Why order steak well done?

EarthRocker

Senior Member
I've googled this, and can't find a real answer that makes since, so I decided to look into personal answers. I was just spending some time at the grill, and I thought surely I can't be the only fellow here who enjoys a big juicy slab of beef. So if any of you order, or even prepare your steak well-done at home, what is your reasoning behind it?

Personally, how I order or prepare my steak has a lot to do with my mood or where I'm eating, but it always falls between medium rare and medium , but never further than that. If I'm eating at home, I usually cook it around medium rare because I know where the meat is coming from and where my hands have been, but if it cooks a little more, or sometimes even a little less I'm okay with it. But when I'm at a restaraunt, unless it's a place I've been eating at for years, I always order it medium simply because I don't know who is touching it or where the meat comes from.

I did order a steak well-done just once to try it, and I honestly couldn't find any qualities I liked in it. The flavor was gone, it was hard to chew, and it really just seemed to me like a wasted piece of beef.
 
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I'm almost entirely vegetarian, but I'll have a steak at a good place about once a year or so.

As such, I don't do cheap steaks. When I'm going to do it, I go to the best steakhouse I can get to, spend 50 bucks on a slab of meat, and expect it to be clean and free of things that will make me sick, so that's not a worry.

Med-rare, to Med, depending on mood, but never higher than medium. Rare is a bit too much for me to handle.
 
This reminds me of a quote I heard of a friend's interaction with a guitarist.

"You're playing power chords in jazz. That's like painting white on canvas."

You just ruin all of the good qualities of a steak when you cook it well done. It just becomes bland and tough. Ew.
 
I like my steak also,and though I'll mozy over to Peter Lugers once in a while,I'll for the most part.cook my own.There's a very good Italian Salumaria/Butchers shop close by where he sells USDA Prime aged steaks,roasts,chops and lamb.All of his meat is dry aged,marbled beef.and sells for 25 dollars a pound.

I had a great porterhouse a few weeks ago,but I guess my taste in doneness is different from you guys.I blot the steak dry,and just add some sea salt and fresh ground black/white/green pepper,over a VERY hot flame.The steaks are usually 1 3/4 -2 inches thick,buy they are cooked just a few minutes on each side.This results in a flavorful crust on the outside,and very tender rare to very rare on the inside.Served with steamed broccoli or asparigus in olive oil and sauted garlic and baked potato,sometimes mashed.

Bon appitite>:)

Steve B
 
I read too much about food poisoning and such and wish to take no chances. Well done may be over kill but thats how I like it. It can be well done with out being bland and tough. The thing is to know when it reaches well done and not past that to hockey puck done. I do burgers the same way. No pink in the middle. Just my preference. I don't want to hear it moo when I put my knife to it.
 
In my experience, most people who prefer a rare steak never really developed a taste for it. Most children prefer a well done steak, I know I used to, and then start to prefer it more rare as they get older. I love a nice rare steak, getting hungry reading Steve's post. The other reasons could be a fear of food poisoning like Grunt mentioned or an aversion to the look of meat juice which some sad people think looks like blood. I love a good medium burger, cooked to an actual medium with a little pink in the middle. I reserve that for a nicer place though.

People do the same thing with pork, they're terrified food poisoning so they cook it till its drier than an Arizona summer. That's not good eatin!
 
IME, the main reason why people like their steak well done is because they don't like the blood that oozes out of it if it isn't. Also IME, the poorer-quality the steak, the more cooked it should be. Good steak becomes tougher the more it's cooked; not-so-good becomes less tough.

I like mine still mooing.
 
Why indeed.

I don't get it either. But then again, I guess don't have to. I'm not the one who has to chew on it for hours. I remember being in a restaurant years ago and the chef actually came out and explained to one of the customers why it's preferable to cook it a little less. Ultimately, it didn't sway them from ordering and he cooked it for them anyway. But it was an interesting spiel nonetheless.

The opposite is just as intriguing though. I have a mate who always orders his steaks blue. Honestly, it looks like a good vet could have saved the bloody thing. Still, he likes it. I guess that's all that matters.
 
I live in Texas so I always order mine medium-well knowing I will get a medium to medium-rare steak. ;-)

I was wondering about that. Obviously TX is a big ol' state but everyone there enjoys a good steak. I was going to ask how they tend to enjoy their steaks in the Lone Star state. Rare?

I have the opposite problem when I go out to eat. I always order rarer that I would like because they always cook it longer that I asked for. Medium rare comes out medium.
 
My 1st wife used to order any meat ruined. I mean well done.

Just before medium rare for me.

Pink, soft and flavorful.
 
I won't order a steak well done. Not ever.

Medium-rare is the most I want mine cooked. If I have doubts about the quality or handling of the meat that concerns me enough not to order it medium-rare, I simply don't order a steak at all and get something else entirely.

If it's truly a great steak, I prefer rare. Even Pittsburgh-rare!
 
IME, the main reason why people like their steak well done is because they don't like the blood that oozes out of it if it isn't.
Almost irrespective of how rare the steak is, it shouldn't ooze blood. Any good cook knows a steak should be rested before serving. If it's sufficiently rested, it doesn't ooze. If I'm ever served something like that in a restaurant, it goes back for a replacement.

If you own a restaurant, learn to f*^%&g cook!
 
Almost irrespective of how rare the steak is, it shouldn't ooze blood. Any good cook knows a steak should be rested before serving. If it's sufficiently rested, it doesn't ooze. If I'm ever served something like that in a restaurant, it goes back for a replacement.

If you own a restaurant, learn to f*^%&g cook!

I like it oozing :/"................
 
A good steak is medium-rare to rare and needs no sauce. If I ask for steak sauce, it means the steak SUCKS. I use a little seasoning on each side before cooking and thats it.
 
I haven't had a steak in over 20 years.

In my early 20's, I was rehearsing 3 times a week with a prog-metal band.

I noticed nights I had beef for dinner, getting through rehearsals was tough. Nights I had chicken for dinner, getting through rehearsal was no problem.

So I decided drums were more important than beef, and that was that.
 
Long time since I had a steak. From memory (such as it is) I used to prefer my dead cow chunks well done and didn't mind a bit of burning - I especially liked the crispy bits.
 
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