How do you have your steak cooked?

[bianchi1]

I would say we get more medium rare orders than anything else at work. Blue is a lot less popular than 10 years ago..maybe only 1 every couple of months, Well done is also dying out.

We hardly ever get steaks sent back and if we do its almost always that we have slightly under cooked them to the customers liking, and then they are mostly ordered medium, when what they actually wanted was medium well. I think medium should still be pink in the middle....but there's always that 'customer is always right' thing. Only takes a second or two extra on the grill and everyone is happy.

Its a huge problem for us if we over cook a steak as there's nothing much you can do about it other than start again, which is a pain for us and more importantly takes ages so the customer is sat empty plated while the rest of the table eats (and apparently it costs the boss money...but we don't worry about that)

On big tables where we might have 20+ steaks ordered, all cooked differently we have been known to put a couple of extra on the grill cooked to medium rare so we can substitute any mix ups...more often than not its where someone on the table forgets what they order and start tucking into someone else's meal. You might wonder what happens to the surplus delicious medium rare steaks......

 

[Mrs M]

[QUOTE 4785815, member: 259"]I'm not keen on fillet steak, but do you really have to bash them?[/QUOTE]
It's fun

 

[NorthernDave]

On big tables where we might have 20+ steaks ordered, all cooked differently we have been known to put a couple of extra on the grill cooked to medium rare so we can substitute any mix ups...more often than not its where someone on the table forgets what they order and start tucking into someone else's meal. You might wonder what happens to the surplus delicious medium rare steaks......

A colleague was on a training course "darn sarf" and due to traffic holdups arrived at the hotel he was using just minutes before the restaurant was due to stop taking orders. However, the helpful receptionist promised that he'd be OK if he was quick.
8:58pm - he walks in and orders the 12oz steak and all the trimmings, medium.
9:00pm - steak arrives at his table, cooked to perfection, and the plate is overflowing with a huge amount of chips and all the extras.
Blimey that was quick, says he.
Not really says the waitress - the chef thought he'd done for the night and was just sorting his own meal out when your order came in....

As for me - Medium rare, you know it makes sense.

Although Mrs ND likes hers cremated, sorry 'well done', which means we'll often have a wait....although we often have to go through a palaver with the waiter who thinks they know better.
Honestly, the perceived wisdom may well be that a well done steak is overcooked, but that is how she likes it and that's why she ordered it that way

 

[jefmcg]

Don't confuse Daily Wail headlines about the USA with what happens in the U.K... Even the more recent reports about fecal contamination of meat (it seems to be something of an annual silly season story - it's been doing the rounds since the 2011 study was first published) seem to only quote the US report.

Under EU regulations, the testing of meat for human consumption- particularly meat which is being processed for consumption raw - is quite strict (although I'm sure the Brexiteers will push for that sort of 'Brussels red tape' to be binned).

The reality is that just about everything is contaminated with fecal matter - most of it human - and we ourselves are the main source of that contamination. You're probably more likely to get sick because you haven't washed your hands properly before cooking your steak than you are from eating a burger that's been cooked rare or medium.

Yay, my fact checker is on the job! Points well made .... but of course

1. Do not accuse me of reading the DM! I got my "facts" from Fast Food Nation. Yeah, I was too lazy to check EU/UK standards. A quick google suggested it was the same, but a more detailed perusal subsequently suggests I was wrong. That being said, more surface area (mince is all surface area) is more points of potential contamination, so I will continue to order my burgers medium, unless I am ordering something posh* with foie gras or truffles (ok, not foie gras, obviously)
2. Getting sick is down to the amount of contaminants. I don't handle a steak with my hands after it's cooked, and very little when it's raw, so even if I have nasty pathogens all over me, they are unlikely to be transferred in sufficient quantities to make me ill. A hamburger badly handled could contain multitudes.

*I have had food poisoning on several occasions from posh eateries. The food has always been worth it.

 

[Tin Pot]

I would say we get more medium rare orders than anything else at work. Blue is a lot less popular than 10 years ago..maybe only 1 every couple of months, Well done is also dying out.

We hardly ever get steaks sent back and if we do its almost always that we have slightly under cooked them to the customers liking, and then they are mostly ordered medium, when what they actually wanted was medium well. I think medium should still be pink in the middle....but there's always that 'customer is always right' thing. Only takes a second or two extra on the grill and everyone is happy.

Its a huge problem for us if we over cook a steak as there's nothing much you can do about it other than start again, which is a pain for us and more importantly takes ages so the customer is sat empty plated while the rest of the table eats (and apparently it costs the boss money...but we don't worry about that)

On big tables where we might have 20+ steaks ordered, all cooked differently we have been known to put a couple of extra on the grill cooked to medium rare so we can substitute any mix ups...more often than not its where someone on the table forgets what they order and start tucking into someone else's meal. You might wonder what happens to the surplus delicious medium rare steaks......

Nice post, but why would it take ages to cook another medium steak? Surely it takes 2 minutes?

 

[bianchi1]

Nice post, but why would it take ages to cook another medium steak? Surely it takes 2 minutes?

8 oz fillet steak would take me 10 minutes at a push to get medium. There are some shortcuts (butterfly it, flatten it with a hammer and other things less reputable chefs might do that I wont mention) but they will impact on the quality of the final product, and as the customer is already disgruntled, its not worth it.

 

[bianchi1]

[QUOTE 4786103, member: 259"]Flattening it with a hammer would get you sacked in Belgium. And why on earth would you do that to a dead tender, but pretty tasteless cut without any nice fat on it?[/QUOTE]

As I said its shortcuts to cook the meat quicker when a customer is waiting after a returned meal. But again, as I said its not worth it as the final product is not good. Thankfully I've been doing it for so long now serving an overcooked steak is something I almost never do....well unless the waiting staff have taken the order wrong, but don't get me started on waiting staff!!

 

[Tin Pot]

As I said its shortcuts to cook the meat quicker when a customer is waiting after a returned meal. But again, as I said its not worth it as the final product is not good. Thankfully I've been doing it for so long now serving an overcooked steak is something I almost never do....well unless the waiting staff have taken the order wrong, but don't get me started on waiting staff!!

I guess I'm asking so I can learn how other people cook steaks.

For me it's 60 seconds either side with salt and pepper, and a lid over it. What are you doing differently?

 

[User482]

Yeah. I'll bet they're all over sour vide at 'spoons.

I wouldn't be surprised if they use it: mass catering is its natural home.

 

[bianchi1]

I guess I'm asking so I can learn how other people cook steaks.

For me it's 60 seconds either side with salt and pepper, and a lid over it. What are you doing differently?

Thick steaks will need sealing not only on the top and bottom but sides as well. I also would try and stand a sirloin up fat side down for a while to crisp up the fat.

To be honest though there are so many variables when cooking steaks, from fat content, size, how much other stuff is on the grill (it cools it down) etc plus the added complications of timing the meat to be ready if the customers have starters, that there is no definitive method or timing, more improvising in order to deliver the customer what they want.

 

[slowmotion]

The best steak I ever ate was sous vide, but the process makes me a bit uneasy. Poaching decent meat in a shrink-wrapped plastic bag doesn't seem right somehow.
Too far removed from the fire, flesh, caveman thing or something.