# Best ways to prepare a steak... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 18, 2003, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ways-to-prepare-a-steak/202405 "2003-09-18T16:43:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ways-to-prepare-a-steak/202405/41 "2003-09-19T19:48:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zenster \* > \*\*Word, **Threadkiller** (and worth repeating). > > This is the only [topping](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=755266#post755266) I permit on my steaks. I brought some whole corn-fed beef filets with me the last time I went to Denmark. Imagine my chagrin when I asked everyone at the party how they wanted their steaks, only to hear a unanimous chorous of “_well done!_” > > They didn’t like the Napa Valley Vichon Chardonnay (too dry!) nor the Charles Krug Cabernet Sauvignon (eew, red wine). > > Flaming Philistines! > > I recently had to watch a good pal of mine take one of the finest organic fork-tender ribeye steaks that I’ve had in years (probably something like $15.[sup]00[/sup] a pound) and completely smother this masterpiece of bovine degustation with frickin’ A-1 Sauce. Words cannot possibly express my distress at having borne witness to this desecration. Somehow, we have managed to remain friends. \*\* Ugh! My Sister and BIL will only eat meat that’s been cooked until it’s leather. We went to a nice place in Indianapolis called St. Elmos and they both got 10 oz. fillets and ordered them well done. I could have cried. Then they sent them back and asked that they be cooked MORE! I swear that what started off as a couple of very nice 2” tall steaks were reduced to less than an inch in height after they had been ridiculously dehydrated. And A1 should be reserved for, well I’m not sure what, but it shure as hell does not belong on a good steak. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ways-to-prepare-a-steak/202405/42 "2003-09-19T20:02:15Z")
Oh man, zoid, that’s aweful. I’ve been to St. Elmo’s (I live in Indianapolis). It’s a wonderful place that recently celebrated it’s 100th anniversary. Not the greatest steaks ever, but they certainly know what they’re doing. Honestly, what’s the attraction to well done meat? I don’t get it. Are the health benefits _that_ drastic? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ways-to-prepare-a-steak/202405/43 "2003-09-19T20:37:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zoid \* > \*\*Ugh! My Sister and BIL will only eat meat that’s been cooked until it’s leather. We went to a nice place in Indianapolis called St. Elmos and they both got 10 oz. fillets and ordered them well done. I could have cried. Then they sent them back and asked that they be cooked MORE! I swear that what started off as a couple of very nice 2” tall steaks were reduced to less than an inch in height after they had been ridiculously dehydrated. > > And A1 should be reserved for, well I’m not sure what, but it shure as hell does not belong on a good steak. \*\* The first and only time I ordered a well-done steak, I was 12. My parents took me to The Saber Jet restaurant here in town, which was my first experience in a ‘real’ restaurant. I wanted a hamburger. The waiter explained that they didn’t serve hamburgers. I threw a pout and insisted, so the waiter went to the kitchen and reaffirmed that no, hamburgers were not going to be issuing from this chef’s kitchen now or in the future. Well, I figured a well-done steak was probably like a hamburger, so I said ‘rilly rilly rilly well done’. The cinder that was sitting on my plate resembled more a chunk of coal than a piece of meat, but I stubbornly chased it around the plate and chewed and chewed and chewed and choked it down. Never again. Oh, and A-1 sauce, ketchup and other tomato/sugar-based condiments belong in the bottle, unopened. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ways-to-prepare-a-steak/202405/44 "2003-09-19T20:39:05Z")
**Munch** , St. Elmo’s is above average but you CAN find better. What health benefits are you referring to? Last time I heard, the more charred a piece of meat is the more carcinogens it has. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ways-to-prepare-a-steak/202405/45 "2003-09-19T21:26:48Z")
Yeah, I had a strip steak there a few months ago, and it had quite the ribbon of fat/gristle running through it. Pretty disappointing. But the shrimp cocktail is worth it. As for the health benefits, everytime someone orders something well done, they usually refer to red meat being bad for them. I take their word for it, because I don’t want to make waves, but is there any truth to that statement at all? ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ways-to-prepare-a-steak/202405/46 "2003-09-20T00:47:13Z")
The outer crust on a charred cut of beef is rich in _nitrosamines_. These carcinogenic componds are also found in beer and cured or smoked meats. Here is an [excerpt](http://interactive.usask.ca/ski/agriculture/food/foodnut/constit/constit_add4.html): “Nitrates and nitrites are also used as flavor enhancers and colorants. The public became aware of their cancer-causing possibilities years ago. Nitrate itself has not been shown to produce a carcinogenic effect in animals, but it can be converted by bacteria in human saliva and in the intestine into nitrite, and nitrite can chemically react with certain other chemicals normally present in the body (amines and amides) to produce compounds called nitrosamines. Nitrosamine varieties number around 300 and roughly 90 percent of these have been found to be carcinogenic. The ability of these additives to reduce the chance of botulism poisoning keeps them in our food.” “While it may be true that you are at a lower risk ingesting foods containing these ingredients if you don’t consume them on a daily basis, if you have sausage with your breakfast, eat a salami sandwich for lunch and ham for dinner, you are exposing yourself to high amounts of these known cancer-causing factors. Nitrates are also found in “natural” foods such as some vegetables. It is the amount of nitrosamines that are formed that is in question. So far, the amount of these substances seems to be insignificant (in scientific studies).” Anyone who tries to tell you that rare red meat is less healthy than well-done steak is blowing (steak) smoke up your @ss. I prefer a charred on-the-outside and rare-on-the-inside New York strip steak, myself. You get nice bloody meat _and_ a good dose of nitrosamines as well. The best of both worlds. ---
**Author:** ![lokij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@lokij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lokij)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ways-to-prepare-a-steak/202405/47 "2003-09-20T01:22:37Z")
This is what I do when I can’t grill my steaks. I rest the steak to room temperature and season it with cracked black pepper and just a bit of thyme, oregano and crushed red pepper. I then get some soft butter and mix it with some chopped garlic and cumin. I set my oven to broil and then quickly sear the steak in a cast iron skillet on each side. I then put a generous amount of flavored butter on top of the steak and but it in the oven to finish. After about 6 minutes or so it’s done. ---
**Author:** ![corndog\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@corndog\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corndog_man)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ways-to-prepare-a-steak/202405/48 "2003-09-20T07:05:56Z")
It’s me again. Pepper to me is just foul. Bitter even. The OP has to pan fry this meat or broil it in an oven. Dale’s is an excellent marinade. Tabasco adds heat to the meat. I sort of misquoted on the Tariyaki though. If you have have Dale’s, marinade in Tariyaki. If you ever cook a hamburger at home, put soy sauce in it. You’ll thank me for it. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ways-to-prepare-a-steak/202405/49 "2003-09-20T12:21:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Turbo Dog \* > \*\*it is very similar to **publuvr’s** way, \*\* ::snicker:: . . . you know, I’ve been thinking about a screen name change lately. This one’s more accurate than a lot that I’ve come up with . . . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ways-to-prepare-a-steak/202405.md?page=2)