Probably going to upset some people. I don't get the intense love for Steak.

Soldato
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I love a good dry aged steak. Rare if possible. However if done right I think a slow cooked and smoked shortrib is even better. I also love a good roast rib with yorkshires, gravy and horseradish. Oh and burgers too I like them. I guess I like beef.
 
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Sorry, I disagree. If you get a piece of well-done fillet, science tells us it will be more chewy than something done under medium/medium-rare.
Dunno what science you're using, but that's not how my steaks ever turn out. If anything, rarer ones are chewier and rubberier precisely because they're not as cooked.
I also refute the mere idea of 'science' deciding the be-all and end-all of something which is highly subjective.... Having visited a couple of Heston's molecular gastronomy places a couple of times and not agreed with all his concepts, either, I am further fortified in that assertion.

There's a reason you go to Michelin starred restaurants and get a bit of red meat (venison, lamb etc.) and it is served up medium/medium-rare. You don't get a choice because the chef knows how to cook the meat to impart the best flavour/texture combination.
Again, dunno which restaurants you're going to, but all the Michelin starred ones I frequent are happy to take steak ordered any way and generally are bloody good at it. It tends to be the ones that feign fancy finery and slap on all the pretentious ********, that end up serving ***** steak and getting all arsey when you specify something they are unable to cope with...!

Well, I said 3mins as I was talking about generic dried pasta. Where 3mins would be totally inedible; I said that to prove my point.
Well you didn't specify... and having al dente, standard and over-soft pasta, as well as slightly crispy can work for various different recipes, as well as differing tastes.... which was my point.

regarding the above quote. Don't you wonder why chefs would imagine doing that?
Oh, I know full well why they do it.... and they can crawl back up their own despotic backsides, along with people who insist there's only one way to drink whisky/wine, or that vodka martinis must be shaken, not stirred.
A top cut of steak should be 'doable' any way requested. How well it turns out is down to the skill of the chef. If they cannot achieve top results, then it's not the customer wasting the steak.

Different people have different tastes. It's all cool.
Apparently not...... Science says so!! :p
 
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Dunno what science you're using, but that's not how my steaks ever turn out. If anything, rarer ones are chewier and rubberier precisely because they're not as cooked.
Then you're using the wrong cut and contradicting yourself.

Again, dunno which restaurants you're going to, but all the Michelin starred ones I frequent are happy to take steak ordered any way and generally are bloody good at it. It tends to be the ones that feign fancy finery and slap on all the pretentious ********, that end up serving ***** steak and getting all arsey when you specify something they are unable to cope with...!
Note how I mentioned other red meats, not steak. I wouldn't order a steak in a Michelin starred place, I don't think I've ever seen it on a menu in fact :confused: Now answer the question, why do you think for example a duck breast or a rack of lamb will always come out pink at a Michelin starred restaurant? Why do they aim for the same on Masterchef? It isn't some poncing around with what people think is best for their customer, it is proven to be the most agreeable method of cooking that particular cut of meat. For texture, and flavour. Same goes for different cuts of steak.

A top cut of steak should be 'doable' any way requested. How well it turns out is down to the skill of the chef. If they cannot achieve top results, then it's not the customer wasting the steak.
Sorry, I thought you were arguing for personal taste which I would have let slide when talking about steak, but you're sounding increasingly silly. Like I said, the science of what happens to the meat dictates how chewy it will be. An overdone fillet will be more chewy then a rare one. Fact. If you're arguing you just prefer it chewy, fine, you can have that and we can agree to disagree. But the fact remains a well done fillet cannot and will not be as tender as a rare/medium rare one. No amount of skill from the chef will be able to make a well-cone fillet as tender as a rare one.

Let's stop talking about steak and talk about beef shin, for example. I looooove cooking beef shin in stews. Cook it on a low heat in some Guinness for 4-5hrs and it falls apart. But have you ever tried flash frying it like a steak? It'd be hideous. You'll be chewing through fat and gristle until the next morning. Now, you can argue you prefer chewing through unrendered fat and gristle until you're blue in the face, but I'd like to see you ask for a beef and Guinness stew with your shin done rare... In my mind that's exactly the same as asking for a fillet steak well-done.
 
