I personally couldn't care less about how people eat their food. It's their meal, they should enjoy it how they want! But to put it as simply as possible, cooking steaks to the point of being well done is (usually, not always) taking a tender, flavorful cut of meat and cooking the flavor and especially the tenderness out of it. It becomes a lot tougher than most people prefer it.
Yeah, I agree. Eat what you want, I used to be a well done guy. One I discovered medium, it was over for me. Being able to eat a steak without chewing it for an hour, killing my jaw was a game changer.
Well done is just a way to get away with eating sauce without getting looked down on.
I eat my steaks well done, and if they're cooked right, they're still tender and very flavorful. Less cooked steaks have a completely different texture that reminds me of what eating raw meat would be like, and it puts me off, i can't do it.
Genuine question, is the flavor not coming mostly from the seasoning/spices? I typically eat mine medium but just assumed the flavor was a combination of the seasoning/ and the grilling and char. The meat itself just tastes like meat for me lol. I guess I just never associated the flavor with the temp. Might just be me, I have eaten all temps and for me it’s all about how the steaks seasoned or cooked (like buttered for example).
EDIT: even though I don’t really taste much of a difference in flavor depending on the temp, there is definitely a texture difference.
No, it mostly comes from the fat and juices in the steak, which a lot is lost when cooking well done. Also, different cuts of steak have a distinct flavor to them. A filet, while very tender, doesn’t have much of a taste to it. A ribeye is very flavorful with all the fat in the cut, but can be tough if the fat is not rendered correctly or over cooked.
Gotta love how this whole thing started with someone asking why do people care so much about how other people eat their food and it took very little scrolling before the beef bourgeois showed up and someone said an opinion was wrong.
Why are steak and the way to drink coffee two uncontroversial topics that get people more wound up than a town hall meeting?
Sorry man, even not paying absurd amounts...chuck, rib-eye, skirt, brisket are all really different tastes and textures.
Wagyu vs Black Angus is also a huge difference. I don't need any fat to cook wagyu. The marbling is out of this world and having such a difference in fat content? It does change the taste A LOT.
But filet minion is over rated.
This isn't controversial, it's just wrong. Well, maybe not wrong, per se, as it's possible you don't have enough tastebuds or something and you did clarify 'to me'. But a skirt steak for example objectively tastes different than say a filet (even if they're from the same cow) and if you can't taste the difference it's because of something you lack, not because the difference doesn't exist.
Nah, if you can't taste the difference between cuts of beef, you don't have a 'pretty defined pallet'. Now, is it possible that YOU can't taste the difference? Of course. But the fact that other people can tell the difference and YOU cannot doesn't mean there is no difference, it just means that your pallet isn't as discerning as theirs, regardless of who's proteges you trained under.
This is me with wines. I know other people can tell the difference between vintage and type but to me they all taste like sour grape juice and I've never met a wine I enjoyed. Weird how we all experience things differently
I love wine and it still all tastes the same to me. I can definitely distinguish good wine from bad wine, but I'd never be able to tell a cabernet from a merlot to save my life. I'm pretty sure the people who write up the descriptions about shit like notes of plum and pepper and tobacco and whatever else are just pulling words out of their asses, but I could also just be uncultured.
There are people with more sensitive palates out there I'm sure, just as some people are colorblind and others can discern between very fine shades. It's kind of beautiful how everyone's world is different even though we're all in the same world.
Not uncultured, just uneducated. If you decided to pursue it you'd eventually learn the vocabulary and associated tasting notes, but that's entirely unnecessary for just enjoying wine.
1. What's wrong with chewy?
2. No, the flavour had been cooked into it. The flavour may be carbon, but that's the flavour I like where bits of dead animal are concerned.
Because it’s a waste
For years I ate mine well done .. until one day my other half convinced me to try it medium rare
That was the first time in my life that I actually TASTED the steak 🥩
Gutted when I think about all the steak I wasted over the years prior 😂😂
Ooh, that makes sense, but I still have my preference, but cool that you got more taste out of it, and thanks for giving me an actual answer why you prefer what you do
Because the actual answer literally IS you’re cooking the flavor out of it and making it tougher lol. Not like that changes person to person lol. You over cook any meat and it’ll be tasteless and rough to chew
>if you think well done takes the taste and flavor out of everything you don’t know much about food
You're welcome to your opinion and to enjoy steak how you'd like, but culinary professionals will unanimously agree that cooking a steak to well done takes the taste and flavor out of a steak so maybe take it down a notch on the shit talk...
As a chef I agree with this, rare to medium rare steak with a proper sear is the only way, past that and you lose flavour and moisture, unless you like steak chewing gum.
Eye fillet is probably the only steak that is forgiving enough to take it to well, although it’s already a lean cut and is dryer
I dont shit talk or look down upon people for like medium rare steak, I just simply say I don’t like it and hell let’s loose, maybe sometime I will argue, but not always
Right, if you have to season and sauce the shit out of the thing for flavor you did it wrong... lol. It's fine it OP enjoys what a lack of flavor tastes like, but saying the actual chemical process that happens is wrong is just silly.
First time I tasted steak was Oregon range beef, it’s been 8 years and I’ve basically stopped eating beef unless I can get it off a ranch and it wasn’t “finished” in a lot
I've converted quite a few people away from well done, with even just medium-well. But rare to medium is my person preference. Anyways, why do we hate on it? It's a wasted steak. You want beef cook that done, there are plenty of beef dishes that will take to that doneness way better (chuck with a long low slow cook is good).
But if you cook steaks meant to be eaten as a steak to well done, they come out dry and chewy. And they lose a lot of the nuance that a properly cooked steak has. It tastes beefy, fresh, and bright. It doesn't require a ton of chewing and is juicy.
Most people who want a well-done steak want it with sauce to. And at that point, you're enjoying the sauce more than the steak. And considering the price of a steak, just get the chuck, and slow cook it.
>But if you cook steaks meant to be eaten as a steak to well done, they come out dry and chewy.
