# Where do you live and how do you like your steaks? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 5, 2017, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-live-and-how-do-you-like-your-steaks/781467 "2017-03-05T13:01:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [March 5, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-live-and-how-do-you-like-your-steaks/781467/21 "2017-03-05T15:05:02Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > When I started eating sushi and sashimi my mother expressed shock, surprise, and a bit of squick. > > My dad said “you know how she likes her steaks, why are you surprised she’d like her fish raw, too?” > > The exception to all this is hamburgers, even those made from things like ground sirloin. Those I eat well done because I believe the health risks to rare/raw ground beef as currently produced by industry are significant enough that I won’t eat them rare anymore. Odd thing is my mom likes her steaks well done, but also loves her steak tartare. But if I cook a steak anything less than well, it’s back on the grill for her. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-live-and-how-do-you-like-your-steaks/781467/22 "2017-03-05T15:19:42Z")
0-20, Alaska, didn’t eat steak. 20-51, all over the world, medium rare 51-70, Alaska and Oregon, gone more to medium, as a medium-rare steak in a restaurant is now what they used to call rare. Favorite meal of all time was in Belgium: steak _au poivre_, medium rare, with a pile of frites on the side. Heaven on a plate. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-live-and-how-do-you-like-your-steaks/781467/23 "2017-03-05T15:25:43Z")
New Jersey, medium-rare, no sauce except however the restaurant prepares it in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-live-and-how-do-you-like-your-steaks/781467/24 "2017-03-05T15:30:39Z")
Northeast and I order them medium but I have been debating switching to medium rare because it feels like many restaurants cook medium more than I would like it to be. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-live-and-how-do-you-like-your-steaks/781467/25 "2017-03-05T16:45:42Z")
I live in Omaha. We are known for great steaks. I favor a rare rib eye . No sauce, but I like mushrooms sauteed in butter with my steak. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-live-and-how-do-you-like-your-steaks/781467/26 "2017-03-05T16:48:16Z")
Houston, TX. I like steaks medium. I will very rarely put some kind of sauce on one. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-live-and-how-do-you-like-your-steaks/781467/27 "2017-03-05T16:53:54Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Western PA. I like my steaks rare, but I only order steak if the restaurant is known for their good meat. No A1, but I will order chimichurri sauce if it’s available. > > (With a sous vide set-up at home, I can have a perfect rare steak easily.) Have you ever had [Pittsburg rare](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_rare)? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-live-and-how-do-you-like-your-steaks/781467/28 "2017-03-05T16:54:30Z")
Chicago. I’ll take it blue-rare but usually just say rare unless I’m at a place I trust to understand what that means. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-live-and-how-do-you-like-your-steaks/781467/29 "2017-03-05T16:56:28Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > The exception to all this is hamburgers, even those made from things like ground sirloin. Those I eat well done because I believe the health risks to rare/raw ground beef as currently produced by industry are significant enough that I won’t eat them rare anymore. That’s why I buy a cow each fall and have it butchered, packaged and frozen. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-live-and-how-do-you-like-your-steaks/781467/30 "2017-03-05T16:58:22Z")
Southern New Mexico. When I was younger, I ordered them medium-rare. Today, I order them medium-well. I don’t know if my preference has changed, or if the restaurants are cooking them rarer these days. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-live-and-how-do-you-like-your-steaks/781467/31 "2017-03-05T17:00:54Z")
I live in PA and I prefer my steaks and roasts medium rare, unless I’m cooking a pot roast then it needs to be well done, cooked low and slow. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-live-and-how-do-you-like-your-steaks/781467/32 "2017-03-05T17:00:56Z")
Southern CA (San Diego.) I grew up on a cattle ranch, and we cut our own steaks. I grew up on thick steaks. Love 'em! I also grew up on “well done” (or even burned a little) steaks, just 'cause papa liked 'em that way. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-live-and-how-do-you-like-your-steaks/781467/33 "2017-03-05T17:08:39Z")
