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plonqI was reading a discussion forum this morning (hey, a cat's gotta keep himself busy while he's waiting for things to run) where the people were having a fairly animated discussion on how done they prefer their steaks. While it fell short of the religious fervour that creeps into discussions about politics or operating systems, there were still a lot of people who were lowering the discussion to a personal level. I was a little surprised at how much passion people seemed to feel over how thoroughly others cooked their food.
I tend to fall into the redder end of the scale, but it really depends a lot on the animal. I prefer my chicken to be well-done, partly for sanitary reasons, but also because I don't like the texture of raw chicken. Ground meat of any kind needs to be well-done for my tastes, with the notable exception of things like steak tartare, or fresh-ground sushi patties. I prefer pork to be cooked right through, but I can live with a bit of pink in the centre as long as it has been brought to safe temperatures in the middle. Fish either needs to be cooked through, or raw. By this I mean, I don't like half-cooked fish. Seared on the outside and raw through is fine, but I don't like the textural mix of cooked and raw fish together. When it comes to Lamb, I tend to favour it more toward the well-done side, but I won't turn my nose up at a rare cut of meat.
But I like my beef rare. When I am dining out, I will typically order it more rare than I would tend to cook it at home because most restaurants overcook their steaks. In my experience, ordering a "rare" steak in a family restaurant will get you something between medium, and medium-well. Usually I will order it blue rare and hope that it comes out of the kitchen on the right side of medium. Every once in awhile an establishment will surprise me, and I'll find a cut of meat that flinches when I stab it with my fork. I live for those moments (and for the stunned looks of the other people at the table when they seem me ripping into the bloody carcass on my plate).
Based on the results I saw in the forum I was reading earlier, I have a hunch I am in the minority, but I'm going to post a poll anyway to sate my curiosity.
[Poll #1579421]
I tend to fall into the redder end of the scale, but it really depends a lot on the animal. I prefer my chicken to be well-done, partly for sanitary reasons, but also because I don't like the texture of raw chicken. Ground meat of any kind needs to be well-done for my tastes, with the notable exception of things like steak tartare, or fresh-ground sushi patties. I prefer pork to be cooked right through, but I can live with a bit of pink in the centre as long as it has been brought to safe temperatures in the middle. Fish either needs to be cooked through, or raw. By this I mean, I don't like half-cooked fish. Seared on the outside and raw through is fine, but I don't like the textural mix of cooked and raw fish together. When it comes to Lamb, I tend to favour it more toward the well-done side, but I won't turn my nose up at a rare cut of meat.
But I like my beef rare. When I am dining out, I will typically order it more rare than I would tend to cook it at home because most restaurants overcook their steaks. In my experience, ordering a "rare" steak in a family restaurant will get you something between medium, and medium-well. Usually I will order it blue rare and hope that it comes out of the kitchen on the right side of medium. Every once in awhile an establishment will surprise me, and I'll find a cut of meat that flinches when I stab it with my fork. I live for those moments (and for the stunned looks of the other people at the table when they seem me ripping into the bloody carcass on my plate).
Based on the results I saw in the forum I was reading earlier, I have a hunch I am in the minority, but I'm going to post a poll anyway to sate my curiosity.
[Poll #1579421]
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no subject
Date: 2010-06-16 09:38 pm (UTC)Seeing meat squirt juices (insert joke here) turns me off (insert same joke here).
no subject
Date: 2010-06-16 09:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-16 09:44 pm (UTC)As people cut up the deer, one of two things happened: they moved toward more well-done beef (usually all the way to medium-well or well-done), or they drifted toward rare meat. Most volunteers there who'd been on food prep for more than a year or two either ate their meat rare or well-done.
I went to rare, to the point that on more than one occasion, I looked at the uncooked leg of venison, and thought to myself, "warm that up a bit, and I'd eat it, myself."
(Note that I put rare down, but it's really either medium-rare or rare; some cuts, which have more fat and gristle need a bit more cooking, to tenderize the flesh a bit. I prefer the cuts I can eat rare, though.)
no subject
Date: 2010-06-17 05:37 pm (UTC)I have the opposite experience. Totally, and always.
Then it occurred to me.
Here's why we are both right:
If you order a steak to be undercooked, the restaurant will not comply. And that is because they do not want you getting sick because of a bad cut of meat or because of some accident during preparation. It is not worth it to them to risk undercooking, ever.
If you order a steak to be overcooked, the restaurant will not comply either. It takes more time and energy (both contributing to cost) while the customer only pays the regular amount for the meal. It is not worth it to them to cook more than average.
Generally, I don't actually want steaks to be burned, but I do want them to be cooked a little more than what you typically get if you ask for well-done.