Question Re: Outback Steaks

[Rex_Fenestrarum]

[QUOTE=watsondog]
and the rares are kept at about 10 degrees below freezing (Celsius). QUOTE]

So THAT’S why their steaks suck!

[Rick]

@watsondog

Our neighbour’s niece worked at Outback last summer. She’s staying over there, so I walked over and asked her.

She says they do have different steaks for rare, medium rare, medium, and well-done, but that the quality of the meat has nothing to do with how you order it. ALL Outback steaks come from the cheapest, toughest parts of the beast, and are artificially tenderized (ie predigested) with food-grade chemicals. These are safe to eat as long as you don’t have any medical issues (meat tenderizer can affect blood clotting and sodium retention, and can cause pretty nasty allergic reactions in some people).

The last two times I ate at Outback, I thought I detected meat tenderizer on the beef.

[MeanJoe]

@Duckster

When was the last time you visited a steakhouse?

Of all the restaurants I’ve been to the last several years, all of them, and I do mean all of them, will not cook anything less than medium (and in a few cases medium rare). It has to do with the transmission of food diseases.

I visit steakhouses quite regularly, my waistline is my cite!

Not to be snippy but what Un-American, Godless, Commie-Heathen state do you live in that will not cook steaks below medium? Seriously, to hell with Iraq, the deficit, Patriot Act, and other significant issues facing our great country. A steak cooked to medium or higher is just wrong! I’ve never heard of such a thing and if I encountered it I would promptly walk out. No self-respecting steakhouse I’ve ever been too would permit such a travesty.

MeanJoe
*Who has eaten everything from $70.00 steaks to 4.95 Ponderosa specials.

[MeanJoe]

@Rick

The last two times I ate at Outback, I thought I detected meat tenderizer on the beef.

Not sure if meat tenderizer is an ingredient but the Outback Special is “seasoned”. Generally, I order it sans seasoning as I want to taste the blood and meat, not the seasonings.

[BytopianDream]

I’ve been grilling steaks for nearly 6 years at Longhorn Steakhouses.
I can tell you by my personal usage of pre-cut or hand-cut steaks how I choose steaks and such. I have little knowledge of Outback Steakhouses, but I do know many people who have or do work there. If you really want the inside kitchen skinny, I’m sure I could get it.

But at Longhorn and my preference:

1. The difference between a hand cut steak and a pre-cut steak is too minute except for a decently knowledgable steak conosiour (spelling sorry). The tell tale signs though are: more fat around the edges, veins not clipped (cut to keep them from being one big bite) or pinned (jacarded to tenderize) and very, very consistent cuts of meat (whether bad or good).

2. When choosing a steak to cook for rare: I choose a pretty steak. I’m not cooking it for long, so it should look good without “molding” it. Molding is when I use cooking or steak-weights to form a steak to a decent looking form. Rare steaks are usually chosen tougher since they will not be cooked very long.

3. For medium rare: Pretty much the same as above, but I have more of a chance to mold the steak and I choose fewer of the “blooded” cuts. (Blooded steaks are full of blood and very firm steaks. It’s because the cow freaked out before death and the blood is in the meat.) By molding, I mean this. Say I have a ribeye that was cut at either end of the loin. It might be shaped like this “>” or some strange odd shape. I have to use the steak-weight to press down and expand the raised end to conform to rest of the steak. It makes it look a lot better than if I just cooked it.

4. For medium: I use thick, but tender steaks. For one, medium can quickly turn to medium well while I’m tending the other 50-100 steaks on my grill (that’s for thick). For tender, I use the more tender steaks because they eat better at medium than a blooded or firm/tough steak.

5. For medium-wells: I use thinner, tender steaks. The reason is as you would expect. It cooks faster. (I got 12 minutes at lunch and 18 minutes at dinner to get your food out of the kitchen. I get yelled at if I don’t. Either by management, the guy who is setting up the plates or by servers.) I use the more tender steaks so they don’t chew like leather.

6. For wells: The more tender and thinner the better. Sometimes my well stack will cook faster than my medium-rare stack. They cook fast, plus they leave in some juice. And they are more tender to eat than a tough steak cooked to well. Plus, I don’t have to “stomp” the well done steak. Stomping is using a steak-weight to beat the heck out of a steak to get it to well done.

7. Extra wells: Ya gotta be kidding me! I just get the old shoe soles we got out back and warm them up. DONE!

Advice on steaks:
Don’t order a top sirloin cut, ever. Spend the extra couple dollars and get anything else.
Don’t order prime rib above medium. Seriously… quit being a moron.
Don’t ask for a steak butterfly medium-rare. You are not clever.
Don’t ask for a steak pittsburg medium or medium-well. Find a dictionary, read it.
I could go on forever… seriously…

Do management ask us to pick certain steaks to cook for certain temperatures?
Not us. But I am a “certified corporate trainer” (for the resume), so I teach the above. It was taught to me a long time ago. It is the best method for being a dead cow factory.

What about steaks/burgers cooked under medium?
The policy at Longhorn has changed to not allow any burgers or chopsteaks cooked under medium-well for anybody, ever, even employees.
We will cook any steak to any desired doneness.
We do not cook rare prime rib anymore.

Mad cow conspiracy tin foil hat stuff:
We changed gloves to a glove that has “smaller pores” so that any germs don’t get to the “customers.” I figure it’s because they fear us getting or transmitting the crazy cow. Either that or hepatitis A. I still don’t understand why people don’t get immunized for it.