# Is there any steak that is not best cooked medium rare? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 27, 2015, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-steak-that-is-not-best-cooked-medium-rare/723575 "2015-06-27T00:03:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-steak-that-is-not-best-cooked-medium-rare/723575/21 "2015-06-27T16:59:26Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I’ve never been a fan of medium-rare myself - the texture of cool raw beef sets off my gag reflex, and even though I _understand_ that a steak isn’t like a hamburger and there’s very little health risk from eating a steak that isn’t cooked through as long as the outside has been thoroughly heated, my gut keeps insisting that pink = bad. I can order a quality steak medium if I have confidence that the inside will at least be warm, but otherwise I go medium well. > > Also, seconding the above notion that carne asada simply _must_ be cooked to well-done. You want it charred, cooked through, and a little on the chewy side. Medium rare steak is neither cool nor raw. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-steak-that-is-not-best-cooked-medium-rare/723575/22 "2015-06-27T17:32:28Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Medium rare steak is neither cool nor raw. Tell that to my taste buds. ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-steak-that-is-not-best-cooked-medium-rare/723575/23 "2015-06-27T17:54:59Z")
I prefer my lamb medium which to me means light pink and hot inside verging on grey. Beef I ask for pink and warm inside. I have used the color/temp instead of rare etc. for years and it prevents misunderstanding. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-steak-that-is-not-best-cooked-medium-rare/723575/24 "2015-06-27T18:17:23Z")
I always preferred my steaks medium until I started eating good steaks at places who know what they’re doing. Now rare is the only way I’ll eat one. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-steak-that-is-not-best-cooked-medium-rare/723575/25 "2015-06-27T19:56:15Z")
I prefer flavor over some fantasy magical texture that somehow supercedes flavor for enjoyability. Nicely browned for the extra carmelization and finely spiced, sauced, wrapped in bacon, or otherwise made to be more interesting and really bring out the flavor of the meat since this isn’t the 1700s and I don’t need to pretend like something is better because it’s pure because I can’t afford spices from the East. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-steak-that-is-not-best-cooked-medium-rare/723575/26 "2015-06-28T03:00:47Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > That is the opposite of true. The less cooked, the more tender. /professional chef hat on But then you run into the texture problem. Less-cooked is more tender, yes, but it’s also “rubbery”. A lot of older clients will order their steak cooked medium-well to well-done, simply because they find chewing rare to medium-rare steak difficult. /professional chef hat off ---
**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:** [June 28, 2015, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-steak-that-is-not-best-cooked-medium-rare/723575/27 "2015-06-28T04:45:05Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > /professional chef hat on > > But then you run into the texture problem. Less-cooked is more tender, yes, but it’s also “rubbery”. A lot of older clients will order their steak cooked medium-well to well-done, simply because they find chewing rare to medium-rare steak difficult. > > /professional chef hat off Decent steak isn’t what I would call “rubbery” when raw. Maybe we have different definitions. It should not require any unusual amount of chewing. I have had rubbery steak (as mentioned in my previous post), but a decent prime or choice dry-aged strip is anything but rubbery when eaten raw. Now, you being a professional chef, I assume you get the nice prime cuts, but, unless you’re talking about chuck or something like that (and I’ve even had chuck that was fine texture-wise raw), I don’t quite see the “rubbery” description. To me, it’s more buttery and melt-in-your-mouth. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-steak-that-is-not-best-cooked-medium-rare/723575/28 "2015-06-28T15:15:12Z")
Salisbury and Swiss steaks aren’t too tasty rare, imho. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-steak-that-is-not-best-cooked-medium-rare/723575/29 "2015-06-28T15:25:42Z")
Round steak needs to be cooked long and with moisture. Beating the holy living shit out of it with a mallet or the back of a knife first isn’t a bad idea either. ---
**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:** [June 28, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-steak-that-is-not-best-cooked-medium-rare/723575/30 "2015-06-28T16:16:02Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Round steak needs to be cooked long and with moisture. Beating the holy living shit out of it with a mallet or the back of a knife first isn’t a bad idea either. Round steak is a really difficult cut. I like top and bottom round roast cooked medium rare in dry heat, but steaks from them do kind of have to have the crap beat out of them and prepared like cube steak or chicken fried steak or something like that. (And eye of round is just useless to me.) I generally dislike round steak for this reason. Now _that’s_ a chewy cut. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-steak-that-is-not-best-cooked-medium-rare/723575/31 "2015-06-28T17:25:05Z")
London Broil is the most flavorsome cut of beef. it is tough-so slice it thin, and cook it rare-it is delicious. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-steak-that-is-not-best-cooked-medium-rare/723575/32 "2015-06-28T19:23:29Z")
Flank steak. The only way to cook it is to marinate it and then broil it just enough to brown the edges. (aka London broil, though most London broil cuts in supermarkets are not flank steak). The center should be deep red; the pieces cut on the bias. Anything more, and it’s tough. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-steak-that-is-not-best-cooked-medium-rare/723575/33 "2015-06-28T19:43:16Z")
London Broil isn’t any particular cut of meat. Shoulder, flank, top round can all work well. But it’s not a steak per se in the way a nice slab of sirloin or a rib steak is. It’s meant to be sliced thin so tougher cuts of meat are fine. Part of the problem in this discussion is the subjective quality of tenderness. \*\*Snarky Kong \*\*posted a food science cite where tenderness is defined as the shear strength required to cut it raw, but for most people texture, moistness, and chewability factor into the equation. I don’t think it matters much, people know what they like, stick to that no matter what anyone else says about the tenderness. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-steak-that-is-not-best-cooked-medium-rare/723575/34 "2015-06-29T03:52:00Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The reason we cook meat in the first place is because raw meat is tough. I’ve had well-done steaks that were so tender they were falling apart on the fork. I’ve never seen rare meat that tender, not even for inherently tender cuts like filet mignon. The reason _I_ cook steak is because of Taenia saginata (beef tapeworm) ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-steak-that-is-not-best-cooked-medium-rare/723575/35 "2015-06-29T10:10:14Z")
