Steak - How do you like yours?

[oli collett]

Then went to France - ask for it well done and still get it slightly pink.

Now I have it medium and it's bloody good!

I've had steaks many a time that were v rare, usually in France where they have got the order in a muddle. The result? A chewy, unpleasant texture that gives your jaw a workout. It was just as unpleasant to me as the dried rubberyness of an overdone steak, albeit with a bit more flavour.

I've also never been to a restaurant that has recommended anything other than medium rare for the beef they are serving - unless it's a dish designed to be eaten when it's in a raw state. Every steak place i've been to always recommends medium-rare as well, as it always seems to produce a much nicer texture overall, especially in cuts like rib-eye and sirloin.

I did however once have some beef that would probably be considered rare in the UK over in Spain recently at Etxebarri, and it still managed to be incredibly tender. It had been cooked over coals, and I expect the beef was older at slaughter than that which we eat over here, and probably very, very well aged:

 

[churchhawk]

Medium, has to have a bit of blood spewing out on the plate so i can mop that up with my chips om nom nom

 

[TheBrooder]

Perfect!

Unless the burned bits made it too bitter, but it looks absolutely delicious!

 

[Jegethy]

I like mine medium-rare to medium. I don't like it too pink, but not like rubber either.

 

[j.col]

medium rare, only way

 

[oli collett]

Perfect!

Unless the burned bits made it too bitter, but it looks absolutely delicious!

Nope, one thing they do very well at Etxebarri is seasoning. The addition of extra salt to compensate for the charring takes it to another level

 

[paspc]

Best tip I've heard for cooking steak is to have a VERY hot pan.

 

[paspc]

Has anyone tried this:

http://steamykitchen.com/163-how-to-turn-cheap-choice-steaks-into-gucci-prime-steaks.html

Sounds interesting but I'm scared about spoiling my tasty meat...

 

[aceface57]

Tempted to give the salting trick a try tonight, but like yourself scared of spoiling it.

 

[oli collett]

Has anyone tried this:

http://steamykitchen.com/163-how-to-turn-cheap-choice-steaks-into-gucci-prime-steaks.html

Sounds interesting but I'm scared about spoiling my tasty meat...

Yes, I've posted it on here loads of times before There's nothing to fear, works very well.

 

[Jingo...]

Medium - I like the meat warm-hot throughout and as pink as it can get without blood.

 

[paspc]

Yes, I've posted it on here loads of times before There's nothing to fear, works very well.

Really?! OK cool I'll give it a try! Are you sure it does not just make my steak taste really salty?

 

[Participant]

If I have a choice, and the meat is good, then medium rare.

I think there's a certain element of bravado involved in how people say they like their steak done. Stuff like carpaccio and tartare is nice because of the way it is prepared, but steak benefits from a certain degree of cooking in order to get the outer char/caramelisation and firm up the inside of the meat. For me, that charred outside is the best bit of the steak, and you just don't get it with an anaemic bleu steak.

I'm pretty careful not to be too fussy about how the steak is cooked though. Nothing makes me cringe more than hearing someone moan about how their ordered it rare and it's medium-rare or whatever.

On the subject though, has anyone tried wagyu or kobe steak? The pictures I've seen show some mad marbling on it, but I've never had the opportunity.

I agree with much of this, especially the bravado bit. I get the impression that lots of people often order blue just to look brave in a group of people, even if it's not what they actually prefer. The frenchies sure love their raw meat though!

I'm happy to send a steak back but only if it's so out of kilter from what I ordered that it's laughable. Flavour, seasoning, and quality of meet is far more important than just how pink it is.

Not tried wagyu myself (isn't kobe the same thing just from Japan?).

Really?! OK cool I'll give it a try! Are you sure it does not just make my steak taste really salty?

As the article explains, you don't eat all the salt.

 

[paspc]

Not tried wagyu myself (isn't kobe the same thing just from Japan?).

I have eaten Kobe beef in japan. My steak came with a certificate telling me the birthplace, age and name (was really a number) of the cow my steak came from. It was cooked in a matter of seconds in front of me and it was simply delicious. Apart from being very tender, the magnitude of flavour was off the chart. No other steak i've tried has come close in teams of beefy flavour. *sigh* that was such a good day...

 

[Ferax]

Just like that please!

 

[oli collett]

On the subject though, has anyone tried wagyu or kobe steak? The pictures I've seen show some mad marbling on it, but I've never had the opportunity.

Yes - but i've never tried it side by side. It always seems to me to have amazing texture but i'm not blown away by the flavour. Having said that, i've never tried the kind of gradings you get in Japan which could be a different matter.

Really?! OK cool I'll give it a try! Are you sure it does not just make my steak taste really salty?

Nope - it's seasoned pretty much perfectly, as long as you don't leave it too long. As long as the steak isn't too thick, 15mins should do. Make sure you use the flaked sea salt crystals otherwise you might struggle to wash it off afterwards, and don't add extra salt before/after cooking.

 

[Liampope]

I've tried wagyu (probably Australian) in Singapore, but only in dishes where it's marinated and/or with other ingrediants - never as a plain steak which is how I would normally eat steak, so hard to compare directly. Delicious of course with a melting texture and almost a sweetness of flavour. As nice as it was I'd hesitate to say it justifies costing 5-10 times as much as a decent, well hung piece of meat from my local butcher, but then I'm a sucker for reeeeeeally mature - like 6-weeks hung - so maybe the wagyu was a little too delicate for my personal pallette. Either way, as with 'the best' of anything you're seriously into diminishing returns - paying a lot more for small gains, so as nice as it is, dont expect it to be totally mindblowing and as many times better than decent non-wagyu/kobe as it costs. Definately try it though!

 

[kylew]

The more welldone the better,the thought of eating steak with the blood dripping out makes me gag.

The stuff that comes out of steak isn't blood, it's just meat juice, you get the same from chicken, it's just not red because of the lack of myoglobin in chicken compared to beef.

 

[Liampope]

It's bizarre how much that's been posted in this thread - I can't believe how many people think it's blood oozing out. I wouldn't be surprised if the off-putting thought of blood explained 75% of well-done steak eaters . If only they knew - how much more would they enjoy steak by not cooking it till it's a piece of leather?

 

[kylew]

It's bizarre how much that's been posted in this thread - I can't believe how many people think it's blood oozing out. I wouldn't be surprised if the off-putting thought of blood explained 75% of well-done steak eaters . If only they knew - how much more would they enjoy steak by not cooking it till it's a piece of leather?

I think it's the prime reason people like eating leather. I hear "urgh the blood" so much, it's ridiculous. It's one of those things where the people who say it aren't really thinking about it, they've just been told it's blood so think it is.

I also say to people "do you like pastrami/salt beef?" which usually results in a "yes", which I usually follow up with "haven't you noticed how pink it is?" that usually confuses them about why they dislike the idea of rare meat so much.