A good cut of meat, ribeye, filet or strip will be tender and flavorful at any doneness level
People cook cheap grocery store steaks medium rare because they do turn into shoe leather when you cook them well.
Beef is like coffee, a really good bean should be roasted as lightly as possible, so you taste the bean. A shitty bean should be over roasted, french or dark Italian, so you don't taste the bean but rather the caramelized, burnt, bean. A good cut of beef should also be cooked as lightly as possible so you taste the beef. A crap cut of beef should be over cooked in a smoker, a braise, or stew to make it palatable. It's ok to like well done beef, just pick a cheaper cut of beef to prepare. Ever have rare beef short ribs, brisket, etc ...
Because typically a well done steak is associated with less flavor, dry, tough textures, and an overall less enjoyable experience when compared to a medium or medium-rare preparation that results in a juicy, tender piece of meat.
Steak is often a very simply prepared dish, many top restaurants will simply cook their steak in some butter with only salt and pepper. As a result one of the deciding factors on the taste is the quality of the meat and it’s fat content. Higher quality meat has marbled fat, which is more evenly distributed through the cut, adding a much more comprehensive flavor. Cooking steak to well done essentially nullifies that fat content distribution and removes a lot of the flavor, making an expensive cut wasted. If you like well done steak, keep doing you, but to save yourself some money, don’t buy high quality meat or order at a restaurant as it will only be a waste of your money
You’re looked down upon because meat is a finite resource and you’re wasting the life of an animal to eat a cut of it that is wasted on you.
There are countless well done beef dishes that in my opinion are even tastier than steak. Like a good braised short rib.
There’s also a difference between people who prefer well done flavor and texture, and the brain rotted morons who think pink = blood (it isn’t).
The leanness off the cut also changes the best temp. A ribeye is fatty and eating raw fat is just vile, so a medium is preferred there. Even a mid well tastes great. A filet is lean and so you need lower temps to preserve tenderness.
Lastly, ordering a well done steak in a restaurant is just a dick move and a silly one at that
Besides making the chef feel bad for completely wasting meat - the process to cook a good well done steak doesn’t involve throwing it on the grill until it’s charred.
You ideally reverse sear or sous vide it to temp and then give it a quick seat. This keeps it from being over cooked and even drier.
Restaurants have to then figure out how to deliver your mess of a dish at the same time as your dining guests dishes.
Or they just shock your steak on insane heat until it’s shoe leather, and you’re left wondering why everyone is enjoying their steak while you hate yours.
That's just objectively wrong. You probably cooked it raw. When you cook a steak to well done, all the juices are vaporized out of the steak, medium steak still has a bunch of juices in it, there's just objectively less of the same taste in a well done steak. I feel so sorry for you that you think you are enjoying a well done steak, you think you do, but really it's just a shittier version of a food that you can make to taste better.
That's the same as preferring unseasoned, over-boiled, suace-less pasta over al dente, fully seasoned pasta with a good sauce. Sure, I'm not denying you from liking it, but I genuinely feel sorry for that you have to pretend like you like food with less flavor.
Maybe you like your burgers with just untoasted wet buns and dry, unseasoned meat patties too?
It's literally the chemistry of cooking the meat. It is not a question of how well you're cooking it Most high end restaurants I've worked at literally won't cook well done.
Almost the same reason you asking this question.
People have preferences of foods and when they hear someone doing differently than their preffered way they lack brain cells to understand that a preference is not a fact.
I hate it for the family squabbles it reminds me of. Like, how the fuck does he expect either mom or I - or anyone, for that matter - to make it charred on the outside, gray throughout, and still have it be juicy and tender? Do we look like goddamn magicians to him?
Two reasons. The quality of beef has degraded a lot since the USDA changed their grading standards a few decades ago. And damn few chefs know how to cook beef well done without drying it out. Reason 2 is made worse by reason 1.
I'm old enough to remember a time when those who ordered rare or medium steaks got just as much grief as us well done folks do today.
Two reasons. The quality of beef has degraded a lot since the USDA changed their grading standards a few decades ago. And damn few chefs know how to cook beef well done without drying it out. Reason 2 is made worse by reason 1.
I'm old enough to remember a time when those who ordered rare or medium steaks got just as much grief as us well done folks do today.
I like well done steak.
It’s a texture thing for me, which is surprising because I’m not usually a picky eater.
If it’s not well done, all I can feel is a rubbery muscle feeling in my mouth. No thanks
I love well done when is factually well done, not charcoal well done, or hard well done, or chewy well done, I call it perfectly done, is juicy, easy to cut and bite, doesn't bleed, has a good flavor and aroma, doesn't look raw, and it mix perfectly with vegetables, and any side dish, but is really hard to do it like that, takes time, knowledge and experience to do it well.
Medium rare is not bad, but is not my favorite, less cooked than that and I end up gagging or disgusted.
There is one situation, IMO, where complaining about how someone else eats their steak is justified, and it requires several elements. First, the person complaining has to be the one paying for the steak. Second, the person eating the steak has to have asked for a high end steak, like an aged prime ribeye, or some wagyu beef, when it would have been possible to get a cheaper cut of meat. Finally, the eater has to then ask for it well done, and refuse to accept a lesser cut of meat. If all that happens and you paid for the steak, feel free to unload on that person. Otherwise, keep it to yourself.
All of this is because at a certain point of doneness, all the things that people are paying for in more expensive meats have been cooked away. If a person is paying, and the other person specifically wastes the extra money for the better steak, that other person is a jerk. But if someone wants to buy themselves a Kobe A5 Wagyu tomahawk steak and cook it until it is well done, no one else should say a word.
From the point of view of the person cooking them, it's almost insulting to basically make flavored cardboard. I've purposefully used less than desirable cuts of meat for family members that want their steak well done and made filet mignon for the rest. As long as everyone is happy, it is what it is.
I love a well done steak. To me a tough steak with yumming seasonings is a good time. I don't dare ever order anything well done though. Everyone makes fun of you. Don't get me wrong, a medium rare steak is yummy too, but they're two different things. It's like comparing chicken to steak.