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Then you're using the wrong cut and contradicting yourself.
Not at all - You can do any cut any way you like it. How well it turns out depends on how well you cook it. That's it.

Now answer the question, why do you think for example a duck breast or a rack of lamb will always come out pink at a Michelin starred restaurant?
Err... it doesn't always come out like that, particularly if you specify otherwise...
Maybe up at Tom Kerridge's, but he's rather up himself anyway.

Why do they aim for the same on Masterchef?
Just part of certain traditions in fine cooking, but again they're not the be-all and end-all. Even Michel Roux has commented on certain things he's preferred that are not the traditional style.

It isn't some poncing around with what people think is best for their customer, it is proven to be the most agreeable method of cooking that particular cut of meat. For texture, and flavour. Same goes for different cuts of steak.
Proof?
Link?
Show me where science dictates beyond any question what I shall and shall not like....
Just because one cooking method is statistically more popular doesn't make it the best and only way for everyone. If it did, we'd all be eating Roast Beef in the UK.

Sorry, I thought you were arguing for personal taste which I would have let slide when talking about steak, but you're sounding increasingly silly.
I am. The chef is supposed to be sufficiently skilled that he can do whatever I request. If he can't, he's not skilled enough.

Like I said, the science of what happens to the meat dictates how chewy it will be. An overdone fillet will be more chewy then a rare one. Fact.
So explain why my medium-well steaks are soft, flaky and juicy without being chewy, because so far your science is turning out to be complete ********.
Incidentally, an overdone steak will be dry, not chewy... and overdone is not Well Done. Fact.

But the fact remains a well done fillet cannot and will not be as tender as a rare/medium rare one. No amount of skill from the chef will be able to make a well-cone fillet as tender as a rare one.
L'Ortolan, Bart's, Le Gavroche, La Becasse, the Bath Priory - all places that have quite readily done what you and your science say is impossible.

But have you ever tried flash frying it like a steak? It'd be hideous.
Yes I have and yes it was not good. But now you're introducing different methods of cooking as well as different methods of 'doing'.
Rare is rare, well done is well done. What method you use to 'do' it is up to you and shouldn't matter so long as the steak is 'done' to specification. For example, most people seem to fry steaks in frying pans, but most of the best (by me and by others) have been done with grilles (grill or open fire, occasionally flame). Doesn't matter, so long as the result is what was asked for.
 
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A good bit of steak cooked correctly is one of the best things ever, however a crap bit of steak cooked badly is one of the most disappointing. I only order steak in proper steak restaurants because of this.
 
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My brother never did until I cooked him one, seasoned properly and medium rare.

Plus properly dry aged steaks from a good butcher or restaurant are just in a different ballpark, the flavour is just ridiculous.
 
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Nope, but did you read the menu? This is a steak restaurant inside a hotel - £18 for a fillet steak and all their steaks are prime meat. Absolutely amazing steak for a great price.

Unfortunately the steak house is in Romania!

I was there for a week last year with work and ate there every night.
 
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Love a good steak! All depends on the quality of the meat and how well it is cooked.

Steak can be awesome and terrible in equal measure! I'd maybe argue if someone is meh with steak they've never had a really good one, but we're all different at the end of the day!!! The world would be dull if we all liked the same stuff!
 
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Nope, but did you read the menu? This is a steak restaurant inside a hotel - £18 for a fillet steak and all their steaks are prime meat. Absolutely amazing steak for a great price.

Unfortunately the steak house is in Romania!

I was there for a week last year with work and ate there every night.
to be honest I'd never touch a fillet or a sirloin give me a ribeye or a thick rump any day more flavour ..
 
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Are they easy to get from a butcher? Assuming you can sous vide them too?

Yup, pretty easy to get hold of these days from a decent butcher along with bavette. I'm not into sous vide but I doubt it would work because onglet is thin. You want a screaming hot fire and cook it medium-rare at the most. Any more and you may as well throw it away :(
 
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All about the rib eye for me,
just seasoned with salt & pepper and cooked in a hot iron pan with the tiniest smear of oil...

*sigh* I'm going to have to go the the butchers after work now...
 
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