Steak Doneness: How Do You Like It?
Steak: Rare, Medium, or Well Done?
Some people want their steaks well done: Charred on the outside, thoroughly brown and chewy on the inside.
Others want their steaks done medium or medium rare, with a warm, succulent, juicy pink center.
And some people want their steaks so rare that it practically moos when they stick a fork in it.
Me, I like my steaks done to a tender and flavorful medium rare. However, I've been strongly tempted to try rare...
So what kind of a steak eater are you? Do you prefer a crispy critter, or do you like your steaks pink and juicy?
Levels of Steak Doneness
Degrees of Cooking
Well done: Grayish-brown with no sign of pink, usually slightly charred on the outside. Cooking a good steak to this level of doneness is a challenge. It has to be done slowly on low heat, or else you end up with shoe leather.Medium well: Mostly gray-brown throughout, but with a hint of pale pink inside. Good for someone who wants an ever-so-slightly juicy steak, but detests any sign of "blood" in their meat.
Medium: A more pronounced band of pink in the middle of the steak. However, there should still be slightly more gray-brown than pink coloration.
Medium rare: Warm and mostly pink to red center. Firm on the outside, soft and juicy on the inside.
Rare: Cool or warm red center. It's nearly like raw meat, but obviously cooked on the outside.
Very rare or blue: Red, cool, and practically raw. It's barely cooked for the true carnivores amongst us.
Raw: I think this one is self-explanatory. Die-hard carnivores can go for this.
Isn't Eating Undercooked Meat Bad For You?
When it comes to things like chicken, pork and ground beef, yes, definitely! But the risk for steak is different. If a cut of steak is going to have any bacteria, it's just about always going to be on the outside. Steak doesn't contain the parasites that plague chickens and pigs. However, the outside should be cooked and handled with clean instruments.Ground beef, on the other hand, is going to have bacteria spread throughout. You are more likely to get E. Coli by eating undercooked ground beef. Go for a well-done hamburger.
Our biggest worry with chicken meat is salmonella. It's very common for chickens to carry salmonella, which permeates its flesh. The only way to kill the salmonella is to thoroughly cook the chicken meat.
Undercooked pork is potentially even worse than undercooked chicken. There's a risk of developing trichinosis as a result of eating undercooked pork... if the pig was infected the larvae of a trichina worm.
But I Don't Want My Steak to Bleed!
People who love rare steak usually fend off this objection with, "It's not blood, it's MEAT JUICE!" (Or they just grin carnivorously and say that the "blood" is the best part.)The squeamish people scoff and throw up a wall of skepticism. "Yeah, right. So what exactly IS meat juice, anyway?"
That "meat juice" is mostly water, fat and myoglobin. Did you know the real reason raw meat looks so red is because of myoglobin protein in the muscles? Contrary to popular belief, it's not because of the hemoglobin found in blood.
A quality steak that's been properly drained and cleaned should contain hardly any blood at all, even when it's served rare.
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YOUR TURN!
Steak: Pink Center or Crispy Critter?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byGive me my tender pink steak!
Caleshia says:
Lol not all the way pink...that just looks too raw. I like it medium well
Posted November 03, 2009
Caleshia says:
Pink Center!!! All the way....Its just SO tasty! =)
Posted November 03, 2009
simplegirl says:
rare, baby, rare! Give me a blood red center! And know I'm not a vampire or a Twilight fan.
Posted August 26, 2009
Toddman says:
I,m a blue guy.
Posted August 18, 2009
Tony says:
pink will make your fingers stink! ah maybe thats a comment for another website ;-)
Posted August 09, 2009
steak lover says:
medium rare
Posted August 08, 2009
Awesome Orson says:
Burnt on the outside, frozen on the inside.
Posted July 22, 2009
bbbaby says:
medium rare yummy
Posted July 21, 2009
King of meat says:
RAW
Posted July 16, 2009
Eleanor says:
Mmm!
Posted July 14, 2009
hether says:
Medium rare. I am the only one in my family who does!
Posted July 11, 2009
allinmygrill says:
crispy outside tender inside medium
Posted July 10, 2009
tassos says:
I love it medium!