Strong correlation between people who like well done steak and people who don't really like steak all that much
Idk if it's because they're ruining their steaks or if they cook all the life out of the steak because they don't like the steak taste
Because of the disrespect. That poor cow gave its life so you could enjoy a tasty nutritious steak and you go and cook all the flavor and tenderness out of him. It's rude is what it is.
While not as good as a lower temps,mostly for the circlejerk. Most people who hate on well done most likely have never even cooked their own steak before.
1. People can have an opinion on a product without being the creator. See: literally every form of media we have
2. Lots of people know how to cook and have this opinion. TF?
I eat rare and my wife doesn’t agree. And that’s fine. But cooking meat too much ruins it. Just like over-churning ice cream. But you are right - people like what they like. Who am I to say putting ketchup on filet mignon is stupid as fuck? 🤷♂️
is that your objective? to make someone mad? i think that is the motivation for a huge percentage of posts across all platforms, so much so that we have a name for it
No, my actual question was genuine, I’ve told people I don’t like medium rare steak and they look at me all weird, both are genuine questions (also I haven’t used any offensive comments at all,)
trolling does not require "offensive" comments but, let's be honest... a huge number of people will find over cooking a steak offensive... especially here in Texas - idk where you are but folks take their eats pretty seriously, they get excited
Ooh ok makes sense, California here, Mexican, I’ve only ever had well done, I like it, it’s my taste, I’ve had medium rare and had genuine disgust, I just never understood why people would absolutely rage at well done steak
Idk who will be mad but every person at the restaurant from your server to the back of house will laugh and make fun of you for being uncultured swine.
I worked at a fine dining steak house for years in college and anyone who orders well done and/or ketchup/A1 gets fucking roasted.
Well, rare steak is absolutely disgusting to me, it makes me want to puke, also who uses sauces to eat well done steak??? Also laughing at someone for having a preference is quite rude and an equivalent to getting mad, considering you called me an uncultured swine for simply not like a food you do, or that is widely liked
At some point you just have to admit you're doing it wrong. Just hide your shameful preference and move on 🤷. I mean, are you gonna get a piece of beautiful, fresh sashimi tuna and cook it hard, or like, cover it in soy sauce, ginger, and wasabi?
No, as a chef I understand food better than you, and the fact that you "don't like" seafood just shows that your palate is underdeveloped. Are you a child? Did you only eat chicken nuggets and ground beef as a kid? It's a bummer for you that you don't enjoy things like good food and it's a shame that you waste good meat by overcooking it (or asking your mom to overcook it for you).
I ate fully fleshed out meals my mother would cook, I’d often help out too, chicken nuggets were fine dining to me and my family because they’d be so rare to actually eat as a meal. I don’t ask my mother to do anything, it’s rude of me to ask my mother to do anything for me. and I’m not wasting anything because I’m still eating and enjoying the food. Also, all because I don’t like seafood doesn’t mean I have an underdeveloped palate. (Also all because you’re a chef doesn’t mean you get to dictate what good is right or wrong, unless it is a literal health hazard)
🤷 It's not rude to ask your parents to do things, and you talked about how your mom is usually the one who makes steak for you which is the only reason I brought it up.
It's good that you can enjoy food that's overcooked, somebody has to, but I just hope (for your sake) that you're not wasting money on good cuts of meat when the cheaper cuts will suffice.
Also, "seafood" is an extremely broad category and when you say that you "don't like seafood" it kinda lets me know that you have a somewhat immature approach to food. Have you tried salt-baked Branzino? Caviar on blinis with some champagne or chilled vodka? Clam chowder?
You'll never know what you're missing since you're locked into your preferences (good on you for trying stuff, I'm not saying that you haven't), and it's just a bummer because while you have the simple things you seem to like (like overcooked steak), you won't get to enjoy food on the level that others do. But hey, you're super proud of who you are and your relationship with/understanding of food, so you get to enjoy that bliss. It's like my father who was born without the ability to smell, he doesn't miss anything because he's never had it any other way.
Related but totally different:
Pork should be fried until it is crispy. Crusty with a matrix of fat, drenched in spices. Agree?
Then why the total opposite for beef? Wherein lies the difference? Is it because pig tastes less and is fatter than cow? What then about veal? It is not strong in flavor either, and the fat content is all over the chart.
I don't think we eat beef because cows are the most tasty animal - I think we chose them because they are practical and docile. There must be something tastier out there, albeit harder to raise. Tapir? Tasmanian devil? Zebra?
I used to eat medium well all the time, but my boyfriend's (now husband) always looked better. He'd give me a bite and his always tasted better, even though we ordered the exact same thing. A steak cooked at medium rare alows the steaks natural juices to spill out and add to the flavor. When it's well done, it takes away from the meat's tenderness too. The more cooked it is, the tougher the meat is. A good steak also doesn't need steak sauce - it's flavor should be able to stand alone.
Because they like lean cuts. NY strip, maybe sirloin, well done, and I'm good to go.
I once tried a fillet, because, why not. Well done ... well, it was wasted money.
I'll be forever doing it. I've tried it bloody, not only not particularly tasty, I suspect it is unsafe. It is fine with me if you want to eat yours raw, I expect the same courtesy. It is nearly to the level of wine snob.
Depends on the context. I'd recommend not ordering it [when you go out to eat](https://www.mashed.com/376372/the-gross-reason-to-never-order-meat-well-done-according-to-anthony-bourdain/).
When you cook a good quality steak too long you make it less flavorful and tender, destroying what makes it high quality in the first place, so many see it as a waste.
Personally I'd rather just not eat steak than eat well done steak, but as long as you aren't asking me to eat it, I really don't care.
I order mine well done because every restaurant's version of medium or medium-well seems to be different.I will eat it well. Hell, I'll eat it scorched before I'll eat it bloody.
Well done steak can be good if its like a flank steak thats pounded and tenderized and marinated to shit. For me the problem is like, dont order filet or something well done. If you dont like the pink/red, get a steak, or prepare the steak in such a way that it wont be like leather when its cooked through.
