# Why do black people like steaks well-done? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 25, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-like-steaks-well-done/554958 "2010-09-25T02:15:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-like-steaks-well-done/554958/21 "2010-09-25T03:18:47Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > I for one, cannot stand the sight of blood on my plate. I am always sending steaks back (or not ordering the steak at all in ‘fancy’ places). I think I am white. [“The Red Juice in Raw Meat Is Not Blood”](http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/04/the-red-juice-in-raw-red-meat-is-not-blood/) ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-like-steaks-well-done/554958/22 "2010-09-25T03:19:52Z")
> [@ivn1188](#): > > > [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > > > (Assuming for the sake of argument the validity of the OP’s observation): Old cultural ties to a southern-cuisine tendency to cook the hell out of everything? > > My guess as well. Lots of soul food/southern food/etc, and a lot of Caribbean food was cooked with open flame, and getting a nice char is an important part of the flavor profile on many of the dishes. Plus, beef was less common compared to game animals (and seafood), which tend to get cooked more thoroughly. > > Add in the prevalence of long slow cooked dishes with rice and other grains, and it doesn’t seem far off that cooking steaks to well would be unusual. My first thought to the OP (asides from the fact that I never knew blacks had a preference for well done steak) was that two of the most prevalent meats in “soul food” are pork and chicken, both of which you’re supposed to cook well done.\* \*Well, according to the food network, you no longer need to cook pork well done, because that disease that nearly killed Yul Brenner is no longer prevalent in western pigs. What’s that called again? ---
**Author:** ![ivn1188](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e480ec/32.png) [@ivn1188](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivn1188)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-like-steaks-well-done/554958/23 "2010-09-25T03:23:16Z")
> [@antonio107](#): > > \*Well, according to the food network, you no longer need to cook pork well done, because that disease that nearly killed Yul Brenner is no longer prevalent in western pigs. What’s that called again? Trichinosis, and there have only been a handful of cases from domestic pork in the last several decades. Most cases in the United States come from wild game these days. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-like-steaks-well-done/554958/24 "2010-09-25T03:24:08Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > I think it’s a money thing. > > I’m going to go ahead and say that it’s poor people. Poor people eat their steaks over cooked to hell. > > Don’t flame me! I’m also guessing that this is at least part of the answer. My MIL, who was not Black (nor poor in her later years) cooked the living daylights out of everything. She learned how to cook during the Great Depression. One of the main concerns was that people who prepared their own food couldn’t be certain that it didn’t contain something which would make them ill. So the solution to try to stay healthy was to overcook. Another reason I can think of was that, in their early years, it wasn’t uncommon for both of them to be doing hard labor on the farm and so she prepared her food early in the morning and it cooked all day on the stove while she worked. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-like-steaks-well-done/554958/25 "2010-09-25T03:38:22Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I must be a Negro. Do you tip the wait staff? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-like-steaks-well-done/554958/26 "2010-09-25T04:36:33Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > > [@ataraxy22](#): > > > > I’m a white person and I like my steak well done. > > Like I said in the OP: don’t give a shit, doesn’t matter, doesn’t answer the question. Actually, it does. Your premise is based on the fact that there is something special about black people in that they like their steak differently than everyone else. If enough people come in and post that their observations are different, that means your premise is flawed, and the answer to your question is that you are wrong. And, really, when you notice the question may be offensive, and may solicit answer you don’t want, and don’t change your question, you get what you get. Especially when you essentially say you don’t “give a shit” if your observation can be invalidated. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-like-steaks-well-done/554958/27 "2010-09-25T04:40:27Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > > [@Rigamarole](#): > > > > Like I said in the OP: don’t give a shit, doesn’t matter, doesn’t answer the question. > > Actually, it does. Your premise is based on the fact that there is something special about black people in that they like their steak differently than everyone else. While I disagree with the OP’s premise I don’t think you’ve got it quite right. The OP’s premise is that black people universally like their steak well-done. A white person also liking well-done steak has no bearing whatsoever on whether black people like well-done steak or not. Unless everyone commented that they like well-done steak, in which case you’d have to consider that well-done steak is simply really popular regardless of race. As if it matters, considering how totally scientific the OP’s evidence is. