I’m the soft-hearted sort, so I want the cow to think she has a chance right up to the last minute. Make my steak rare, please! Or “only mostly dead,” if you like movie references… (Of course, that means that there are some family members around whom I can’t eat steak. The sight of my bloody slab of beef puts them right off their food. True story: The first time my father met my mother, he was a customer at my grandparents’ restaurant. According to family lore, his waitress - Mom - told the cook - Grandmother - that “Some idiot wants a T-bone, ‘lightly burnt.’” Despite his horrifying abuse of beef, my mother married him. Good thing we were mostly poor when I was a kid, so we couldn’t often afford to be subjected to my father’s barbaric ruination of steak during my formative years.)
In my experience as a waiter, Well Done is not a popular choice; it’s the least common way to get a steak ordered. Rare was second least common. Most common was medium rare, followed by medium or medium well. People who ordered medium well seemed to be the most likely to complain about how their steak was cooked; folks who ordered medium were the least likely to complain. That’s my anecdotal experience but it covers a lot of diners and a lot of steaks.
I chose medium well because that’s what it’s called around here when you don’t want the steak like blood, but don’t want it burnt.
The best places for accuracy that I’ve seen let you define the temperature and duration. The rest show you pictures. I agree it would be nice for the words to be enough.
BTW the table around here:
rare: pink on the outside, red in the middle
medium rare: brown on the outside, red in the middle
medium: brown on the outside: pink in the middle
medium well: brown on the outside; a strip of pink in the very middle
well done: black on the outside. what I usually call burnt.
I chose medium, but really I like a sort of medium-medium-rare. It’s hard to get the ‘sweet spot’ that satisfies me – medium usually gets me something too well, but medium rare ends up bloody. Honestly, the only good luck I’ve had with steak has been at Peter Luger’s, where the outside is slightly charred (oh! oh! the yummy burnt fat! soooo gooood!) while the inside is pinkish red, and yields its juicy flesh to your knife so easily you could probably just use a fork. Mmmmmmm!
(blinks) Er, sorry. What was the question again? Oh yeah. Medium is my answer.
There wasn’t an option for it but I always eat my steaks “Blue”.
I like it that way too but I really hope you’re deglazing that skillet to make a sauce from the bits that are stuck to the pan. A little red wine, sugar, cracked pepper, reduce - goddammit, now I’m hungry.
I voted rare by the way but I only order steak at higher end places now. At cheaper places it’s just not worth it, they overcook it every time.
I didn’t vote as there was no Well Done option. I’ve had steak cooked medium before (even though I ordered well done). I just did not like the flavour. When a steak is cooked medium there is something that I can only describe as a tang off it. Ordering a steak well done does not mean you get a burned hockey puck. A good chef can cook it so that it is flavoursome and tender.
I also think its the one food people feel they can be superior over. “Oh you take your steak well done? You obviously kill puppies for fun, now excuse me while I tell everyone as loudly as I can that I want my steak mooing.”
There’s nothing wrong with well done if your doing it because you like it. If your doing it because of germs I think your priorities are wrong. I’d rather risk food poisoning for a few nights than terminal cancer from polyaromatic hydrocarbons and heterocyclic amines found in overcooked meat. Besides, most of the nasty bugs are on the outside of the meat that gets cooked even rare.
SOMEWHAT TANGENT:
I pesonally find it annoying that a poll is offered where one choice is expressed in derogatory terms. No, it’s not a rules violation, although it’s annoying. (Note that, if one of the choices were a personal insult – for instance, if “I’m a moron” were a choice – then we’d either shut down or modify the poll, and warn the pollster.)
Labrador Deceiver: It’s very easy to read that “why bother” as meaning “I’m vegetarian.” That’s the way I read it, and ditto others. Also, it’s very annoying to people when they come to a poll and their preference isn’t a choice.* So, your comment about “get a sense of humor” is misplaced, but technically not a rules violation.
- Personal aside: My federal representative constantly sends out questionnaires, polling his constitutents, where the only choices are those reflecting his view. “What’s the greatest issue facing the country today?” and the only choices are “Preventing socialized medicine” or “Ensuring the right to bear arms” or “Winning the war in Iraq.” It’s extremely annoying. I therefore don’t look kindly on polls where the questions themselves introduce a bias.
Right, b/c everyone wants to know how vegetarians like their steak.
My comment wasn’t misplaced at all.
I like it warm through, but raw and bloody is fine with me. However, my dining companions are all too frequently squicked out by that, so yeah, sear the outsides briefly.
Perhaps those people who like their steak well done weren’t willing to accept the “why bother” slam of their preference. Just because someone thinks your tastes are worthy of insult doesn’t mean you have to adopt their phrasing.
I’d either roll my eyes, or be slightly amused. I can see either side, and I agree with those who say it’s rather pointless and tired to deliberately screw with wording of a poll.
That being said, I’d probably just roll my eyes and click the button anyway.
Exactly. And I’d then encourage them to submit a post saying something along the lines of, “I voted ‘Why Bother’ because I like my steak well-done. It wasn’t a choice - would it be that hard to submit a poll without biased questions or snark in the options?” Because we have some pretty bad polling techniques right now, and it’s pretty sad for this group.
(I’d also encourage them to try a medium steak…)
As rare as I can get it, just sear that puppy a little. I like seasoning my meat though so unless it’s very high quality beef, I don’t want large quantities of it raw - can’t help sneaking a bite before it goes on the grill.
Curses, it’s not even 8am and I want a steak.
Dogie, I think it is. Not “puppy.”
Then y’all come sit by me and my medium rare steak. 
Medium rare, though I’ll eat anything that A) I can cut and B) isn’t cold, which is pretty much everything between raw and extra-dead.
TWDuke, if I understand you correctly, the type of steak you like is what’s called Pittsburgh Rare. Try ordering your next steak “Pittsburgh” and see if that suits; any steakhouse worth its grill brush will understand the term.
Just let that steer look at the grill for about 10 seconds and then serve it up.
I like medium rare but I’ve found when I order that at restaurants it is hard to cut so I tend to order medium unless I’m at a place where I will get very high grade meet.