# Explain to me ordering a steak medium-well **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2007, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-ordering-a-steak-medium-well/426757 "2007-11-16T20:47:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-ordering-a-steak-medium-well/426757/41 "2007-11-17T05:17:37Z")
I’m sure the board of health in Oregon won’t either. I think it’s a misunderstanding of what can and can’t be served rare on the part of restauranteurs. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-ordering-a-steak-medium-well/426757/42 "2007-11-17T07:37:36Z")
[QUOTE=AHunter3] This is how it was when I was a kid. Back then I ordered my steaks medium RARE. Now I order them medium WELL to get the same degree of cooked-ness. [/QUOTE] Once again, this is news to me. My experience is doneness temps have gone UP over the years. [Here’s a comparison of traditional temps vs. updated temps.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doneness) A traditional medium rare was 130-140 F. Now it’s 145-150 F, which used to pass for medium to medium-well. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-ordering-a-steak-medium-well/426757/43 "2007-11-17T08:19:58Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Borgia] According to my bartender/food-server buddy, the board of health won’t let you serve rare chicken in D.C. [/QUOTE] I live in British Columbia. A lot of the American tourists are perplexed when our waiters inform them that we are legally restricted to serving well-done hamburgers. You cannot order a rare to medium-well hamburger at the restaurant where I worked and, legally, in the rest of the province for that matter AFAIK. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-ordering-a-steak-medium-well/426757/44 "2007-11-17T08:44:15Z")
[QUOTE=Shamozzle] I live in British Columbia. A lot of the American tourists are perplexed when our waiters inform them that we are legally restricted to serving well-done hamburgers. You cannot order a rare to medium-well hamburger at the restaurant where I worked and, legally, in the rest of the province for that matter AFAIK. [/QUOTE] That’s just many levels of wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-ordering-a-steak-medium-well/426757/45 "2007-11-17T11:23:57Z")
[QUOTE=Equipoise] > [@bouv](#): > > Almost all blood is drained out of the cow before it’s slaughtered That’s creepy imagry. [/QUOTE] But the rest of the slaughterhouse is fuzzy bunnies and sunshine and unicorns crapping rainbows on my brain. It’s a strange comment to make. I eat meat. I know where it comes from. I don’t think any part of the process is any creepier than any other. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-ordering-a-steak-medium-well/426757/46 "2007-11-17T11:26:11Z")
[QUOTE=Equipoise] But that’s understandable. Why would a chef want to waste a beautiful cut of meat if it’s just going to be cooked to resemble shoe leather? [/QUOTE] I don’t think well done meat resembles shoe leather unless the chef can’t cook. As far as I’m concerned, any chef who serves anything less than the best he has available deserves to have Gordon Ramsey descend on him with full-spit screaming curses and flying elbows. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-ordering-a-steak-medium-well/426757/47 "2007-11-17T12:57:12Z")
Medium-well, for me, is a compromise I struck with my husband. I like my steaks red, he’s terrified I’m going to kill myself, so I agreed that while I sure as hell am not ordering my steaks well-done, I’ll go medium well if it makes him happy. There you have it. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-ordering-a-steak-medium-well/426757/48 "2007-11-17T13:41:53Z")
[QUOTE=olives4march] Medium-well, for me, is a compromise I struck with my husband. I like my steaks red, he’s terrified I’m going to kill myself, so I agreed that while I sure as hell am not ordering my steaks well-done, I’ll go medium well if it makes him happy. [/QUOTE] Just tell him you would rather risk food poisoning than [cancer](http://altmedicine.about.com/od/healthykitchenrecipes/a/meatcarcinogens.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-ordering-a-steak-medium-well/426757/49 "2007-11-17T13:59:25Z")
[QUOTE=olivesmarch4th] Medium-well, for me, is a compromise I struck with my husband. I like my steaks red, he’s terrified I’m going to kill myself, so I agreed that while I sure as hell am not ordering my steaks well-done, I’ll go medium well if it makes him happy. [/QUOTE] I’d worry more about ground beef causing problems since that tends to mix up meat from many different carcasses, spreading any potential contaminants like E. coli throughout the meat and giving a better chance of getting something like “mad cow” prions, as well. The E. coli risk is why some area regulations/some restaurants’ policies are to cook ground beef to well-done only. This is speaking as a vegetarian, as well. My husband is the one who’s more likely to be nervous about seeing more pink than he’s comfortable with in a cut of pork that I cook, though that’s beginning to dwindle. As mentioned above, pork doesn’t really have the historic risk of trich that it used to have (at least in the US and IIRC the UK and continental Europe), and in the US, game meat has a much higher risk of trich. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-ordering-a-steak-medium-well/426757/50 "2007-11-17T14:02:23Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth] > [@Equipoise](#): > > [Quote=bouv] > > Almost all blood is drained out of the cow before it’s slaughtered That’s creepy imagry. [/quote] But the rest of the slaughterhouse is fuzzy bunnies and sunshine and unicorns crapping rainbows on my brain. It’s a strange comment to make. I eat meat. I know where it comes from. I don’t think any part of the process is any creepier than any other. [/QUOTE] No, basically I think **Equipoise** (if I’ve kept these attributions straight) would be happier with the image of a cow being bled out before it’s _butchered_. The way **bouv** phrased it, it sounded like the cow was exsanguinated alive. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-ordering-a-steak-medium-well/426757/51 "2007-11-17T14:52:21Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] No, basically I think **Equipoise** (if I’ve kept these attributions straight) would be happier with the image of a cow being bled out before it’s _butchered_. The way **bouv** phrased it, it sounded like the cow was exsanguinated alive. :eek: [/QUOTE] I knew that. I still don’t find that method of killing the animal “creepy”, just too slow for a modern industrialized operation. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-ordering-a-steak-medium-well/426757/52 "2007-11-17T15:03:58Z")
Exsanguinate. A wonderful word. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-ordering-a-steak-medium-well/426757/53 "2007-11-17T15:21:30Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Exsanguinate. A wonderful word. [/QUOTE] It is. Though when your kid asks you to define it, you’re not really supposed to say, “Here, let me demonstrate!” ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-ordering-a-steak-medium-well/426757/54 "2007-11-17T15:44:06Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] It is. Though when your kid asks you to define it, you’re not really supposed to say, “Here, let me demonstrate!” [/QUOTE] Same thing with “defenestrate,” another fine word. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-ordering-a-steak-medium-well/426757/55 "2007-11-17T15:54:16Z")
Yes, I’m fairly sure the cow is blatted with a gun while still entirely intact, then bled, then butchered. I think it was a typo. Or maybe you do it differently in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-ordering-a-steak-medium-well/426757/56 "2007-11-17T15:58:13Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth] I knew that. I still don’t find that method of killing the animal “creepy”, just too slow for a modern industrialized operation. [/QUOTE] Malacandra was right, it was creepy thinking of the cow being bled to death while alive. I’m a hard-core meat-eater, I eat steak every day (medium rare), but my reaction when I read that was :eek: . What I said was meant to be kinda jokey, not seriously horrified, but I just didn’t use a smiley. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-ordering-a-steak-medium-well/426757/57 "2007-11-17T16:00:11Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Yes, I’m fairly sure the cow is blatted with a gun while still entirely intact, then bled, then butchered. I think it was a typo. Or maybe you do it differently in the US. [/QUOTE] I’m pretty sure the US method is using the captive-bolt gun or a quick electric shock. Those only make the animal unconscious, and death does indeed occur by exsanguination. So (when it works right, and assuming unconsciousness lasts that long, which it doesn’t always) the animal is alive but unconscious at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Resistance\_is\_Character-Formin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/90db22/32.png) [@Resistance\_is\_Character-Formin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Resistance_is_Character-Formin)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-ordering-a-steak-medium-well/426757/58 "2007-11-17T16:35:36Z")
I like my beef rare (except for ground beef, which can only have a little bit of pink, i.e. medium well), but the few times I’ve had pork that was only cooked to a medium/medium-well state, there was a strong distasteful flavor to it. I know pork is safe to eat rare these days, but I think it tastes much better well done. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-ordering-a-steak-medium-well/426757/59 "2007-11-18T01:01:51Z")
Medium-well also has less of the burnt black crust on the outside. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-ordering-a-steak-medium-well/426757.md?page=2)