Posted July 02, 2009
Ace says:
The best steak is the one on it's way down to my belly!
Posted June 30, 2009
italianheart92 says:
Medium rare. Too much blood is just gross! And too hard and crunchy- nuh huh. I like mine right in the middle
Posted June 27, 2009
Random dude says:
warm, succulent, juicy pink center.
rofl made me laugh
Posted June 23, 2009
MishimaSan says:
I don't really eat steak that much anymore, but when I did, boy oh boy, I liked it RARE.
Posted June 06, 2009
Matilda says:
I love a nice juicy rare steak. Cooked more than medium is just a waste of a piece of good meat, rather eat chicken then.
Posted June 01, 2009
Casey says:
If it's not screaming when I stick a fork into, then it's wasted meat.
Posted May 26, 2009
Give me my crispy critter!
Mike says:
Crispy when I cook it myself.
Medium in a restaurant because when you ask for well done, they will give you the worst cut of meat. Plus chefs get mad if they don't it like well done for some reason and will mess up your order on purpose. Grrrrr.
Posted November 08, 2009
jalen johnson says:
i want a one cooked all the way through but juicy and it seems like no one know how to do it!!
Posted October 20, 2009
kitty222 says:
I usually order it medium well. I can't stand rare: I bite into it and it's still pretty well raw.
Posted September 11, 2009
pearl says:
well done!!! raw is bad!!
Posted September 09, 2009
Your mom says:
Well, I'm not too sure about eating any meat raw. But, like the article said, a raw steak isn't too bad. Maybe if I ate it enough, my jaws would become super-strong. For now, I like it well done.
Posted August 08, 2009
Sydnei says:
I love a fork tender juicy meduim well steak. Anything below meduim has the gooey rubbery texture of raw meat that could never be cut with a fork and probably a few bacteria as well. If medium well is done right it is not crispy, burnt or dry.
Posted July 04, 2009
Ben says:
when Jesus was asked how he likes his steak didn't he say "well done good and faithful sevant, well done"?
Posted July 03, 2009
Freddy says:
well done!! if i see any pink in mine at all i will be maddd :-)
Posted June 06, 2009
The Hedge says:
Well Done for me. I don't like the gooey, jelly type texture of uncooked meat. It's not pleasant for me. A well done steak can still taste extremely good, if it's cooked by an experienced chef.
Posted June 01, 2009
Danny says:
I like it well done. I absolutely hate any sign of raw meat and it's hard for me to enjoy a steak unless it's done right (even if it is quite juicy).
Posted May 25, 2009
S.Gray says:
Crispy critter
Posted February 26, 2009
Mark says:
I like my steaks medium well. That's the way I like it and that's the way I order it. It tastes great to me and heck, I'm the one paying for it. I hate when people pronounce how a food "must" or "should" be eaten. That if you don't have it their way then somehow you're defective. I say "eat and let eat."
Posted December 04, 2008
miss lady says:
i like mine very well done
Posted October 29, 2008
Tiddledeewinks says:
It's not safe to eat undone meat! But, I've gone mostly vegetarian now, because it's not safe for the cow at all!
Posted August 17, 2008
MeganCasey says:
Gollum said he likes his meat rraww and wwrrriggling. I'll pass.
Posted February 20, 2008
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A Definition of Steak
A steak (from Old Norse Category: wikt - :steik#Old Norse|steik, "roast") is a cut of meat. Most steaks are cut perpendicular to the muscle fibres, improving the perceived tenderness of the meat. In North America, steaks are typically served grilled, though they are also often pan-fried. The more tender cuts from the loin and rib are cooked quickly, using dry heat, and served whole. Less tender cuts from the chuck or round are cooked with moist heat or are mechanically tenderized. The more tender steaks have a premium price and greater prestige; the idea of eating steak signifies relative wealth.
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Moo! Have Your Say
Want to add some more seasonings to your steak?
papawu wrote...
I pretty much like my beef medium rare to medium. I have some friends though that like everything almost to the point of being charred or burned, but I simply can't see myself eating a piece of seasoned rubber.
Posted April 09, 2009
