If you like the flavor of meat itself, rarer is better. If you like the flavor of cooking, fire, sauce, flavors, marinade, etc. then more cooking is better for you. I like medium or slightly rarer than medium so I can get meat flavor and cooking flavor that is easy to chew and is also hot.

TheWhaleShark

Filet mignon should be served as rare as humanly possible. Preferably, the only warmth in the meat should derive from the residual body heat of the cow you just slaughtered.

As far as safety is concerned, at least with steaks, 99% of them are perfectly safe. It gets tricky with anything that's been processed more than that (ground beef, for example), but entire steaks are generally pathogen-free. Of course, raw and undercooked meats still carry a higher risk of conveying foodborne disease if the organisms are there, so it's up to you if you want to take a small risk of contracting illness in order to get the maximum flavor from your meat.

Rochelle

Medium rare, nothing more. It should be against the law if people order it more cooked than that.

zombie a gogo

Then I am thus a law breaker ;-)

kiwi_bird

English.

Ilmarinen

As rare as possible. Warmth be damned, all I care is that it bleeds and isn't frozen.

La Petit Mort

Either rare or medium rare, depends on my mood. XD

rhinocero

For most cuts of steak, anyone who says anything other than rare or medium rare is a heretic. 

...

Hmmmm... I seem to be a minority on this, but, I don't want my steak to be rare. All my experiences with somewhat rare meat made me feel nauseas. It's not like I faint on seeing blood, but the juice that comes out of the steak being all red colored, an off-red, always manages to make me feel sick and thus I do not really know how a rare steak tastes. Perhaps I should use a blindfold, that way I won't be able to see the bad blood... neither would I see where my steak lies. *grumbles*

EDIT: *hides from rhinocero*

trogdor9

Then I am thus a law breaker ;-)
I doubt the law says anything about you cooking your own steaks, just restaurants cooking it for you.

MrRoboto

Blood is the only sauce a steak needs (don't remember where I heard that, but its quite accurate)

Linkigi(Link-ee-jee)

I really dislike bloody steaks, so I normally order medium rare or medium. Blood makes me feel nervous about the safety of the meat.

Hank

I really dislike bloody steaks, so I normally order medium rare or medium. Blood makes me feel nervous about the safety of the meat.

For the record, I don't think that is actually blood. It is just water from the tissue, infused with beefy goodness.

The beef is bled when slaughtered, and the blood is probably valuable for other things. I don't know if any of the blood sausages are made with cow's blood, or if it is useful for something else. It's not in your steak in any large amount.

Besides, how would blood make the beef less safe to eat, unless you are trying to stay kosher?

Erwin

I like it thin and well done and I also do not like blood on my meat :P

rhinocero

Hmmmm... I seem to be a minority on this, but, I don't want my steak to be rare. All my experiences with somewhat rare meat made me feel nauseas. It's not like I faint on seeing blood, but the juice that comes out of the steak being all red colored, an off-red, always manages to make me feel sick and thus I do not really know how a rare steak tastes. Perhaps I should use a blindfold, that way I won't be able to see the bad blood... neither would I see where my steak lies. *grumbles* EDIT: *hides from rhinocero*

If you don't like your steaks rare, don't order steaks.  I mean, I'm not trying to be impolite here, it's like Rym says:  If you don't like the taste of the meat, don't get steak, or at least good steaks. When I say steak, I don't mean beef.  I mean those cuts of beef that are good enough that they can be eaten without a lot of flavoring.  If you want flavoring, don't put it on one of those cuts.
Also, as Cowdog says, I don't think that is actually blood.  I mean, I've had pieces of meat (chicken, specifically) that was underdone to the point of actually having blood, and it's not the same at all.

Page

More then rare, but a lot less then medium rare.

Also, as Cowdog says, I don't think that is actually blood. I mean, I've had pieces of meat (chicken, specifically) that was underdone to the point of actually having blood, and it's not the same at all.

It's a mix of blood and other juices, or so saith the Wikipedias

Jason

I like mine done medium-well.

For the record, I think the lot of you are out there trying to flex your muscles and act like you have hair on your chest. Ordering a rare steak doesn't make you manly or cool. "Raw or none at all" is just as silly as bragging about your IQ.

AtheriShadow

Medium.

Andrew

Burnt. With ketchup.

rhinocero

I like mine done medium-well. For the record, I think the lot of you are out there trying to flex your muscles and act like you have hair on your chest. Ordering a rare steak doesn't make you manly or cool. "Raw or none at all" is just as silly as bragging about your IQ.


All I'm saying is, some cuts of meat are meant to be done in certain ways.  Steak is the best and most expensive cut of the cow.  It's the only one where you can cook it rare with very little flavoring and not have it taste like shit.  If you want that kind of flavor and well-done-ness, why are you ordering a steak?

Sean

I like mine done medium-well. For the record, I think the lot of you are out there trying to flex your muscles and act like you have hair on your chest. Ordering a rare steak doesn't make you manly or cool. "Raw or none at all" is just as silly as bragging about your IQ.

All I'm saying is, some cuts of meat are meant to be done in certain ways. Steak is the best and most expensive cut of the cow. It's the only one where you can cook it rare with very little flavoring and not have it taste like shit. If you want that kind of flavor and well-done-ness, why are you ordering a steak?

I'm definitely with you on this one. Most decent restaurants in my town will refuse to cook anything past medium. The chefs just don't want to have terrible food go out of their kitchens.