I don’t cook steak at home. I live in an apartment, and there’s no way to get the kind of heat needed to cook a steak right. I will happily grill outdoors, though.
Favorite cuts, in order:
Porterhouse
Skirt steak (actually, that’s a tie for first, and let me tell you, the Argentines know what to do with a skirt steak).
Prime rib
Filet mignon
And finally, a plug. My favorite traditional steakhouse used to be Peter Luger’s, in Brooklyn, but lately Keene’s, in Manhattan, has edged it out (although there are a couple of Argentine places in Queens that give it a run for the money, but they’re not traditional in that skirk steak is the main attraction, not porterhouse or filet). Not by much, but still, it’s in the lead. And, as an alternative to steak, they serve a mutton chop that is absolute heaven.
I voted “Why Bother” because the option I needed was not there, I eat my Steaks “Extra Well Done” (I generally order them “dead, burnt, no hair”). If I see undercooked stuff (not just my food, if I SEE it) my appetite is GONE! food should be cooked and red or pink meat is thoroughly disgusting!
I don’t think butterflying is going to help. The problem is getting an adequate heat for the sear. I’ve never tried doing steak black-and-blue, but a cast iron pan heated up until it starts smoking does a pretty damn good job of making the crust for at least medium-rare and rare steaks.
Personally, I take my steak rare. I’ll allow for people to take it up to medium.
But for those who are advocating well done, I just shake my head…
I agree with Ted Allen, who said that steak just isn’t tasty when it’s well done.
And if “killing germs” is such an issue, then why are things like beef carpaccio and steak tartare perfectly viable presentation options for beef?
For those who are really into having their meat cooked all the way through, I suggest getting a roast and braising it for a few hours. Fully cooked, but not at the expense of any flavor.
Maybe the one that needs a sense of humor is the one trying to tell the joke.
carnivorousplant said:
Any place I’ve eaten first they ask you how you want it. Then when they bring it to you they ask you if it is done enough. I’ve never had anyone complain about cooking it a little longer if it isn’t done enough. I’m not a dick about it, but they are supposed to cook it to my order, they need to get it the way I ordered it.
And if I ever found evidence of food tampering like that, I would have a long talk with the manager and explain that I was going to sue his ass off unless he brought the cook out to my face, had him apologize in front of the full room, and then fired his ass on the spot. Food tampering is intolerable. It should be a shooting offense.
If you work in food service, make sure it doesn’t happen.
You won’t be able to get it black and blue, but if you heat a cast iron skillet to very high heat to sear the sides, and finish it in a 450 degree oven for a few minutes, you’ll get a damn nice rendition of rare. At least that’s what I do with mine. I feel your pain living in an apartment; there’s not many places to put a grill on the 2nd story of a triple decker house in Boston.
Since you are now running my life you must be my Daddy so there is the small matter of unpaid allowance, let’s see 45 years at $10.00 a week…
please send the check to:
Unclviny
123 Bite Me road
Eat Poop, NJ
Anyone who says that well done steak is flavorless is an idiot that does not know how to cook steak.
I (and all true gourmets) prefer my steak still on the cow. You don’t get real flavor unless you’re out in the field gnawing bits off the animal (someone will need to hold it down for you) with all the bodily juices flowing freely.
Anyone who eats steak detached from the cow is hopelessly bourgeois.
There’s a point between medium and medium well where the pink part of the steak goes from a “raw” juicy texture (which I do love) to a cooked texture, but the color hasn’t quite changed yet. But everyone has a different definition of “cooked through,” as evidenced by this thread. I love the taste of the meat juices and the different textures meat cooked to medium rare has, so that’s why I prefer lower levels of doneness. I think they taste “beefier” and more meat-like to me. I don’t put anything but salt and pepper on my steaks, so that’s all the flavor to me. But bad cuts of meat are better (in my opinion) at higher levels of doneness, since they don’t have the tenderness of good beef, and tend to be chewy and gristly.
For example, I don’t think I’ve ever had a good steak in Central or Eastern Europe. I tried buying steak cuts in Budapest (which are butchered differently) and preparing them exactly as I do here in the US, and they’ve always ended up chewy and tough at medium rare. Only cuts from the tenderloin seemed to do well, but those cuts, while tender, tend to be low on the beefy flavor. With this in mind, I could understand why my Polish-born parents are so used to marinating the hell out of beef and cooking it well done.
I used to be a medium rare type of guy. A few years back, I noticed that my medium rares were mostly coming to the table as mediums. So I began ordering rare, and all has been fine.
This summer my gf and I were dining in a nice restaurant. She had an awesome filet mignon done rare. I was having the vegetarian tasting menu. Our waiter thought this juxtaposition was hilarious.
Medium rare or less. My parents always cooked all meats well done. I love a medium rare to rare steak. Yum.
Someone recently posted a tip for tenderizing steaks here on the board. Put salt all over the outside of the steak for 15 minutes and then wash it off and then cook. I tried it and it was amazing!!
Even though this is an old post (and the poster since has been banned), this needs to be addressed.
Yes - well done will kill most germs. But so will cooking it rare! The germs people are paranoid about come from contamination after the butchering process - and they can only access the surface of the meat. If you’re looking to kill “most” of the germs, then cooking the outside surface (i.e. searing it) will get what you need done.
There’s a restaurant chain around here called Sweetwater Tavern (don’t know how far-flung they are). They have a description of how they cook steak for rare, medium, etc., and when they get to well-done it says “order chicken.”
Seeing as I had a tooth pulled today, I would have to answer “through a straw,” but once I can chew again, it will be medium. As a little nipper, I only ate well done beef, but my tastes have changed over the years.