> [@MikeG](#): > > I prefer my lamb medium which to me means light pink and hot inside verging on grey. > Beef I ask for pink and warm inside. I have used the color/temp instead of rare etc. for years and it prevents misunderstanding. Ditto, and double-ditto on the lamb. Please, for the love of food, stop serving lamb done all the way to a sad, grey color. Bonus: if you cook it properly, you don’t need any of that mint jelly (_gag_). Rare lamb with rosemary, red wine, and garlic…nom, nom, nom. I no longer order burgers in restaurants. Seems they all cook the burgers way past the point of done and into “crusty and tasteless” in the name of “food safety”. These days, if I want a burger, I grind some beef at home and cook it myself. That way I know it came from a real steak and that the grinder has been cleaned well between uses (hot water, soap, and then bleach-water). ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_X2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90db22/32.png) [@Karen\_X2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_X2)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-steak-that-is-not-best-cooked-medium-rare/723575/36 "2015-06-29T16:21:07Z")
When I go to a restaurant the knows what they are doing I’ll order a steak, and tell the server to have the chef cook it what he feels is “perfection”. I haven been disappointed yet. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-steak-that-is-not-best-cooked-medium-rare/723575/37 "2015-06-29T16:31:25Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > ETA: On the other hand, if you’re buying shit steak, like select grade or lower (yes, my supermarket even has “utility” grade on sale sometimes), then you’re probably better off cooking it to higher temps. I find those steaks tend to be chewy at lower levels of doneness. A good choice or prime steak like strip or ribeye or fillet should be edible raw, and not chewy. And, yes, I will often slice off a couple of pieces for myself before throwing it on the grill. Interestingly, I’ve read the opposite- that due to the more abundant intramuscular fat of a Choice or Prime steak, it can stand being cooked a little more done than a Select or lower grade steak that’s probably leaner. From here: [The Food Lab’s Definitive Guide to Grilled Steak](http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/05/food-lab-how-to-grill-steak-cuts-of-steak-marbling-salting-charcoal-technique-resting-tips.html#steakdone) > [@](#): > > Q: How does marbling affect flavor and cooking? [top] > > I held a blind beef tasting pitting Choice grade beef against Prime, cooking both in the exact same manner and to the same temperature (oh the horrors I put up with in the name of science!). Of the eight tasters present, there was an overwhelming and unanimous preference for the Prime-graded beef, though the Choice was still quite tasty. > > Prime generally costs about 25% more per pound then Choice, which is a hefty chunk of change, but to my mind it’s worth it. I’d rather have a little less great meat than more not-as-great meat. > > Because beef fat is solid at room temperature and can have an unpleasant, waxy texture, I generally recommend that the _more well-marbled the beef, the more you cook it._ A well-marbled Prime steak I’d take to at least medium-rare, or even to medium territory. A super-lean grass-fed Select or Choice steak, on the other hand, I might recommend on the cooler side of medium-rare. This may explain why the French, whose beef is extremely lean, prefer to eat their steak bleu, or pretty much raw in the center. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-steak-that-is-not-best-cooked-medium-rare/723575/38 "2015-06-29T16:38:35Z")
For me, all steak, except flank and London broil, should be rare to medium rare. Flank and London broil should be rare, in my opinion. I do have a thin cut top round steak in the freezer that I’m at a loss as to what to do with, though - help, anyone? Would it work in something like fajitas if I kept it as rare as possible or should this be more braised/cooked longer? It came in a twin pack and I used the first one to do a braised meat and carrots and sherry dish that cooked for awhile - I was not happy with the results. ☹ ---
**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:** [June 29, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-steak-that-is-not-best-cooked-medium-rare/723575/39 "2015-06-29T16:49:47Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Interestingly, I’ve read the opposite- that due to the more abundant intramuscular fat of a Choice or Prime steak, it can stand being cooked a little more done than a Select or lower grade steak that’s probably leaner. > > From here: [The Food Lab’s Definitive Guide to Grilled Steak](http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/05/food-lab-how-to-grill-steak-cuts-of-steak-marbling-salting-charcoal-technique-resting-tips.html#steakdone) That’s interesting, and quite different from my experience, in where lean badly marbled steaks are chewy and shoe-leathery when cooked rare or eaten raw, while prime or at least choice dry-aged steaks are buttery and practically melt in your mouth when raw. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-steak-that-is-not-best-cooked-medium-rare/723575/40 "2015-06-29T17:22:27Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The reason we cook meat in the first place is because raw meat is tough. I’ve had well-done steaks that were so tender they were falling apart on the fork. I’ve never seen rare meat that tender, not even for inherently tender cuts like filet mignon. **Chronos** , You’ve made this assertion twice in this thread and in my experience I’ve never seen this with anything other than smoked and/or basted meats. Do you cook the meat yourself? If so, I’d like to know your method. When I make steaks (ribeye) at home my wife prefers her’s well done while my kids and I prefer medium rare. My wife’s steak is most often a little tougher than ours. In fact, I usually cook for her the best (most marbled) steak because it has more fat and has the best chance of not drying out and toughening up due to the fat content keeping the meat juicy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-steak-that-is-not-best-cooked-medium-rare/723575.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-steak-that-is-not-best-cooked-medium-rare/723575.md?page=3)