Quoted message said:Hello there,
I work in a "Big Name" steakhouse. The kind where you pay $30.00 and up
for a steak.
First factor: The experience of the cook. Most places that I get a steak,
it is always overcooked. I put the blame on the inexperience of the cook.
Second Factor: The size of the steak. Thicker steaks take longer to cook.
In low end restaurants, most rrestaurants that don't specialize in steaks,
usually have the "thin" kind of steak. They cook much faster. In relation
to factor #1, this amounts to overcooked steaks.
Here are the cooking temps for beef:
Rare (140°F) Med-rare (145°F) Medium (160°F) Med-well (165°F) Well (170°F)
My steakhouse also offers "very Rare" as a menu option.
There is also Black and Blue, which is burnt on the outside and raw on the
inside.
Pittsburgh also means burnt on the inside but cooked to the temp of your
liking on the inside; usually rare or med-rare.
Now for what the steak should look like at those temps:
Very rare: purple raw center
Rare: Cool red center
MedRare: warm red center
Med: Pink on the outside, red center
Med Well: Mostly pink
Well: grey, no color
The biggest problem we have is the general ignorance of the general public
at large about how steak should be cooked.
That, coupled with factor one and two means that the general populace
thinks that a medium rare steak should be pink, because most cooks
overcook the [censored] out of their beef.
Medium rare should have NO pink in it whatsoever.
There also is a difference between raw and rare.
Rare=red.
Raw=purple.
I completely agree that you should get the steak the way you want it
cooked. When I eat at lower end placed and feel like a steak, I always
order it rare now, because it usually comes out medium well. I usually eat
my steaks medium rare, so at least with medium well, I still get a little
bit of color left in my meat.
Also think of the quality of the beef you get for $12. Usually choice,
which is what you get at the supermarket.
These are the different quality grades of beef:
Prime, Choice, Select, Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter and Canner
Prime is the best. If you have a "Big Name" steakhouse in your area, you
really owe it to yourself to splurge and go there at least once.
And I'm not talking about the Outback either.
One restaurant in my area "proudly" serves Select Beef. Ew, gross.
Seasoning of the steak also has a factor in the flavor. Most places use
too much salt. Even more places don't season their steaks at all.
Also how the steak is aged makes a huge amount of difference in how the
steak tastes.
Dry aging and wet aging are the two types.
Warning, the next bit of info may be gross and you may never want to eat
beef again:
Dry aging is the traditional process of placing an entire carcass or
wholesale cut (without covering or packaging) in a refrigerated room for
21 to 28 days at 32-34 degrees F. and 80-85% relative humidity, with an
air velocity of 0.5 to 2.5 m/sec. All three conditions, although varying
widely in commercial practice, are extremely important in the proper
postmortem aging of carcasses, as well as beef ribs and loins.
A third method, accelerated aging uses a higher holding temperature with
ultraviolet light used to [censored] microbial grown which would normally
occur at higher temperatures. This method, however, has not been used
commercially to a significant degree in recent years, due to the extent
that vacuum packaged products are subjected to wet aging.
Too much humidity will allow excessive microbial growth, whereas too
little will cause excessive shrinkage. Eighty-five percent relative
humidity is a happy medium in slowing microbial growth and moisture loss.
Tenderness development can be accelerated by aging at a higher
temperature; however, increased microbial growth becomes a serious problem
at higher temperatures.
Air velocity is essential because it acts as a medium for moisture removal
from the refrigerated area. Insufficient air velocity will allow excessive
moisture to condense on the product, and as a result, off-flavors and
aromas, as well as spoilage, will occur. Too high an air velocity, on the
other hand, will result in excessive surface drying, with resulting weight
and trim losses. The main disadvantage of dry aging is the cost associated
with these weight and trim losses.
Wet aging is the aging of meat in vacuum bags (usually the middle meats)
under refrigerated conditions of 32-34° F. Obviously, humidity and air
velocity are not necessary requirements for proper wet aging. Because most
beef is vacuum packaged at the site of carcass fabrication (cutting), wet
aging is the predominant method of postmortem aging today.
The aging process continues when a primal or subprimal cut has been placed
in a vacuum package. By the We the cut reaches the retail store, at least
7-10 days have normally elapsed the following slaughter, due to holding at
packing plant for carcass chilling and fabrication, inventory storage,
shipping to the retail warehouse, and subsequent shipping to the retail
store level. Therefore, the time associated with the rapid tenderization
(7-10 days) and that associated with product movement to the retail store
are similar. However, additional aging time is generally beneficial.
So there you have a quick primer in eating cooking and preparing of
steaks.
Quality makes a huge difference in the enjoyment of your steaks.
Even a prime, dry aged steak cooked well done, at the hands of a cook who
knows what he is doing, can come out an enjoyable experience.
So, splurge on a big name steakhouse, even if you have to drive 1 or 2
hours to get to one, and write back to me and tell me how it was compared
to your usual $12 steak. I think you will find a world of difference.
P
