How do you like your steak?

[Monkey]

Tenderloin: raw to rare

Strip steaks, delmonico: medium rare (my favorites)

Ribeye: medium but I prefer it roasted as prime rib than putting it on the grill. There's a lot of fat in there and you get it melting better when it is properly roasted.

Sirloins, hanger steaks, steamship rounds, liver, any other "new" or odd cuts: medium.

Shanks, london broil, pot roasts, eye of round, short ribs, ribs, oxtail: braised or smoked to perfection....depends on the preparation.

Any other part of the cow I will do medium well, or nor order depending on the cut. I could go on and on here but that pretty much covers the most popular cuts of a cow.

With meat, there are different ways and temperatures to get the best flavor and texture out of it.

[lxskllr]

I very seldom eat steak, but if I do, I like it beyond well done. Black crusty edges are perfect. My favorite food from the pit beef stand is the burnt ends, and as a bonus, they're discounted :^D I generally put Worcestershire or Tabasco on steak, but not always.

[CoderGuy]

Mid-rare here. I don't like people handling my meat so i cook my own, no ordering involved. Unless I get to go someplace with dry-aged and want to spend a hundgy a plate........

Med-rare here too. I handle my own meat enough, so it's a nice change when someone else does it ;P

[Mawdryn]

With a sirloin or other lean cut, I heat a pan til it's smoking, and then throw the steak on for maybe 2 min. on either side. Really not an exact thing, I just want the surfaces to be crispy and the interior to be as rare as possible.

With ribeyes (my favorite cut), I'm with Monkey. Cook it longer so the fat melts, run it up to medium or maybe even medium-well over charcoal. Not really sure how long I give it...generally long enough to drink a whole beer though...

I'm thinking I may have decided what's for dinner tonight...

[RobsanX]

Anybody ever heard of reverse searing a steak? Here is a tutorial done by a buddy of mine: http://netcookingtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12939

It's probably my favorite method of cooking a steak, but I think it works best with steaks around 2" thick, and I don't get those very often. Basically you heat up the steak in a 275 oven until it reaches 90-95 internal temp. Then you pull it out and sear it in a super hot pan.

The advantage is you get a really nice rosy pink color with very little gray band around the outside. Yum!

[CoderGuy]

Anybody ever heard of reverse searing a steak? Here is a tutorial done by a buddy of mine: http://netcookingtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12939

It's probably my favorite method of cooking a steak, but I think it works best with steaks around 2" thick, and I don't get those very often. Basically you heat up the steak in a 275 oven until it reaches 90-95 internal temp. Then you pull it out and sear it in a super hot pan.

The advantage is you get a really nice rosy pink color with very little gray band around the outside. Yum!

That's actually pretty interesting. I love my steaks black and blue or charred rare. Of course now they say eating char causes cancer and I am sure in 5 years it will be illegal to have a steak less than med-well and illegal to have any char on anything but reverse char sounds good too.

[Mawdryn]

Anybody ever heard of reverse searing a steak? Here is a tutorial done by a buddy of mine: http://netcookingtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12939

It's probably my favorite method of cooking a steak, but I think it works best with steaks around 2" thick, and I don't get those very often. Basically you heat up the steak in a 275 oven until it reaches 90-95 internal temp. Then you pull it out and sear it in a super hot pan.

The advantage is you get a really nice rosy pink color with very little gray band around the outside. Yum!

Sounds a bit like sous vide. I've done homebrew versions at home with great results, but you actually have to find really tough cuts of meat to keep it from just turning into a hash. It really gets that tender.

Just buy a steak that's already vacuum sealed, or put your favorite cut in a ziploc and squeeze all the air out. Then put a BIG pot of water on the stove and set it at the LOWEST possible setting. You'll need a thermometer, because your goal is to keep the water between 120-130 degrees. You may have to adjust a little, drop an ice cube in the water, etc...but eventually you'll find the magic spot. Now toss your bagged steak in, and cook for at least 1 hour. From what I understand, it doesn't matter if you cook it for hours, your goal is just to get the steak to be 120 degrees in the center.

Once you pull the steak out of immersion, cut the bag open and pan sear it QUICK on either side. You're just trying to get a sear here. Enjoy!

My mom does this in a crock pot...her lowest setting is right at 125.

Seriously, this is the most tender steak you'll ever eat. It just feels so "scientific" to cook this way, so I went back to my grill.

[RobsanX]

That's actually pretty interesting. I love my steaks black and blue or charred rare. Of course now they say eating char causes cancer and I am sure in 5 years it will be illegal to have a steak less than med-well and illegal to have any char on anything but reverse char sounds good too.

Oddly enough it's nitrosamines in charred meat that are the possible carcinogens. Just like in tobacco.

[Monkey]

Anybody ever heard of reverse searing a steak? Here is a tutorial done by a buddy of mine: http://netcookingtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12939

It's probably my favorite method of cooking a steak, but I think it works best with steaks around 2" thick, and I don't get those very often. Basically you heat up the steak in a 275 oven until it reaches 90-95 internal temp. Then you pull it out and sear it in a super hot pan.

The advantage is you get a really nice rosy pink color with very little gray band around the outside. Yum!

That is pretty cool.....

As long as you cook both sides of the steak evenly and properly rest a steak after cooking, you get the same result. The reverse sear makes the end result easier.

I wonder if you olive oil poached the steak to 90° then seared it if that would have a similar result....

Edit: it would be like a sous vide method. That has actually been a popular way of cooking in Europe for quite some time.....it didn't really gain popularity in the US until they got the cool gadgets for it, immersion circulators and affordable vacuum seal bagging systems.

[lxskllr]

Not entirely relevant, but funny none the less...


http://www.thehighdefinite.com/2011/...-the-supercut/

[timholian]

I like my steaks to be Ribeye, to be seared on both sides and then run it thru a warm room. I guess you could say med-rare but if you do it with a hot enough fire or pan it is a really nice red center with a nice crunch.

Fun Fact:
the "blood" coming out of your steak isnt actually blood......... its myoglobin : )

Dry aged is preferred of course. : )))

EDIT:
IMHO Steak sauce is a sacrilege.... I like the taste of the MEAT not some lab coat : ))) the humblest opinion....

[Ainkor]

Medium rare, right at around 130-135 degrees. If you can get some nice char on the outside even better.

Here is an interesting thought about eating meat:

If you're trying to get a group to bond together, take em out for steaks. There is something primal and bond forming about eating steak together.

It also works for dates. I'd never date a woman who wouldn't eat meat. (insert joke here :P) Luckily I'm married so I don't have to worry about that though!

[Crow]

Blue Rare - Medium Rare

I prefer Rare (in between Blue and Medium) on most occasions.

[BrianC]

Medium rare for me, but I also voted rare because it is better underdone than overdone. I am also very much against the use of steak sauce, as was stated before, I want to taste the meat, not the sauce....that sounds really bad but I am talking about steak here!!

[Crow]

Same here. No steak sauce for me.