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-like-steaks-well-done/554958/28 "2010-09-25T04:45:42Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > > [@Rigamarole](#): > > > > Like I said in the OP: don’t give a shit, doesn’t matter, doesn’t answer the question. > > Actually, it does. Your premise is based on the fact that there is something special about black people in that they like their steak differently than everyone else. If enough people come in and post that their observations are different, that means your premise is flawed, and the answer to your question is that you are wrong. > > And, really, when you notice the question may be offensive, and may solicit answer you don’t want, and don’t change your question, you get what you get. Especially when you essentially say you don’t “give a shit” if your observation can be invalidated. Except I never said _anything_ about anyone but black people, so it’s completely irrelevant. Also I at least observed a large number of cases, so a single data point isn’t worth jack. For what it’s worth, white people’s preference pretty much ran the gamut… but black people _always_ ordered well-done. On edit: what **AClockworkMelon** said. And by the way Clock - you say you don’t agree with my premise. Have you observed a lot of black people ordering rare steaks? (I’m not trying to debate you, I’m genuinely curious. If you have, I’d be curious where you observed that) ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-like-steaks-well-done/554958/29 "2010-09-25T04:53:15Z")
Why is it important on the one hand to recognize that black people have a culture of their own, distinct from the mainstream, and offensive on the other hand to identify and ask about a possible attribute of that culture? I can’t think of anything more closely tied to culture than how people prefer their food. If the peanut gallery could quiet down, I think it’s an interesting question. (One reason I’m curious is that my father in law [not black, mainland Chinese] grew up extremely poor and spent years in a military prison, and though he doesn’t seem to prefer a particular style of cooking he puts a lot of emphasis on sheer quantity.) ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-like-steaks-well-done/554958/30 "2010-09-25T04:59:28Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > And by the way Clock - you say you don’t agree with my premise. Have you observed a lot of black people ordering rare steaks? (I’m not trying to debate you, I’m genuinely curious. If you have, I’d be curious where you observed that) I have no experience with black people’s taste in steak. What’s more, I don’t think you’re lying and I’m sure that black people eating at your place of work order well-done steak lot. I just doubt it’s because of their race. Other people in this thread have provided adequate explanations. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-like-steaks-well-done/554958/31 "2010-09-25T05:00:08Z")
Statistically speaking, there are strong correlations between ethnicity and behavior. Another correlation is that black customers are \*\*\*very \*\*\*poor tippers when compared to Caucasian customers. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-like-steaks-well-done/554958/32 "2010-09-25T05:04:53Z")
Estimated total HA intakes by male vs. female children were generally similar, with those by (0- to 15-year-old) children 25% greater than those by (16±year-old) adults. Race-, age- and sex-specific mean HA intakes were estimated to be greatest for African American males, who were estimated to consume 2- and 3-fold more PhIP than white males at ages \<16 and 30+ years, respectively, \*\*after considering a relatively greater preference for more well-done items among African Americans based on national survey data. \*\* From [here](http://www.nature.com/jes/journal/v11/n3/abs/7500158a.html) ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-like-steaks-well-done/554958/33 "2010-09-25T05:05:20Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > > [@Jackmannii](#): > > > > I must be a Negro. > > Do you tip the wait staff? Only if they don’t fuck up his steak by cooking it all to hell. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-like-steaks-well-done/554958/34 "2010-09-25T05:11:46Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > I just doubt it’s because of their race. Why? There’s no such thing as “race” anyway, but going by cultural communities, Chinese people like soy sauce, Southeast Asians like fish sauce (eww) and Koreans like their cabbage prepared so it sets your mouth on fire and you can smell it two days later. Why can’t black people like steak well done, as a characteristic attribute of their community? ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-like-steaks-well-done/554958/35 "2010-09-25T05:14:44Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > > [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > > > I just doubt it’s because of their race. > > Why? There’s no such thing as “race” anyway, but going by cultural communities, Chinese people like soy sauce, Southeast Asians like fish sauce (eww) and Koreans like their cabbage prepared so it sets your mouth on fire and you can smell it two days later. Why can’t black people like steak well done? The OP didn’t specify a “cultural community”. His hypothesis is that people with black skin universally (or nearly universally) like their steak well-done. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-like-steaks-well-done/554958/36 "2010-09-25T05:18:42Z")