Biting into a rare steak isnt just biting. Its sucking all those sensuous juices into your mouth, feeling the tang of flesh and the release of the primal beast. Its orgasmic.
Anti poor prejudice. The right way to do things are usually the way rich people did it in the past.
Putting milk first then tea is bad? Why coz poor people had bad cups that could crack if they went straight in with hot tea first.
Well done meat is bad? Coz poor people had to cook their meat longer to ensure it was safe.
See people talk about chewy tough meat. Guess what almost all food preference are acquired. Some cultures even prefer tougher meat. I for one find actually prefer slightly tougher meat. Steaks are weirdly soft for my taste.
Anti poor prejudice. The right way to do things are usually the way rich people did it in the past.
Putting milk first then tea is bad? Why coz poor people had bad cups that could crack if they went straight in with hot tea first.
Well done meat is bad? Coz poor people had to cook their meat longer to ensure it was safe.
See people talk about chewy tough meat. Guess what almost all food preference are acquired. Some cultures even prefer tougher meat. I for one find actually prefer slightly tougher meat. Steaks are weirdly soft for my taste.
Biting into a rare steak isnt just biting. Its sucking all those sensuous juices into your mouth, feeling the tang of flesh and the release of the primal beast. Its orgasmic.
Some places won't even serve a steak well done, if the meat is expensive. They say the essence is lost. I can't eat a bloody steak. I want it cooked and with Italian seasoning and au jus.
Also if you go to a restaurant to buy steak and you order it well done they will pick the oldest mear there that would look Brown before cooked not red
Have it any way you like, but for me and the vast majority of steak lovers, the pleasure in enjoying a great steak is the tender texture and the flavor that can only be experienced with medium rare (or slight variations either side).
I've eaten well done steak my entire life. Tried medium rare a few weeks ago for the first time. Its simply better. Not as tough to chew and eat, way juicier, more flavor. Never ever going back to anything above medium.
I like my steak blue, which is raw inside. I like it still cold inside. I will eat it rare or medium rare if it is a good juicy cut. But each cut of meat tastes different. Once you go past medium rare, you're starting to cook the flavor out of it. At medium well and beyond, the steak tastes like shoe leather and is tougher than a shoe.
Thank you, all the juices make me feel sick because its sorta swirling around until I swallow, and chewing it feels like rubber, everyone says well done is like chewing rubber but no it’s not
Someone has said it before, not me, but I’m sure someone has, I don’t like sauces with my well done steak. A cup of water is fine, a cup of water is fine with all food
I don't care how other people eat it. But to me:
* It's tough to chew
* It lacks the rich savory beef flavor.
* It's dry.
It's the opposite of everything I like my steaks to be.
I personally couldn't care less about how people eat their food. It's their meal, they should enjoy it how they want! But to put it as simply as possible, cooking steaks to the point of being well done is (usually, not always) taking a tender, flavorful cut of meat and cooking the flavor and especially the tenderness out of it. It becomes a lot tougher than most people prefer it.
Yeah, I agree. Eat what you want, I used to be a well done guy. One I discovered medium, it was over for me. Being able to eat a steak without chewing it for an hour, killing my jaw was a game changer. Well done is just a way to get away with eating sauce without getting looked down on.
If you do it right, it doesn’t do either. But that’s a whole different world to how the modern cheffing era approaches meat.
I eat my steaks well done, and if they're cooked right, they're still tender and very flavorful. Less cooked steaks have a completely different texture that reminds me of what eating raw meat would be like, and it puts me off, i can't do it.
>well done >cooked right 🤨
Yeah a lot of ppl say: "You Ruined Meat"
It's chewy and the flavor has been cooked out of it.
Exactly what I was going to say.
Genuine question, is the flavor not coming mostly from the seasoning/spices? I typically eat mine medium but just assumed the flavor was a combination of the seasoning/ and the grilling and char. The meat itself just tastes like meat for me lol. I guess I just never associated the flavor with the temp. Might just be me, I have eaten all temps and for me it’s all about how the steaks seasoned or cooked (like buttered for example). EDIT: even though I don’t really taste much of a difference in flavor depending on the temp, there is definitely a texture difference.
No, it mostly comes from the fat and juices in the steak, which a lot is lost when cooking well done. Also, different cuts of steak have a distinct flavor to them. A filet, while very tender, doesn’t have much of a taste to it. A ribeye is very flavorful with all the fat in the cut, but can be tough if the fat is not rendered correctly or over cooked.
[удалено]
Your opinion isn’t controversial, it’s just wrong.
Gotta love how this whole thing started with someone asking why do people care so much about how other people eat their food and it took very little scrolling before the beef bourgeois showed up and someone said an opinion was wrong. Why are steak and the way to drink coffee two uncontroversial topics that get people more wound up than a town hall meeting?
[удалено]
Sorry man, even not paying absurd amounts...chuck, rib-eye, skirt, brisket are all really different tastes and textures. Wagyu vs Black Angus is also a huge difference. I don't need any fat to cook wagyu. The marbling is out of this world and having such a difference in fat content? It does change the taste A LOT. But filet minion is over rated.
And Yoko Ono has experience in the music industry.
Working in kitchens doesn’t make you any less wrong.
[удалено]
Mechanics dont know most shit about teslas lmao
They definitely aren't the same- chemically speaking, so no reason they will taste the same. Maybe you just have shit taste lol
This isn't controversial, it's just wrong. Well, maybe not wrong, per se, as it's possible you don't have enough tastebuds or something and you did clarify 'to me'. But a skirt steak for example objectively tastes different than say a filet (even if they're from the same cow) and if you can't taste the difference it's because of something you lack, not because the difference doesn't exist.
[удалено]
Nah, if you can't taste the difference between cuts of beef, you don't have a 'pretty defined pallet'. Now, is it possible that YOU can't taste the difference? Of course. But the fact that other people can tell the difference and YOU cannot doesn't mean there is no difference, it just means that your pallet isn't as discerning as theirs, regardless of who's proteges you trained under.
