How do you like your steak ?

Dubl07

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

I've read your qualifications, and while impressive, fair play to you, I hope you don't usually ignore customer requests like you've just ignored my post.

I. Don't. Like. Red. Wine.

It's actually the tannins I don't like, the astringency of them in particular. Same way I don't like tea made with squeezed teabags, disgusting, or very dry cider.

So, recommending a chianti is falling on deaf ears, you aren't the first and obviously won't be the last to try to recommend a red wine, when I've specifically requested a white.

Some reds don't have high tannins but do have high acidity which also occurs in some whites.

Let's back-track. What do you tend to order to accompany your steak by way of sides and sauces? What white wines do you like? Have you tried rosés?

username123

I cant drink red wine, havoc with the sinuses, something to do with the sulphites or the tannins or who knows what - the point being, its just not a runner unless Im ready to spend the next few days with gross nasal congestion and mucus production requiring intervention with extra steroids and more nasal rinsing that usual.

The occasional organic wine seems to be less painful - but only in white, Id never risk red.

drumswan

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

I've read your qualifications, and while impressive, fair play to you, I hope you don't usually ignore customer requests like you've just ignored my post.

I. Don't. Like. Red. Wine.

For someone who drinks such a wide variety of beer Im surprised to hear you dismiss the majority of wines. Im no wine expert but not all reds have tannins.

Dubl07

drumswan wrote: »

For someone who drinks such a wide variety of beer Im surprised to hear you dismiss the majority of wines. Im no wine expert but not all reds have tannins.

All wines have tannins. No matter what colour the wine is. It's a question of degree.

fiddlechic

The science of a great steak....

carolinespring

Rare. I like my steak so that a AED could get it back to life... Hate that chewy over cooked steak. Roast beef would be Medium/rare

Faith

duploelabs wrote: »

well I'm excutive chef in two restaurants and head chef in another. I write menus and protocol for worldwide corporation with institutions in 7 different countries. I have had two books published and am nearly finished my third. I've worked to a michelin star level and have worked as a personal chef to members of the british royal family and the diplomatic corp as well as some other high-profile dignitaries. I give lectures to corporate and educational institutions on food ethic and providence and I am also studying on my M.Sc in food science.
So yeah, I know fcuk all

... I made sandwiches in a café once.

rubadub

duploelabs wrote: »

If someone says to you that it's blood coming from their steak (or whatever meat) then disregard any other food knowledge that's uttered from their mouths

I could imagine hearing a chef knowingly incorrectly referring it to blood, as it's such a common colloquial term for it.

I would also not dismiss a chef's advice if he referred to the weight of a steak in grams.

Melendez

This post has been deleted.

fussyonion

I ordered a medium steak last year and I had to send it back to be cooked again (my own fault).
It wasn't the colour that put me off..it was the texture. I just couldn't eat it and it tasted metallicy.

I know purists will say there's no such thing as a nice well-done steak but I was in Spain last year, at an award-winning steakhouse, and they served up a well-done steak that was still juicy and full of flavour, so it can be done.

And it annoys me when I hear chefs say "I hate doing well-done steaks, a little part of me dies."
Why?
I'm not asking you to eat it. I'm paying for the steak the way I want it.
Just cook it.

rubadub

Melendez wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

grams are a unit of mass, not weight, they should be stating weight in newtons (or ounces). But just like people referring to blood, everybody knows what they really mean, and if corrected most are not that bothered.

A chef might have some training in physics along with his biology lessons, so seeing as some seem to get oh so upset at the incorrect terminology used for "red meat juices" they might get upset at the customers disgraceful lack of training in physics too, appalling ignorance.

As I said earlier, I doubt its going to change many people's preference. Its not like hearing someone avoided cream donuts all their life since they thought the line of strawberry sauce was ketchup. I could imagine someone saying "ah, jaysus, and me like an eejit thought it was ketchup", I could not imagine someone saying "so all along those red meat juices I didn't like the look of were just simple myoglobin, don't I look the fool, blue steak from now on" -and of course as the previous poster mentioned some might not like the texture of rarer steak, they might have no issue with "redness" at all.