Among controls, differences by race included **greater intakes of pan-fried red meat, well-/very well done red meat, white meat, and pan-fried chicken and higher MeIQx, DiMeIQx, and mutagenicity exposure among African Americans** , and greater grilled/barbecued red meat intake and benzo[a]pyrene exposure among Whites. From [The American Journal of Epidemiology](http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/157/5/434.full) ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-like-steaks-well-done/554958/37 "2010-09-25T05:19:32Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > The OP didn’t specify a “cultural community”. His hypothesis is that people with black skin universally (or nearly universally) like their steak well-done. Fine, let’s the help the poor boy with his semantics and redefine his observation as “members of the black cultural community, which 90%+ (but not 100%) of the time coincides with people with African American heritage and therefore 90%+ (but not 100%) time correlates with darker skin than your average Scandanavian.”\* If now we have genuflected properly before ever nit you wish to pick – [deep breath] – will you acknowledge that the OP saw what he saw, and there may be something to it? \*I know, I know, your mother’s cousin’s roomate’s sister is a Scandanavian with dark skin, I was only speaking rhetorically and had no intention of offending her. Don’t taze me, bro. ---
**Author:** ![komolono](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/komolono/32/532_2.png) [@komolono](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/komolono)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-like-steaks-well-done/554958/38 "2010-09-25T05:29:10Z")
> [@ivn1188](#): > > Why do white people like their steaks rare? In Spain, you can order a steak straight from the bullring - less than an hour apart from the event. Eating raw beef may have some unexpected consequences. There was a lot of testosterone in that bull! I think, the restaurant was only for men:confused: ETA: Maybe some people don’t need extra testosterone? ---
**Author:** ![ivn1188](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e480ec/32.png) [@ivn1188](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivn1188)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-like-steaks-well-done/554958/39 "2010-09-25T05:36:03Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > The OP didn’t specify a “cultural community”. His hypothesis is that people with black skin universally (or nearly universally) like their steak well-done. No, this is the kind of bullshit hypersensitivity that people have been conditioned to use to react to “racism”. Hey, news flash: black people are far more likely to wear Fubu than white people. It’s not racist, it’s cultural. Move on. When talking about “black people” in the U.S., it inevitably refers to a certain socio-economic ethnicity which there is no good name for. Come up with your own name, like ebono-centric southern english transplantation culture, or whatever, but you know exactly what people are talking about, and pretending you don’t is just being intentionally obtuse. No one in this thread except for the overly-sensitive is in any way correlating dark skin with well-done steak. What people are correlating is that the predominant culture of African-Americans of generally southern descent enjoy meat well done, and a very large percentage of that culture is black. Move on, or don’t participate in the thread if all you have to offer is some goofy platitude about being color-blind and how there are exceptions to the generality presented. You’re building a big strawman whose only purpose is to give you the ability to feel holier-than-thou about an issue. It’s like the fact that there are plenty of black nascar fans, but the vast majority are white, rural, and southern. That’s not racist either. Get over it. ---
**Author:** ![ivn1188](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e480ec/32.png) [@ivn1188](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivn1188)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-like-steaks-well-done/554958/40 "2010-09-25T05:38:18Z")
> [@komolono](#): > > > [@ivn1188](#): > > > > Why do white people like their steaks rare? > > In Spain, you can order a steak straight from the bullring - less than an hour apart from the event. Eating raw beef may have some unexpected consequences. There was a lot of testosterone in that bull! I think, the restaurant was only for men:confused: > ETA: Maybe some people don’t need extra testosterone? Naah, Spain is basically the southern confederacy of Europe. Eating raw or nearly raw bull meat is an expression of machismo. Allowing the ladies to participate would cheapen the experience. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-like-steaks-well-done/554958.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-like-steaks-well-done/554958.md?page=3)