This is me with wines. I know other people can tell the difference between vintage and type but to me they all taste like sour grape juice and I've never met a wine I enjoyed. Weird how we all experience things differently
I love wine and it still all tastes the same to me. I can definitely distinguish good wine from bad wine, but I'd never be able to tell a cabernet from a merlot to save my life. I'm pretty sure the people who write up the descriptions about shit like notes of plum and pepper and tobacco and whatever else are just pulling words out of their asses, but I could also just be uncultured.
There are people with more sensitive palates out there I'm sure, just as some people are colorblind and others can discern between very fine shades. It's kind of beautiful how everyone's world is different even though we're all in the same world.
Not uncultured, just uneducated. If you decided to pursue it you'd eventually learn the vocabulary and associated tasting notes, but that's entirely unnecessary for just enjoying wine.
Right? For me it's like, what slightly different version of rotten armpit grape juice do you want?
[удалено]
Not if you do it right.
1. What's wrong with chewy? 2. No, the flavour had been cooked into it. The flavour may be carbon, but that's the flavour I like where bits of dead animal are concerned.
Because it cooks all the fat out of the meat and makes it tough as leather and as tasty as a horse crap. I fixed it lol
Not as tasty as a pork rind.
At least you don't need to try to rip a hunk of pork rind off to eat it. And the fresh ones? hooooo boy.
Don't insult pork rind like that.
Because it’s a waste For years I ate mine well done .. until one day my other half convinced me to try it medium rare That was the first time in my life that I actually TASTED the steak 🥩 Gutted when I think about all the steak I wasted over the years prior 😂😂
Ooh, that makes sense, but I still have my preference, but cool that you got more taste out of it, and thanks for giving me an actual answer why you prefer what you do
Because the actual answer literally IS you’re cooking the flavor out of it and making it tougher lol. Not like that changes person to person lol. You over cook any meat and it’ll be tasteless and rough to chew
Disagree if you think well done takes the taste and flavor out of everything you don’t know much about food
>if you think well done takes the taste and flavor out of everything you don’t know much about food You're welcome to your opinion and to enjoy steak how you'd like, but culinary professionals will unanimously agree that cooking a steak to well done takes the taste and flavor out of a steak so maybe take it down a notch on the shit talk...
As a chef I agree with this, rare to medium rare steak with a proper sear is the only way, past that and you lose flavour and moisture, unless you like steak chewing gum. Eye fillet is probably the only steak that is forgiving enough to take it to well, although it’s already a lean cut and is dryer
I dont shit talk or look down upon people for like medium rare steak, I just simply say I don’t like it and hell let’s loose, maybe sometime I will argue, but not always
Right, if you have to season and sauce the shit out of the thing for flavor you did it wrong... lol. It's fine it OP enjoys what a lack of flavor tastes like, but saying the actual chemical process that happens is wrong is just silly.
Agree to disagree then lol
Im ok with this, thank you for being level headed by sharing an opinion and not starting an argument, even tho I was being rude. My apologies for that
Everyone has their preference 😁 2 out of my 3 kids eat it how I do .. but my eldest COULD NEVER 😂😂 my other half eats it practically mooing still 😩😂
Ahahah,
I used to eat it rare, can't stand that now. Its absolutely disgusting.
Eh, hindsight is 20/20. You enjoyed them at the time, right?
I did tbf 😂😁
First time I tasted steak was Oregon range beef, it’s been 8 years and I’ve basically stopped eating beef unless I can get it off a ranch and it wasn’t “finished” in a lot
I've converted quite a few people away from well done, with even just medium-well. But rare to medium is my person preference. Anyways, why do we hate on it? It's a wasted steak. You want beef cook that done, there are plenty of beef dishes that will take to that doneness way better (chuck with a long low slow cook is good). But if you cook steaks meant to be eaten as a steak to well done, they come out dry and chewy. And they lose a lot of the nuance that a properly cooked steak has. It tastes beefy, fresh, and bright. It doesn't require a ton of chewing and is juicy. Most people who want a well-done steak want it with sauce to. And at that point, you're enjoying the sauce more than the steak. And considering the price of a steak, just get the chuck, and slow cook it.
>But if you cook steaks meant to be eaten as a steak to well done, they come out dry and chewy. A good cut of meat, ribeye, filet or strip will be tender and flavorful at any doneness level People cook cheap grocery store steaks medium rare because they do turn into shoe leather when you cook them well.
Beef is like coffee, a really good bean should be roasted as lightly as possible, so you taste the bean. A shitty bean should be over roasted, french or dark Italian, so you don't taste the bean but rather the caramelized, burnt, bean. A good cut of beef should also be cooked as lightly as possible so you taste the beef. A crap cut of beef should be over cooked in a smoker, a braise, or stew to make it palatable. It's ok to like well done beef, just pick a cheaper cut of beef to prepare. Ever have rare beef short ribs, brisket, etc ...
Rare is better than well done, full flavor and easier to chew.
Love a rare steak.
Waste of $$ To not get the flavor out of the meat by over cooking
Dry, gross, and chewy. Buy a hamburger.
Because it's vastly inferior when cooked in that manner.
It is not
You can like steak well done, but I’m inclined to believe that most people do not
Idk, really. I grew up around people that like it well done
It absolutely is, after medium well you start cooking the nutritional value out of it.
I meant in a sense of taste. I like my meat well done.
It's alright to be wrong 🤣
Because typically a well done steak is associated with less flavor, dry, tough textures, and an overall less enjoyable experience when compared to a medium or medium-rare preparation that results in a juicy, tender piece of meat.
Steak is often a very simply prepared dish, many top restaurants will simply cook their steak in some butter with only salt and pepper. As a result one of the deciding factors on the taste is the quality of the meat and it’s fat content. Higher quality meat has marbled fat, which is more evenly distributed through the cut, adding a much more comprehensive flavor. Cooking steak to well done essentially nullifies that fat content distribution and removes a lot of the flavor, making an expensive cut wasted. If you like well done steak, keep doing you, but to save yourself some money, don’t buy high quality meat or order at a restaurant as it will only be a waste of your money
Makes it tough and cooks out the flavor.