I heard of some expensive restaurant in dublin doing sous vide steak on a pre theatre menu, they only had 2 options for how it could be done, and one was well done, not sure where.

kingtut wrote: »

It amazes me the amount of people here who think/assume/say that well-done means cremate the steak. Well done steak is steak that is cooked all the way through which DOES NOT mean burning it! Any chef / cook who burns a steak that was ordered well done really has no clue what they are doing.

+1, the chart earlier went from blue to well done. It could probably do with a "very well done" bit. The "well done" temp was not a range, simply "internal temp 77C+", so giving free reign for a bitter arsehole of a chef to purposely destroy it.

Loire

I was in a "nice" restaurant last month and ordered steak. The friendly waiter asked which sauce I would like. I had made Hollandaise myself earlier in the week and was craving this, but it was not on his list. When I asked if I could have Hollandaise he replied "Sorry, we don't have any". My facial expression immediately turned to followed by :eek:

Loire.

Telecaster58

The late, great Fanny Craddock was once asked how many ways there were to cook a steak and she replied "three. Rare, medium, and ruined"

duploelabs

Loire wrote: »

I was in a "nice" restaurant last month and ordered steak. The friendly waiter asked which sauce I would like. I had made Hollandaise myself earlier in the week and was craving this, but it was not on his list. When I asked if I could have Hollandaise he replied "Sorry, we don't have any". My facial expression immediately turned to followed by :eek:

Loire.

Given short shrift for ordering off the menu??!!?
Ever hear the Kevin Thornton Chips Story?

Rew

duploelabs wrote: »

Given short shrift for ordering off the menu??!!?
Ever hear the Kevin Thornton Chips Story?

There was more to that then them just asking for chips though

Mellor

rubadub wrote: »

grams are a unit of mass, not weight, they should be stating weight in newtons (or ounces). But just like people referring to blood, everybody knows what they really mean, and if corrected most are not that bothered.

Ounces are a unit of mass also, not weight. People don't really care about the common misuse because we all live on the one planet, with uniform pretty gravity.
If people are saying "I love a good bloody steak" - that's fair enough as you know what they mean.

But the issue with using the word "blood" incorrectly is that a lot of people aren't using it for simplicity, they genuinely think it is blood and are put off by it. And continual misuse puts off others. I've seen people making themself feel sick because they think that's it blood.

duploelabs

Rew wrote: »

There was more to that then them just asking for chips though

Principle remains, it's ordering off menu in the middle of service which means the head chef is going to be down a chef whilst they make your hollandaise, thus breaking down the whole service section

rubadub

Mellor wrote: »

they genuinely think it is blood and are put off by it.

I think many will still be put similarly put off after hearing it is myoglobin. Has anybody heard of anyone who had no problem with eating less than well done steak after hearing it was myoglobin?

If some one had a "ewwwh, gross" reaction to thinking its blood, then if they read wiki saying
"Myoglobin is an iron- and oxygen-binding protein found in the muscle tissue of vertebrates in general and in almost all mammals. It is related to hemoglobin, which is the iron- and oxygen-binding protein in blood, specifically in the red blood cells."

I still think they would have an aversion to it.

There seems to be a presumption that the people who like well done steak have never ever eaten a medium or rare steak, and also a presumption that if they did so they would be an almost definite convert.

duploelabs wrote: »

the servants preferred to the same fillet very very well done (I.e sealed in the pan and then 20 minutes in the oven). Made me cry inside preparing it

Is there any other requests that would make you cry inside?

Perhaps doing a well done burger? I like my steak medium, but like burgers to be well done, for texture reasons, it is not a worry of seeing pink and not due to the worry of bacteria (which of course is a worry with burgers, but if I was 100% sure it was not a problem I would still like it well done).

spacetweek

Meejum.

duploelabs

rubadub wrote: »

Is there any other requests that would make you cry inside?

Perhaps doing a well done burger? I like my steak medium, but like burgers to be well done, for texture reasons, it is not a worry of seeing pink and not due to the worry of bacteria (which of course is a worry with burgers, but if I was 100% sure it was not a problem I would still like it well done).

I could go on for hours

draiochtanois

This post has been deleted.

