Medium Medium Rare Medium Rare Rare

[Brojekk]

I'm sure I wasn't the only one who had Monty Python's SPAM sketch going through their head while reading this.

B

I was picturing the beeyotch from the movie "Waiting". Pretty much the same situation and exactly the same bad attitude. The scene is almost word for word.

[underemployeed]

I always go with medium rare sometimes it goes towards rare, sometimes it goes towards medium. Unless there is no pink when I get the steak im gonna eat it.

[EricKei]

Some friends were discussing the merits of different levels of done-ness for steak the other day...(note that their belief is that asking for anything more cooked than Medium is grounds for excommunication from the dinner table) -- They made the comment that "if it needs steak sauce to make it taste good, throw it out" ~_~

Me, I used to like MW myself (my brother once insisted that MW "does not exist", despite being *offered* that level in restaurants before...), but I've since gravitated more towards the MR end of the spectrum. One trick my friends had used on "steak newbies" int he past was this -- If you usually get MW, get Medium next time. Once that feels "normal" to you, get MR the next time...etc etc.

[Null Requiem]

My stepmother used to have her stake just short of charcoal. Very well done.

My dad has slowly over time worked her down to medium-well, but we've pretty much given up on getting her less cooked then that.

My dad likes medium to medium-rare, I like medium-rare to rare, and my sister like them rare or less.

Of course, I also once tried a very tender piece of raw bison. It was quiet good. Of course I had to wash the blood off my hands afterward.

[Dreamstalker]

I started wanting my steak rare when I "got into" wolves. Mom claimed it was a usual childhood animal phase; dad said that way they'd find out soon enough. If it was, I'm supposed to have gotten turned off by the texture of rare meat eventually. Never have.

There was an episode of a show called "Freaky Eaters" about a guy who ate nothing but raw meat straight from the package.

[CaroPhoenix]

Aaarrrggghhh! It happened again!

Went to the All-American Steakhouse for dinner. Child Rum is free 'cos it's Kid's Day. I ordered a 6 ounce filet mignon, rare, with blue cheese crumbled all over the top. When it was brought to the table, the runner asked me if I wanted steak sauce! I told him him no thank you while inwardly doing this:

Why ruin a good steak with steak sauce?

[Andara Bledin]

They have to ask because if they don't, all of those SCs who like to drown their food in sauces and whatnot will go apeshit on them for not.

Sad, but true.

^-.-^

[Caractacus_Potts]

And since every region and restaurant seems to have a different concept of "Medium Rare"

This is what impressed me when I first went to Outback years ago. After asking if you have ever been to an Outback before, if not, they would explain there definitions of steak preparation from rare to well. They don't seem to do that anymore plus the portion sizes have shrunk and the prices have increased. I could deal with all that but when the meat quality was noticeably inferior to what they used to have I stopped going.

Can I come over for dinner? In, say, 3 days? Please?OMG sauerbraten

LOL! Sorry, I wasn't planning on making sauerbraten soon. I just made homemade manicotti last Sunday, I'm half Italian and half German, love to cook and made both of my grandmothers teach me their family recipes as soon as I was old enough).

I could send you my grandmothers recipe if you can figure out how I can get it to you.

My son hated steak until I made it for dinner for us one day...Turns out that when my mother looked after him and would make steak for dinner her idea of the perfect steak was just this side of shoe leather - both in the cut and cooking of it.

My FIL likes his steak well done. I've always managed to avoid making steak when he visits because I don't have the heart to ruin a cut of meat like that. It was a revelation for my wife when she first moved away from home for college and discovered that steak wasn't supposed to be a tough, dry, bad tasting piece of leather that you had to choke down so you didn't get yelled at for wasting food.

[EricKei]

I could send you my grandmothers recipe if you can figure out how I can get it to you.

Simple. Private Message here on the board. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like a copy, as well, if that's OK ^_^

Also, there is a "CS Recipe Swap" group here if you prefer to disperse them bit more. http://www.customerssuck.com/board/group.php?groupid=12

[CaroPhoenix]

They have to ask because if they don't, all of those SCs who like to drown their food in sauces and whatnot will go apeshit on them for not.

Sad, but true.

^-.-^

But ... But ....

Don't get me wrong, I do like to use A-1 steak sauce on occasion. I use it when I make hamburgers and put it along with mayonnaise on my bun. I will also use it when I've made "hamburger steaks" (which, for me, is just a hamburger patty without its bun - that's what my mom called it, so that's what I call it).

But I do not like steak sauce on my steak (unless it's horribly done/not spiced enough).

Gosh darn it! I want steak! AGAIN!

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I...like a little A-1 sauce with my steak.

Just a puddle of it on my plate I can dip smaller pieces into. I like the taste, okay?

But the last time I used a lot of it was on vacation last year in Oregon, where I had an utterly flavorless cut of meat on a rainy night at this place in Coos Bay, Oregon, and that's one place I will not be returning to anytime soon.

[Frantic Freddie]

I like A-1 when I have steak & eggs for breakfast,breakfast steaks aren't always the best cut.

[Jester]

Last night, after a long day of work (the only time I can remember where I did something at each of my 3 jobs in one day), I went to Outback for dinner. Sat at the bar, as I always do. Ordered a drink, as I always do. The bartender, who is the one who is almost always there when I am there, took my order. In addition to some lovely-sounding soup, I ordered what I had come in for, their wedge salad with steak on it. I ordered it rare, of course, knowing full well that, due to the thinness of the cut, it would be probably closer to medium rare. The bartender, as always, reminded me of this. No problem.

Soup was great.

Salad came out, and the steak looked.....well, it didn't look rare in any way. Now, being slightly color-blind with shades of red, I called the bartender over to confirm my suspicions. Which she did. Now, because that was the last cut of that steak they had that night, they gave me an option of keeping it or ordering something else. I considered my options thoughtfully, but as I love their wedge salad, had come in specifically for it, and didn't really want a full-on steak dinner, I kept the salad. And they told me they would only charge me for the regular wedge salad, not the steak one, whether or not I ate the steak.

So I tried the steak. Two bites in, I asked the bartender for a side plate, as this steak was medium well if it was anything. I put the steak on the side plate, and the bartender put it in the appropriate place: the trash. And I happily ate my salad. Sad that I didn't have the lovely steak on it, but overall, a pleasant dining experience.

I did not yell at the bartender or anyone else about that being the last cut of that steak.
I did not yell at the bartender or anyone else about that steak being overdone.
I did not rant, rave, carry on, bitch, moan, whine, cry, threaten, or scream about how they had ruined my meal, I wanted something free, etc., etc. I read my Kindle, ate my meal, drank my drink (without my asking or them telling me about it, they actually bought my second drink), paid the tab, tipped very well, and everyone was happy.

Why? Well, I am an asshole. I'm very proud of that. I'm just not THAT kind of asshole. And therein lies the difference.

[CaroPhoenix]

I have never tried the wedge salad @ Outback. Might have to do that next time I'm there.

A-1 sauce is awesome. I used to eat my steak with it. Heck, when I was much much younger, I'd eat my steak with ketchup!! I know!! The horror! And then I gre up into steak sauce. Now I eat steak with no saucE or ketchup.

But as I said before, for me, steak sauce goes on my burgers & hamburger steaks.

[tropicsgoddess]

What the hell was that lady on?!!