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[Hazzuh]

Are people who prefer their steaks well done just wrong? It’s the question that has divided a nation that is otherwise firmly united on the “steak is great” front, given that we Americans consume about 25 billion pounds of beef annually. It makes ordering at steakhouses for large parties a negotiation; it causes effete elitists like me to reconsider the measure of a diner; and I’m going to guess that the BTUs of gas spent taking perfectly good rare steaks to well done amount to an environmental catastrophe.

A May 2014 investigation from this very website — one which, by my own admission, began as a campaign to smear those who enjoyed well-done beef — found that when people self-reported their steak preferences, most said medium-rare, followed by medium and then medium-well.

But that’s just what people say they like. We’re living in a society where meat doneness preference has been used as a political cudgel against the holder of the highest office in the U.S. We have to get to the tender, marbled meat of the issue.


Longhorn Steakhouse hooked us up here, agreeing to share aggregated data about how Americans prefer their steak. Longhorn shared a year’s worth of steak orders from all of its 491 U.S. locations, revealing how Americans ordered all different cuts of steak. It turns out that Americans claim to like their steak a lot rarer than they actually do!

Full article here

 

[thekonamicode]

Send it back to the kitchen

 

[akira28]

WELLLL DOOOONNNNEEE

 

[teh_pwn]

Not as bad as I thought it would be for a chain restaurant.

Medium is defensible, so over half aren't horrible.

Also I wouldn't chose rare there because I don't trust the cook. If I had a real Chef, yes.

 

[Nabbis]

No ketchup option?

 

[Akronis]

Medium-Rare is the best, I'll fight anyone that disagrees

No ketchup option?

leave now before the admins ban you

 

[FinaruDensetsu]

Ewwwww. Rare is the only way to get steak.

 

[shnurgleton]

Um, this was already posted?

 

[Hazzuh]

Send it back to the kitchen

Yeah, this got made while I was making this thread. Lock it up.

 

[Pattycakes]

Loch er up

 

[entremet]

Not surprised given GAF threads lol. Us Medium Rare aficionados are a rarer breed.

 

[Chris R]

Well, I'm not surprised at these results coming from "Longhorn Steakhouse"

If you expanded this to every single steak ordered in restaurants nationwide I bet the rarer than medium-well steaks start to creep back up.

 

[akira28]

Well, I'm not surprised at these results coming from "Longhorn Steakhouse"

If you expanded this to every single steak ordered in restaurants nationwide I bet the rarer than medium-well steaks start to creep back up.

elitist

 

[Dirca]

Well done. If it doesn't resemble a catcher's mit, send it back.

 

[Laieon]

I admittedly preferred my meat medium-well until very recently. The idea of eating something "bloody" just creeped me out. Accidentally cooked a steak medium/medium rare a few months ago and finally saw the light.

 

[ratcliffja]

Bloody meat is just gross.

 

[Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!]

That seems like a pretty normal distribution to me

 

[BlueTsunami]

I admittedly preferred my meat medium-well until very recently. The idea of eating something "bloody" just creeped me out. Accidentally cooked a steak medium/medium rare a few months ago and finally saw the light.

The bloody misconception is keeping people away from flavor town

 

[DrForester]

 

[Vicetrailia]

Would like to see a gender breakdown.

 

[JeffZero]

I'm part of the

Spoiler

medium-well

problem.

I don't much care for softer-textured food. I like it to bite back a little bit. Well-done is pushing it, though.

 

[HazySaiyan]

Anyone who gets it well done should be ashamed. Medium-rare or bust

 

[Laieon]

The bloody misconception is keeping people away from flavor town

I'll have to apologize to Mr. Fieri when he runs for president and wins in 2024.

 

[Pai Pai Master]

If someone's eating at Longhorns then I don't give a fuck about their temperature preference, their taste when it comes to steak is fundamentally wrong.

 

[Pop-O-Matic]

I don't get why so many go for anything less than Well Done. Like, do you WANT Mad Cow Disease?

 

[Sulik2]

I do medium at a chain restaurant. At an actual steakhouse where I trust the meat and chef it's medium rare every time though.

 

[Snaku]

Also I wouldn't chose rare there because I don't trust the cook. If I had a real Chef, yes.

Yeah, basically my rule of thumb. Regular chain restaurant? Medium rare. Actual real restaurant with ridiculous high quality cuts and chef? Rare.