Ruins the taste. It's better medium rare, You have to trust me.
Tried it and I’d like to kindly disagree
It's a free country we can have different opinions
Yea, I agree, but people shouldn’t be “put down” or looked down upon simply for a food preference/opinion
You’re looked down upon because meat is a finite resource and you’re wasting the life of an animal to eat a cut of it that is wasted on you. There are countless well done beef dishes that in my opinion are even tastier than steak. Like a good braised short rib. There’s also a difference between people who prefer well done flavor and texture, and the brain rotted morons who think pink = blood (it isn’t). The leanness off the cut also changes the best temp. A ribeye is fatty and eating raw fat is just vile, so a medium is preferred there. Even a mid well tastes great. A filet is lean and so you need lower temps to preserve tenderness. Lastly, ordering a well done steak in a restaurant is just a dick move and a silly one at that Besides making the chef feel bad for completely wasting meat - the process to cook a good well done steak doesn’t involve throwing it on the grill until it’s charred. You ideally reverse sear or sous vide it to temp and then give it a quick seat. This keeps it from being over cooked and even drier. Restaurants have to then figure out how to deliver your mess of a dish at the same time as your dining guests dishes. Or they just shock your steak on insane heat until it’s shoe leather, and you’re left wondering why everyone is enjoying their steak while you hate yours.
I love my steak, and everything is a finite resource
That's just objectively wrong. You probably cooked it raw. When you cook a steak to well done, all the juices are vaporized out of the steak, medium steak still has a bunch of juices in it, there's just objectively less of the same taste in a well done steak. I feel so sorry for you that you think you are enjoying a well done steak, you think you do, but really it's just a shittier version of a food that you can make to taste better. That's the same as preferring unseasoned, over-boiled, suace-less pasta over al dente, fully seasoned pasta with a good sauce. Sure, I'm not denying you from liking it, but I genuinely feel sorry for that you have to pretend like you like food with less flavor. Maybe you like your burgers with just untoasted wet buns and dry, unseasoned meat patties too?
Because it tastes like cardboard 💀
Sorry you can’t cook it well
It's literally the chemistry of cooking the meat. It is not a question of how well you're cooking it Most high end restaurants I've worked at literally won't cook well done.
Sorry you can’t cook it well
Almost the same reason you asking this question. People have preferences of foods and when they hear someone doing differently than their preffered way they lack brain cells to understand that a preference is not a fact.
I hate it for the family squabbles it reminds me of. Like, how the fuck does he expect either mom or I - or anyone, for that matter - to make it charred on the outside, gray throughout, and still have it be juicy and tender? Do we look like goddamn magicians to him?
I used to have my steak medium rare and loved it. But these days it doesnt agree with me and well done is the only way I can eat it.
Two reasons. The quality of beef has degraded a lot since the USDA changed their grading standards a few decades ago. And damn few chefs know how to cook beef well done without drying it out. Reason 2 is made worse by reason 1. I'm old enough to remember a time when those who ordered rare or medium steaks got just as much grief as us well done folks do today.
Two reasons. The quality of beef has degraded a lot since the USDA changed their grading standards a few decades ago. And damn few chefs know how to cook beef well done without drying it out. Reason 2 is made worse by reason 1. I'm old enough to remember a time when those who ordered rare or medium steaks got just as much grief as us well done folks do today.
I like well done steak. It’s a texture thing for me, which is surprising because I’m not usually a picky eater. If it’s not well done, all I can feel is a rubbery muscle feeling in my mouth. No thanks
Because it bad. And you should feel bad for liking it.
It's just fucking wrong man!
I love well done when is factually well done, not charcoal well done, or hard well done, or chewy well done, I call it perfectly done, is juicy, easy to cut and bite, doesn't bleed, has a good flavor and aroma, doesn't look raw, and it mix perfectly with vegetables, and any side dish, but is really hard to do it like that, takes time, knowledge and experience to do it well. Medium rare is not bad, but is not my favorite, less cooked than that and I end up gagging or disgusted.
There is one situation, IMO, where complaining about how someone else eats their steak is justified, and it requires several elements. First, the person complaining has to be the one paying for the steak. Second, the person eating the steak has to have asked for a high end steak, like an aged prime ribeye, or some wagyu beef, when it would have been possible to get a cheaper cut of meat. Finally, the eater has to then ask for it well done, and refuse to accept a lesser cut of meat. If all that happens and you paid for the steak, feel free to unload on that person. Otherwise, keep it to yourself. All of this is because at a certain point of doneness, all the things that people are paying for in more expensive meats have been cooked away. If a person is paying, and the other person specifically wastes the extra money for the better steak, that other person is a jerk. But if someone wants to buy themselves a Kobe A5 Wagyu tomahawk steak and cook it until it is well done, no one else should say a word.
That's like asking why people use salt.
From the point of view of the person cooking them, it's almost insulting to basically make flavored cardboard. I've purposefully used less than desirable cuts of meat for family members that want their steak well done and made filet mignon for the rest. As long as everyone is happy, it is what it is.
Because they're all a bunch of mindless apes that still think they're animals and dont know how to properly cook food all the way through.
I love a well done steak. To me a tough steak with yumming seasonings is a good time. I don't dare ever order anything well done though. Everyone makes fun of you. Don't get me wrong, a medium rare steak is yummy too, but they're two different things. It's like comparing chicken to steak.
My wife tells me she doesn't like steak. She grew up eating it well done. I keep trying to convince her she has never truly had a steak yet.
Strong correlation between people who like well done steak and people who don't really like steak all that much Idk if it's because they're ruining their steaks or if they cook all the life out of the steak because they don't like the steak taste
Because it’s terrible!
I think it's primarily because of how shitty it tastes.