MissFlitworth

I'm sure you don't mean to be rude draoichtanois but that's verging on it. This is a snipe-free zone

Mellor

rubadub wrote: »

I think many will still be put similarly put off after hearing it is myoglobin. Has anybody heard of anyone who had no problem with eating less than well done steak after hearing it was myoglobin?

If some one had a "ewwwh, gross" reaction to thinking its blood, then if they read wiki saying
"Myoglobin is an iron- and oxygen-binding protein found in the muscle tissue of vertebrates in general and in almost all mammals. It is related to hemoglobin, which is the iron- and oxygen-binding protein in blood, specifically in the red blood cells."

I still think they would have an aversion to it.

TBH, I wouldn't use the word myoglobin, as realistically its not in common use. I'd say that its water and protein, or simply juice from the meat. It's red because steak is red. It's no different the the pale juice that runs from chicken, or other meat, etc etc.
And I'd point out that when you have it well done, its still there, its simply browned.

There seems to be a presumption that the people who like well done steak have never ever eaten a medium or rare steak, and also a presumption that if they did so they would be an almost definite convert.

There is definitely a case of elitism with some steak eaters. The perception that the more raw you go the better you are. This thread proves that. Some of the hyperbole is ridiculous.
I'd even say some people sacrifice taste for the sake of being further up the rare scale.
But they are the minority. I certainly don't have that attitude. I certainly don't go around preaching to people about steak. It simply comes up during normal dinner conversation. People will usually try a bit out of curiosity, and its pretty common for them to slide up to medium the next time.

People are free to prefer their steak cooked how ever they like. Not everyone will prefer medium/rare over well done after they try it. But, at the same time, the huge majority of people do in fact work their way down to some degree, and the catalyst is almost always somebody encouraging them to it a go. Very few people go the other way.

Loire

duploelabs wrote: »

Principle remains, it's ordering off menu in the middle of service which means the head chef is going to be down a chef whilst they make your hollandaise, thus breaking down the whole service section

Hi,

I should have explained myself better - I wasn't bothered that they couldn't meet my request (and the restaurant was getting busy at the time), it was the way the waiter said "We don't have any" - it was like they were using packet sauces rather than making their own.

Loire.

Dizzyblonde

Mellor wrote: »

There is definitely a case of elitism with some steak eaters. The perception that the more raw you go the better you are. This thread proves that. Some of the hyperbole is ridiculous.
I'd even say some people sacrifice taste for the sake of being further up the rare scale.

I couldn't agree more. After all, we're talking about a piece of meat and how one person likes it shouldn't bother anyone else. It's a question of personal taste.

If I'm paying for a steak in a restaurant I'd expect the chef to happily cook it the way I like it, even if he'd never in a million years eat his that way.

the beer revolu

Loire wrote: »

Hi,

I should have explained myself better - I wasn't bothered that they couldn't meet my request (and the restaurant was getting busy at the time), it was the way the waiter said "We don't have any" - it was like they were using packet sauces rather than making their own.

Loire.

I dunno. If a waiter said that the didn't have mashed potatoes, I wouldn't assume that the use smash. Might have just meant that they didn't have an Hollandaise made up.

Loire

the beer revolu wrote: »

I dunno. If a waiter said that the didn't have mashed potatoes, I wouldn't assume that the use smash. Might have just meant that they didn't have an Hollandaise made up.

Yeah maybe

Dubl07

Guess what's on promotion in Dunnes today? Three managers hovering around a chiller just inside the front door & tweaking the display every time a customer had a rummage was a bit off-putting all the same.

Loire

Guys & Gals, you're not going to believe this. I'm doing some consultancy at the moment for an organisation involved in beef production. Unbeknownst to me they occasionally drop of some striploin to the staff. As I'm onsite today and a fellow staffer was to get 2, he's given me one. Basically, it's top quality prime Striplion, the size of a laptop and about 5 inches thick!! It's currently frozen and cannot be re-frozen but we have a dinner party in 3 weeks time and this is going to be some centre-piece! I'll stick up a photo later on...seeing is believing.

I'm soo chuffed :D:D:D:D:D

duploelabs

the beer revolu wrote: »

I dunno. If a waiter said that the didn't have mashed potatoes, I wouldn't assume that the use smash. Might have just meant that they didn't have an Hollandaise made up.

nail meet head