 

[Dead Prince]

if they offer how i like my meat done id always go for medium rare. i don't think i been to a place that offers rare though. would like to try. i know my friend has to get his well done because of his sensitive stomach.

 

[wisdom0wl]

Medium rare or you clearly don't like food

 

[MisterR]

Well, I'm not surprised at these results coming from "Longhorn Steakhouse"

If you expanded this to every single steak ordered in restaurants nationwide I bet the rarer than medium-well steaks start to creep back up.

I would hope so if you're counting high end steak houses. If you get prime steak well done then you should have to serve some jail time. I'm guessing a lot of these well done folks also slather ketchup on their steaks.

 

[Steel]

Well-done steaks are the one thing Trump does right. If you're gonna cook something, cook the whole thing.

 

[TheLetdown]

Well, I'm not surprised at these results coming from "Longhorn Steakhouse"

If you expanded this to every single steak ordered in restaurants nationwide I bet the rarer than medium-well steaks start to creep back up.

elitist

Maybe it's elitist, but Chris R definitely isn't wrong.

Personally, I'm much more inclined to get a steak or a burger at a higher temp at chains vs. when I hit a clutch local place, where I'll go straight up R (steak) and MR (burger) every single time.

 

[Bladenic]

Medium all the way. And that's mainly because whenever I order Medium Rare at chain restaurants, it comes out too rare, so more often than not medium will be closer to med-rare (in my experience).

 

[shadow_shogun]

Well-done steaks are the one thing Trump does right. If you're gonna cook something, cook the whole thing.

So. Very. True.

 

[Retrofluxed]

At home I grill my steaks medium-rare. If you like it cooked longer, cook it your damn self.

 

[Walshicus]

There is *figuratively* nothing worse than a steak snob, and I wish misery on every single one of them.

 

[slit]

Well-done steaks are the one thing Trump does right. If you're gonna cook something, cook the whole thing.

No, eating it rare brings out your primitive carnivorous roots.

 

[Version 3.0]

There is *figuratively* nothing worse than a steak snob, and I wish misery on every single one of them.

I wish you the best of luck with this. If it catches on, it will be a great boon to humanity.

 

[Vyer]

nah, self described 'red blooded amercian trump voters' love them some red blooded steak

 

[Shadybiz]

Medium rare all the way.

 

[SegaShack]

WELLLL DOOOONNNNEEE

Is this a Diddy Kong Racing reference ?

 

[notsol337]

Rare, and I do mean rare.

Just pass it through a warm room and bring it to me.

 

[mlclmtckr]

Black and blue thanks.

 

[Charles Brandon]

medium rare or rare for me. My parents have it blue. I'm not ready for that shit.

 

[Nesotenso]

Medium-Rare is the best, I'll fight anyone that disagrees



leave now before the admins ban you

isn't that how the best chefs recommend it. That's why I always order it done like that.

 

[Elandyll]

Rare to Medium Rare is it.

How could I have immigrated to a country famed for its meat grillin' where so many get it so wrong?

/s...but still

 

[Maintenance]

Well done to medium-well here, nothing more.

 

[Phu]

I'd rather just have a burger tbh.

 

[Priz]

In the 80's and early 90's I remember lots of news stories about undercooked beef having this/that bad parasite/other foodborne illness that without knowing what temperature to get it at I'd just go Medium Well to make sure nothing that could make me ill survived. I'm sure that's the reasoning a lot of people also give for well/well done.

Now that I'm older I usually order Medium Rare at any decent place.

Also as a kid, my parents usually selected whatever was the cheapest cut of meat for steak when we'd go out and I HATED the taste. It was always so bad... so I never enjoyed eating steak whenever we had it. A group of friends in the 90's started hitting a bunch of steakhouses (such as Hungry Hunter - I miss that place) on a regular basis that I was able to try some amazing stuff and realize we'd just been ordering the wrong stuff all these years. Now when people from overseas come to visit I take them out for bone-in ribeyes or good prime rib...

 

[PandaPandaPanda]

I never had steak when I was growing up(family was very poor). I had the opportunity to at the office Christmas party last year and I ordered it well done. It was alright but I wasn't impressed. I had another opportunity a few months ago and ordered it medium rare and while I enjoyed it more, I didn't see the fascination about it. I'm not sure when i'll have the chance to have steak again, but i'd like to try it medium just to see how it goes.

And before anyone asks, both times were at high class restaurants (not at the same place though).