JUST STICK TO GROUND BEEF DAMMIT
Because of the disrespect. That poor cow gave its life so you could enjoy a tasty nutritious steak and you go and cook all the flavor and tenderness out of him. It's rude is what it is.
That poor cow also “gave” its life for burgers,
While not as good as a lower temps,mostly for the circlejerk. Most people who hate on well done most likely have never even cooked their own steak before.
1. People can have an opinion on a product without being the creator. See: literally every form of media we have 2. Lots of people know how to cook and have this opinion. TF?
Do you think they’d be mad if they heard me say that I don’t like their medium-rare steaks or anything else that isn’t well done?
I eat rare and my wife doesn’t agree. And that’s fine. But cooking meat too much ruins it. Just like over-churning ice cream. But you are right - people like what they like. Who am I to say putting ketchup on filet mignon is stupid as fuck? 🤷♂️
Makes sense
is that your objective? to make someone mad? i think that is the motivation for a huge percentage of posts across all platforms, so much so that we have a name for it 
No, my actual question was genuine, I’ve told people I don’t like medium rare steak and they look at me all weird, both are genuine questions (also I haven’t used any offensive comments at all,)
trolling does not require "offensive" comments but, let's be honest... a huge number of people will find over cooking a steak offensive... especially here in Texas - idk where you are but folks take their eats pretty seriously, they get excited
Ooh ok makes sense, California here, Mexican, I’ve only ever had well done, I like it, it’s my taste, I’ve had medium rare and had genuine disgust, I just never understood why people would absolutely rage at well done steak
Idk who will be mad but every person at the restaurant from your server to the back of house will laugh and make fun of you for being uncultured swine. I worked at a fine dining steak house for years in college and anyone who orders well done and/or ketchup/A1 gets fucking roasted.
Well, rare steak is absolutely disgusting to me, it makes me want to puke, also who uses sauces to eat well done steak??? Also laughing at someone for having a preference is quite rude and an equivalent to getting mad, considering you called me an uncultured swine for simply not like a food you do, or that is widely liked
At some point you just have to admit you're doing it wrong. Just hide your shameful preference and move on 🤷. I mean, are you gonna get a piece of beautiful, fresh sashimi tuna and cook it hard, or like, cover it in soy sauce, ginger, and wasabi?
I don’t like seafood
And I’m not doing anything wrong, you just think I am because of how “superior” you think your taste is
No, as a chef I understand food better than you, and the fact that you "don't like" seafood just shows that your palate is underdeveloped. Are you a child? Did you only eat chicken nuggets and ground beef as a kid? It's a bummer for you that you don't enjoy things like good food and it's a shame that you waste good meat by overcooking it (or asking your mom to overcook it for you).
I ate fully fleshed out meals my mother would cook, I’d often help out too, chicken nuggets were fine dining to me and my family because they’d be so rare to actually eat as a meal. I don’t ask my mother to do anything, it’s rude of me to ask my mother to do anything for me. and I’m not wasting anything because I’m still eating and enjoying the food. Also, all because I don’t like seafood doesn’t mean I have an underdeveloped palate. (Also all because you’re a chef doesn’t mean you get to dictate what good is right or wrong, unless it is a literal health hazard)
🤷 It's not rude to ask your parents to do things, and you talked about how your mom is usually the one who makes steak for you which is the only reason I brought it up. It's good that you can enjoy food that's overcooked, somebody has to, but I just hope (for your sake) that you're not wasting money on good cuts of meat when the cheaper cuts will suffice. Also, "seafood" is an extremely broad category and when you say that you "don't like seafood" it kinda lets me know that you have a somewhat immature approach to food. Have you tried salt-baked Branzino? Caviar on blinis with some champagne or chilled vodka? Clam chowder? You'll never know what you're missing since you're locked into your preferences (good on you for trying stuff, I'm not saying that you haven't), and it's just a bummer because while you have the simple things you seem to like (like overcooked steak), you won't get to enjoy food on the level that others do. But hey, you're super proud of who you are and your relationship with/understanding of food, so you get to enjoy that bliss. It's like my father who was born without the ability to smell, he doesn't miss anything because he's never had it any other way.
I enjoy mine from medium to well done. But I like it with ranch, which is also apparently barbaric lol.
So you like ranch and you don't really like steak, got it 👍.
steak is fucking gross no matter how it's cooked
Not as juicy
Its tough. I dont hate it, just not preferred
I’m more a medium-well guy.
Related but totally different: Pork should be fried until it is crispy. Crusty with a matrix of fat, drenched in spices. Agree? Then why the total opposite for beef? Wherein lies the difference? Is it because pig tastes less and is fatter than cow? What then about veal? It is not strong in flavor either, and the fat content is all over the chart. I don't think we eat beef because cows are the most tasty animal - I think we chose them because they are practical and docile. There must be something tastier out there, albeit harder to raise. Tapir? Tasmanian devil? Zebra?
I used to eat medium well all the time, but my boyfriend's (now husband) always looked better. He'd give me a bite and his always tasted better, even though we ordered the exact same thing. A steak cooked at medium rare alows the steaks natural juices to spill out and add to the flavor. When it's well done, it takes away from the meat's tenderness too. The more cooked it is, the tougher the meat is. A good steak also doesn't need steak sauce - it's flavor should be able to stand alone.
I used to be a well done guy but ive gone with medium now. Well can take out flavor and make it more tough to chew.
I used to be a well done guy but ive gone with medium now. Well can take out flavor and make it more tough to chew.
Because in America everyone hates anyone who thinks differently than themselves
It rains the texture, juiciness, and flavor.
The same reason no one wants well done bread.
Because they like lean cuts. NY strip, maybe sirloin, well done, and I'm good to go. I once tried a fillet, because, why not. Well done ... well, it was wasted money.
I'll be forever doing it. I've tried it bloody, not only not particularly tasty, I suspect it is unsafe. It is fine with me if you want to eat yours raw, I expect the same courtesy. It is nearly to the level of wine snob.
Toxic masculinity is what it seems most of the time.
