How do you like your steak cooked?

[Randy Parker]

Medium Well for me.

 

You?

[sportsfan41]

Medium rare. On a side note, I feel like Texas Roadhouse tends to get medium rare the way I like it almost every time.

[mcpapa]

Medium rare. If it’s closer to rare, that’s fine.

[theguru]

Somewhere between medium and medium rare but sometimes the medium rare version is a little too rare for me.

[Beechwoodfan]

Medium. I’m like some pink but no red!

[rjs4470]

Medium rare. If it’s closer to rare, that’s fine.

 

Me too. I usually order my steaks rare+. I've found that many places tend to slightly undercook the steak when I ask for it just rare, and sometimes overcook it if I ask for medium rare. Anything over medium rare is a hard no go for me.

[GrantNKY]

Medium rare is the only way to eat steak. I’ll accept medium, but anything more than that is an injustice and you don’t deserve to eat a steak.

[GrantNKY]

Medium rare, Pittsburgh style is without a shadow of a doubt the best way to eat steak.

[DragonFire]

Medium rare is the only way to eat steak. I’ll accept medium, but anything more than that is an injustice and you don’t deserve to eat a steak.

 

Both my parents and my in-laws do well done. My father-in-law, who is a grillmaster, always talks about not liking steak. I've told him on more than one occasion it's because he's never had steak. He's had something that used to be steak.

[DragonFire]

I'll admit that rare even causes me to waver a bit, but I've probably had some before that tended towards that. Medium Rare is what I order, and it is the appropriate order.

[mcpapa]

Both my parents and my in-laws do well done. My father-in-law, who is a grillmaster, always talks about not liking steak. I've told him on more than one occasion it's because he's never had steak. He's had something that used to be steak.

He’s had beef shoe leather.

[mcpapa]

Back in the day when my mom would form hamburger patties, she would save a couple bites and we’d eat them raw. “Steak tartare.”

[rjs4470]

Medium rare, Pittsburgh style is without a shadow of a doubt the best way to eat steak.

 

I've never heard the term Pittsburgh "Medium Rare". The way I understand the term is that "Pittsburgh Rare" is pretty much seared on both sides long enough to char, but raw in the middle, and it's pretty much as rare as a steak can be served and still claim to be cooked. One of the old stories behind the term, is that at a particular restaurant in Pittsburgh, customers could order steaks off of a live cow, and the meat would get seared at a really high temp, just enough to kill the surface bacteria with the middle of the steak being served at the cow's body temperature. I used to work at a restaurant bar near OC, MD in the early 90's and had a customer who was from Pittsburgh who would order his steaks that way and told me that story. I would think that once you get past rare, it's not Pittsburgh style any more.

[Irish Cat]

I've never heard the term Pittsburgh "Medium Rare". The way I understand the term is that "Pittsburgh Rare" is pretty much seared on both sides long enough to char, but raw in the middle, and it's pretty much as rare as a steak can be served and still claim to be cooked. One of the old stories behind the term, is that at a particular restaurant in Pittsburgh, customers could order steaks off of a live cow, and the meat would get seared at a really high temp, just enough to kill the surface bacteria with the middle of the steak being served at the cow's body temperature. I used to work at a restaurant bar near OC, MD in the early 90's and had a customer who was from Pittsburgh who would order his steaks that way and told me that story. I would think that once you get past rare, it's not Pittsburgh style any more.

 

This is what I have heard about the origins of the term:

 

The term started in the various steel mills in and around Pittsburgh. The mill workers needed high calorie food for the heavy work and had only 30 minutes for lunch. The blast furnaces were heated to over 2,000 °F (1,100 °C). They would throw a steak on the side of the blast furnace which was sterile due to the high heat, leave it for a few moments, and then turn it. The steak was seared but raw inside.

[Irish Cat]

I usually order medium rare at a good steakhouse. If I'm getting a steak at most chains, like O'Charley's, Friday's etc., than I normally order rare as that is the best chance to actually get something along the lines of medium rare to medium.