Just last night we cooked two small porterhouse steaks. Husband likes to marinate with that packet of montreal seasonings, mixed with oil and vinegar. We broiled in the oven, they were just a little overdone much to my distress, though deep pink around the bone. (I like medium-rare, I suppose, on the rare side if I had a choice.) But they were tender and tasted fine, and I just now ate a piece cold out of the refrigerator. Husband likes filet, ribeye, and porterhouse. I love a nice strip steak, in the summer I buy the family pack, 3 or 4 for about $30, and it feeds three of us for two meals. Live in Upstate NY and believe it or not, I never bought or cooked steak at home until the last few years. I prefer it cooked on charcoal, but now we have a plain old gas grill. ---
**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:** [March 5, 2017, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-live-and-how-do-you-like-your-steaks/781467/34 "2017-03-05T17:08:55Z")
Southern California, and I want my steaks cooked medium rare. But this is more of an age thing, because in my younger days I wanted them cooked at least medium. Still do, if I’m eating at a cheaper place. The more high-end the restaurant, the rarer I want my meat. To the point of tartare sometimes. Sauces at a medium-end place maybe. Or at a high-end joint like Delmonico, for that matter. Emeril makes a chimichurri sauce that will blow your mind! ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-live-and-how-do-you-like-your-steaks/781467/35 "2017-03-05T17:10:19Z")
I grew up in the Baltimore suburbs, and I like my steak to moo when I stick a fork in it. That’s what I usually say when I order it, because some places don’t seem to get the concept of rare. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-live-and-how-do-you-like-your-steaks/781467/36 "2017-03-05T17:22:45Z")
I grew up in the SF Bay Area _primarily_, but had multi-year stints in NYC, Detroit suburbs, Boston/Somerville and shorter stints elsewhere. My absolute preference is towards the medium side of medium rare. But I’m fine with medium, dislike rare - which often results with more ordering medium as the safer option unless I’m sure of the cookery. Rib-eye is always my preference, though I’m okay with strip. Not a fan of filet. I don’t generally do steak sauce anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-live-and-how-do-you-like-your-steaks/781467/37 "2017-03-05T17:40:17Z")
Alberta - medium… My former bil used to have his steak blue, and pour the extra blood on his potato. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-live-and-how-do-you-like-your-steaks/781467/38 "2017-03-05T18:19:44Z")
> [@4d3fect](#): > > California Central Coast (SLO town) , and depends on my mood , which cut, and where I am (which restaurant) but rib eye, medium/medium rare, tri tip, medium. Sauce? not so much, although some bbq joints around here have some good varieties of sauces to try. Pretty much this, slightly different part of the Central Coast, and medium rare only for my steaks. ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-live-and-how-do-you-like-your-steaks/781467/39 "2017-03-05T18:39:24Z")
In the northeast, medium rare means a soft center, pink, but not purple. And that’s what I think is simplest to ask for. I’ve learned that a proper streak, from a proper steakhouse, is best as rare as possible. So cooked by myself, I like a fillet Mignon is very pink. I also know that red juice isn’t blood, by myoglobin released by the muscle fibers, so I’m not grossed out by a rare steak. But if isn’t cooked enough that the bit next to the bone won’t cut free and let you chew, what’s the point of that? Almost all members of my family gak at any sight of pink. Mom’s job was to cook. Bless her heart, she couldn’t do it well, but woe betide you stop her from doing it _thoroughly_. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-live-and-how-do-you-like-your-steaks/781467/40 "2017-03-05T19:13:48Z")
I would have said I like it medium rare, but a couple of people here have described that as pink in the middle. No, I definitely like the center to be red. But I also like more than a surface sear on the outside. These different layers lend flavor to eachother. I dislike the salt-and-pepper only style. It tends to taste like a steak I could have gotten at Waffle House. I usually use a commercial spice blend at home, though I have made my own mixes. In addition to salt and black pepper, these generally include garlic and onion powder and other types of pepper. I used to like steak sauce when I was a kid. Now it seems bizarre to use this sharp, overpowering sauce on top of a steak. I don’t use it even for cube steak or London broil. I like the flavor, but I can’t think of any good uses for it because it is so much stronger than the taste of meat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-live-and-how-do-you-like-your-steaks/781467.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-live-and-how-do-you-like-your-steaks/781467.md?page=3)