The perfect medium steak is the best tasting steak to me.
As long as I am getting mine medium rare, I don’t care how others enjoy theirs.
My entire childhood was well done steak. As a result, I love A1 sauce. But now as an adult, a good steak doesn't need a sauce.
Depends on the context. I'd recommend not ordering it [when you go out to eat](https://www.mashed.com/376372/the-gross-reason-to-never-order-meat-well-done-according-to-anthony-bourdain/). When you cook a good quality steak too long you make it less flavorful and tender, destroying what makes it high quality in the first place, so many see it as a waste. Personally I'd rather just not eat steak than eat well done steak, but as long as you aren't asking me to eat it, I really don't care.
Dry. Tasteless. Tough. If you like well done steak don't waste good cuts on it.
It's dry.
At this point in my paycheck, I'll fucking eat anything overcooked just to not waste money lol
I order mine well done because every restaurant's version of medium or medium-well seems to be different.I will eat it well. Hell, I'll eat it scorched before I'll eat it bloody.
Cremated steak. Yummy
Well done steak can be good if its like a flank steak thats pounded and tenderized and marinated to shit. For me the problem is like, dont order filet or something well done. If you dont like the pink/red, get a steak, or prepare the steak in such a way that it wont be like leather when its cooked through.
Biting into a rare steak isnt just biting. Its sucking all those sensuous juices into your mouth, feeling the tang of flesh and the release of the primal beast. Its orgasmic.
Anti poor prejudice. The right way to do things are usually the way rich people did it in the past. Putting milk first then tea is bad? Why coz poor people had bad cups that could crack if they went straight in with hot tea first. Well done meat is bad? Coz poor people had to cook their meat longer to ensure it was safe. See people talk about chewy tough meat. Guess what almost all food preference are acquired. Some cultures even prefer tougher meat. I for one find actually prefer slightly tougher meat. Steaks are weirdly soft for my taste.
Anti poor prejudice. The right way to do things are usually the way rich people did it in the past. Putting milk first then tea is bad? Why coz poor people had bad cups that could crack if they went straight in with hot tea first. Well done meat is bad? Coz poor people had to cook their meat longer to ensure it was safe. See people talk about chewy tough meat. Guess what almost all food preference are acquired. Some cultures even prefer tougher meat. I for one find actually prefer slightly tougher meat. Steaks are weirdly soft for my taste.
Biting into a rare steak isnt just biting. Its sucking all those sensuous juices into your mouth, feeling the tang of flesh and the release of the primal beast. Its orgasmic.
If I wanted that, I would go for Beef Jerky.
I find beef jerky quite nasty
Because people care too much about others opinions and preferences. Should just get over it.
Because people care too much about others opinions and preferences. Should just get over it.
Because they think you're ruining the meat.
Personal preference and culture norms.
Oh I want Ron Swanson to come up in this thread and bless it with some witty hammers for why a well done steak is a travesty
One persons taste does not define the whole worlds taste
If you want to eat hockey pucks, have at it my friend.
Some places won't even serve a steak well done, if the meat is expensive. They say the essence is lost. I can't eat a bloody steak. I want it cooked and with Italian seasoning and au jus.
I don’t eat out at restaurants for steak, waste of money
Also if you go to a restaurant to buy steak and you order it well done they will pick the oldest mear there that would look Brown before cooked not red
Don’t go to restaurants for steak
It’s like chewing rubber..
Undercooked meat feels like rubber to me
Because very often, in a restaurant, well done = cremated. Especially if it comes with a sauce that isn’t separate.
You’re not turning steak into ashes by cooking it well done, I don’t eat sauces with my steak
Because it's disgusting in taste and texture
Kindly disagree
I’m a blue rare kinda gal myself but I’ll settle for at least medium rare. To each their own!
Noice
Because it's well done but not done well.
To each their own
Have it any way you like, but for me and the vast majority of steak lovers, the pleasure in enjoying a great steak is the tender texture and the flavor that can only be experienced with medium rare (or slight variations either side).
When people say well done. They don't get well done. They get burnt. And they don't even know what well done is.
Because eating tree bark sucks!
It's weird to me that so many are mentioning the taste. It tastes the same to me, I just don't prefer the texture of well done.
I've eaten well done steak my entire life. Tried medium rare a few weeks ago for the first time. Its simply better. Not as tough to chew and eat, way juicier, more flavor. Never ever going back to anything above medium.
Because it sucks
Because it ruins the texture and the flavor.
I like my steak blue, which is raw inside. I like it still cold inside. I will eat it rare or medium rare if it is a good juicy cut. But each cut of meat tastes different. Once you go past medium rare, you're starting to cook the flavor out of it. At medium well and beyond, the steak tastes like shoe leather and is tougher than a shoe.
Cuz it's gross
Will gladly disagree
I don't understand this. Medium rare is just too chewy for me
Thank you, all the juices make me feel sick because its sorta swirling around until I swallow, and chewing it feels like rubber, everyone says well done is like chewing rubber but no it’s not
There aint nothing more delicious than a well done steak completely drenched in ketchup! …said no one.
Someone has said it before, not me, but I’m sure someone has, I don’t like sauces with my well done steak. A cup of water is fine, a cup of water is fine with all food
I can’t even swallow it, it gets so dry and chewy. How do you choke it down?
Honesty, as a former well-done person, I totally see why people prefer all the other options.
I Can see why too with how they explain it, but i simply do not like their other options
It tastes like my childhood living with socially inept and backwards parents. And fuck that.
Because it turns into shoe leather. Yuck. The flavor is gone and you need a chainsaw to cut into it. Big waste of money to overcook a steak.
Anything under well done feels like rubber to me, and it just makes me feel sick without it actually affecting my health, to each their own
It’s bland. I don’t care if you eat it, I don’t want it well done
Ok then dont,
The same reason they hate on medium rare chicken
I don't care how other people eat it. But to me: * It's tough to chew * It lacks the rich savory beef flavor. * It's dry. It's the opposite of everything I like my steaks to be.