shape
carat
color
clarity

How do you like your steak cooked?

What’s your preferred doneness?

  • Rare

    Votes: 11 17.5%
  • Medium rare

    Votes: 24 38.1%
  • Medium

    Votes: 19 30.2%
  • Medium well

    Votes: 5 7.9%
  • Well done

    Votes: 4 6.3%

  • Total voters
    63

JPie

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Feb 12, 2018
Messages
4,221
I’m all about medium rare for most types of steaks. If it’s something with a higher fat content like a rib cap or wagyu, I’d go medium because you want to get the fat nice and hot.

How about you?
 
Depends on the steak. Unless it’s a very, very fatty piece like Wagyu (where medium rare - medium seems to work best); I prefer my steak rare. Medium rare is the upper level of cooked for me for anything that I’d be eating on a day to day basis. If the steak has a fat cap, I would render it properly though, but then cook the meat rare.
 
Oh, and can we talk about the sear for a second?

This is sad and grey. No bueno. This blogger cooked this in an air fryer at 390 and called it reverse sear. That’s way too hot, and what happened to the “sear” part?
1592257301676.jpeg

This is burnt. No bueno.
1592257266061.jpeg

Now this? This is the goal!
1592257887388.jpeg
 
One of the best steaks is the one I ate cooked by @Resonance.Of.Life. I think she cooks them medium.
 
Oh, and can we talk about the sear for a second?

This is sad and grey. No bueno. This blogger cooked this in an air fryer at 390 and called it reverse sear. That’s way too hot, and what happened to the “sear” part?
1592257301676.jpeg

This is burnt. No bueno.
1592257266061.jpeg

Now this? This is the goal!
1592257887388.jpeg

Thanks for making me hungry :(
 
MR...chowtimeguy.gif
 
The secret to amazing steak is amazing beef. The cow does most of the work, so you should get her butcher’s name!

Trader Joe's
 
We buy our steaks mostly from Costco.

I did a controlled variable test of a few different cooking methods a while ago, and found the best results to be from sous vide, followed by a cast iron sear! We do this with wagyu as well.
 
I do cast iron steaks indoors. Heat cast iron pan in 500 degree oven for 30 minutes (use a special high heat glove!).
Then 2 minutes per side on stove top at medium high. 1" steak may be done at this point (125 degrees for medium rare). For thicker steaks, continue doing 2 minutes per side at medium low.
It will be perfect without a thick outer grey layer.

ALWAYS let your beef come to room temperature before cooking, And always, always let it rest at least 10 minutes before eating or carving.

We do prime Costco beef medium rare.
 
It's a good thing we're eating steak for dinner tonight, this thread is making me hungry!
 
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We buy our steaks mostly from Costco.

I did a controlled variable test of a few different cooking methods a while ago, and found the best results to be from sous vide, followed by a cast iron sear! We do this with wagyu as well.

Hypothesis testing!! :bigsmile: Love it.....
 
Gosh, hate to be Debbie Downer - but what about food safety?
www.foodsafety.gov states to kill the yuckies you must cook certain meats to an internal temp of:

Beef: 145, Chicken: 160, ... etc.

But when I google internal temps for rare, med, etc. beef steak the first thing that shows up is this chart:

Rare (Neither this category OR a temp is even listed)
Med rare 130-135
Med 135-145
Med well 145-155
Well done 155 and up

So based on the poll results now, only one person is being safe, with med-well.
Like 42.1% of you, I used to prefer med rare.
I was, and 95% of you are, at risk for food poisoning.

I recently had a violent episode of that.
I used to like my steaks med rare - never again.

Actually, I just checked that video I follow for cast iron steaks and the directions say bring temp to 122.
YIKES :-o
I'm now sure this contributed to bacteria surviving, which grew when I stored it improperly after cooking.
My SO ate all of his half right after cooking, but I saved some of mine for the next day.
 
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I am by no means an expert on food health, but from what I understand with steaks the bacteria is on the outside of the steak (unless the steak has been tenderized with needles, sounds gross, but it is often done). With a cast iron sear, most of the bacteria should be eliminated. But if food safety is a big concern due to your health or if you are pregnant, best to stick with the recommended food safety temperature guidelines. I tried cooking a steak at 145 degrees in the sous vide, it wasn't too bad...
 
Medium rare
 
@kenny as @MRBXXXFVVS1 noted above, the reason medium rare or rare steaks can be eaten safely is because the meat is only exposed to air on its cut sides, and the searing process is hot enough to kill bacteria.

Is it possible that the steak that made you sick was blade (mechanically) tenderized? Those steaks must be fully cooked.

Edit: there's a pretty cool video in this article that shows how meat is blade tenderized:

 
Something tells me that I’ll be the one and only vote for “well done.” :lol:
It’s probably just me but I find the idea of pink in any of my meats to be disgusting. I have literally microwaved my steak after cutting it and finding pink. Yuck. :shock:

My DH prefers his steak to be medium rare. I “man up” and avert my eyes from the horror show. :lol:
 
I like mine medium.
 
I'm the medium well vote, but in a pinch, I'll take well done. I just feel dumb at restaurants saying well done. Haha. I can't eat it less than medium well. Everyone else in the family disagrees, oh well.
 
Dead
definatly no blood
But not burnt to a crisp - just clear juices
i like medium at home but they never cook it like that out so i ask for medium well when out
i like a bit of carbon on the meat
 
I'm the medium well vote, but in a pinch, I'll take well done. I just feel dumb at restaurants saying well done. Haha. I can't eat it less than medium well. Everyone else in the family disagrees, oh well.

Don't feel dumb
we like what we like
There is way too much snobbery around certain food these days
im paying, ill have it how i like it
noooooo blood, no redness
 
Something tells me that I’ll be the one and only vote for “well done.” :lol:
It’s probably just me but I find the idea of pink in any of my meats to be disgusting. I have literally microwaved my steak after cutting it and finding pink. Yuck. :shock:

My DH prefers his steak to be medium rare. I “man up” and avert my eyes from the horror show. :lol:

Wifey4vr agrees with you on both counts.
She does not watch me eat steak.
 
Medium, and steak tips with mashed cauliflower are my favorite! If it’s a hamburger it has to be very well done.
 
Wifey4vr agrees with you on both counts.
She does not watch me eat steak.

I totally get her and would order well done (i did when i was a kid - i had a handful of black cow thingies) but im scared this day and age a chef would either refuse to or send me out a piece of charcoal in spite
Definatly no mooing !
 
I actually cook them rare to medium rare: I go to trader joes but lately have been buying from Crowd Cow and have sampled their Olive Wagyu (Japanese import), and their other Wagyu (also japanese import), bison, and regular ribeye.
 
I actually cook them rare to medium rare: I go to trader joes but lately have been buying from Crowd Cow and have sampled their Olive Wagyu (Japanese import), and their other Wagyu (also japanese import), bison, and regular ribeye.

Ooh, I've been curious about the olive wagyu! How do you think it compares to other wagyu?

My go-to is dry-aged ribeye from this company: https://www.flannerybeef.com/butcher/prime-beef/dry-aged-ca-reserve/dry-aged-ribeye-ca.html

I recently ordered a whole rib primal so I can have them custom age it for 100 days. I had one of their 100-day ribeyes for my birthday earlier this year, and it was hands down the best steak I've had.
 
There definitely is a richer taste to it, however since Japanese wagyu is already rich, I felt like it was overwhelming for me. We tried the a5 olive and a5 import next to each other and I definitely preferred the non olive one.

If I have the time, I go to The Butchery in Crystal Cove for their 60 day dry aged. I love thicker cut ribeyes.
 
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