Is it rude to serve the well done steak eater a lesser cut?

Cafe Society
1

I was just reminiscing about a get together I had not too long ago. I was grilling up steaks. I decided to splurge and bought prime cut ribeyes. Even though I knew one of my guests eats her steaks well done (with ketchup. lol).

I thought about buying her a lesser cut ribeye (choice) but then I decided against it because I didn’t want to risk any hurt feelings should she find out.

But thinking about it further. Does it even matter to the well done steak eater? I mean, all the fat has been rendered out of the steak anyway. So could they taste a difference?

If you’re a well done steak eater, would you care?

2

It’s like using top shelf liquor for mixed drinks. Does it make sense to not use top shelf for mixed drinks? Yes. But will a mixed drink taste better with top shelf? Also, yes.

3

Why not just some nicely seasoned charcoal briquettes?

I took a buddy the The Pantry in LA. Since he had been helping me, I told me the meal was on me. He ordered the best cut of meat… then said “well done”. The waiter could not hide his disgust, and said “I suppose the chef could butterfly it”.

I was ashamed to show my face there again for a while.

Yeah, a much lesser cut of meat. Say a sirloin.

4

Good man. Don’t let anyone tell you how to eat your meat.
Or anything else.

5

I’m a super-rare steak eater, meaning I want a good vet to have a shot at reviving the cow from the plate. So I’m no judge of whether your guest could taste the difference between a prime and choice cut. I suspect not.

However, in your circumstance to assuage my potential guilt, I’d save my splurge for another day and just purchase/serve all choice grade steaks.

But then, my preferred cut is a New York strip. Sirloin. :wink:

6

I don’t tend to eat well done anymore, but I did a lot when younger. I do remember tasting some difference in different steaks, but I don’t remember it being that distinct like some people talk about for rare meat.

What I would probably do is buy everyone the same quality, but then maybe give her the least good one.

Though the real struggle is knowing how to make a good well done steak. As I believe @Chronos said once, it’s really not quite the same dish. I believe he mentioned basting and tenderizing.

7

No reason to order something well marbled when well done. Why spend the extra money?

It is a very nice cut. And can be “okay” if gotten well done.

8

Seeing somebody order nice meat well done gets an internal wince out of me, but people should eat what they like.

To the OP, I vote that it would have been rude and good on you for not doing it.

9

I wouldn’t serve them a different cut. i.e. If I’m serving ribeyes then everyone is going to get a ribeye. But if someone orders theirs well done, they’re getting the worst ribeye I have. They won’t know the difference.

10

I’ll take your word on that, as I will never eat a well done steak. I don’t mind even if they’re barely warm in the middle. I just prefer the less fatty cut.

But I agree with others who say people should have their steaks prepared as they like, and I don’t think as a guest they should have a lesser cut just because of how they prefer its preparation. I think the OP did the right thing.

11

I’ve read that it’s entirely possible to cook up a delicious, juicy well done steak, and that any restaurant that hands over a charcoal puck does so deliberately out of spite?

12

A charcoal puck is too far but a well-done steak is by definition over 160 F. There’s only so much you can do to make it better. Here’s a comparison of how much moisture is lost in a Rare, Medium, and Well Done steak:

13

Yes, I wouldn’t take the culinary advice from anyone who really thinks a well done steak is anything like a charcoal briquette. They’re really just telling you they don’t know to cook or taste.

14

Or engaging in a bit of hyperbole. Which is how I took the comment.

15

I’ve had some amazing well-done steaks. The only reason people think well-done steaks are inferior is because so many cooks pull this garbage, using the worst piece of meat they have and then deliberately ruining it whenever anyone orders well-done. Fact is, when done right, fully-cooked meat is much more tender than rare meat. That’s why we cook meat to begin with.

16

Yes, it’s rude, and so is giving that person the worst piece. And yes, even those who eat their steak well-done can tell if you give them a crummy piece.

17

Yes, it’s rude, and yes, I’d care. I’m an occasional well-done steak eater. Depends on how I feel that day, I can go anything from rare to well-done. And I’d know if you served me a shitty steak even if it’s well-done.

Moisture isn’t everything.

18

The real question is who is the rat in your family who would betray you. Without a rat, you’d be home free because the eater would never know.

19

I’m going to post a side-opinion. But first, the guest is entitled to eat steak the way they like, even if well-done with ketchup. And I wouldn’t buy a lesser cut of meat, but if any of the cuts that I purchased were thinner, less-well marbled, or the like, I would volunteer that cut for them, as less will be lost. The reason I wouldn’t get the lesser cut is because while they would likely never know, -I- would, and would have to understand that I had, to save a few bucks, treated them in some minor way as less.

Okay, back to the side statement. I would also talk to said friend, at a totally different time, if it was that they liked their steak well done, or if they just overall didn’t like steak! Some people who ask well done, and then soak it in sauce (Wooster, A1, Ketchup, you name it) don’t actually really care for it, but have always eaten it with friends/family/etc. They may not even be able to articulate it, but you could always ask if there is something they like better.

Of course if they say there’s nothing they like more than a well-done steak, that’s a different story. I wouldn’t agree, but not my tastebuds.

I make a big point of this because for years/decades, my wife would have a well done steak with me, or her family, and then soak the whole thing in sauces. And she’d get fillet mignon and have it butterflied and well done, and I’d shudder. Years later, she just admitted she didn’t like the taste, but felt socially forced to have it. And once she realized it, she realized she really didn’t like the taste of pretty much any meat.

So she’s vegetarian now, and a whole lot happier with most of her meals.

20

Oh, I should also mention that while I’ve eaten very good well-done steaks, I wasn’t the one who cooked them. My knowledge of precisely how to get that effect extends as far as “hand it to Kevin at the cookout, and ask him to do it”.

(and I also fixed the mention-tag, though it was kind of unnecessary after I stumbled upon the thread on my own, then saw the flag)