How do you like YOUR meat?
 

Okay - I've finally found the core difference between men and women - it comes down to "rare" and "well done."

I don't know about the guys on this board, but I'm a kind of "rare" guy. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I'm touching on barbequing.

I mean, what is this? Some sort of science I'm just not in tune with?

I try smoking up some steaks and salmon for the wife and our friend - another woman - and they kept complaining about how rare everything was. Plus I get this line of dialogue...

Friend: "the kids won't eat it!"

Guess what? They ate it. And wanted more.

Ever try digesting a well-done steak while in your late thirties? It takes at least two days.

By the time I finished cooking the meat, it was practically "uncuttable" (maybe a word, maybe not - I don't care). As I write this, I'm suffering mightily.

Am I wrong? Am I still a cave man enamored with the newness of fire and it's ability to make something a little more tasty at a temperature a tad above body warmth?

I don't get it. Everything was burned through though.

It took me nearly a whole bottle of red wine to rinse the Kingston charcoal out of my mouth.

rare beef is good, very rare venison is great

It may be a cultural/upbringing kind of thing.

The Japanese will NEVER overcook anything (well, of the things they actually cook, anyway). My wife's family is a perfect example of this, but they're not my only data point. ;)

My wife is convinced that I'm a vegetarian because of the way my family prepares meat--EVERYTHING is "well done". She says I never learned what I was missing, so it doesn't bother me. :rolleyes:

My wife cried after the Thanksgiving we spent at my aunt's house because the turkey was so dry and overcooked.

A good steak should be a dark, cool red on the inside, when you overcook meat (esp. Beef) it gets tough and looses all of it's flavor! :D

My wife likes steak rare, I like them medium rare. My son really doesn't like steak all that much. dd74, your theory's goin' down in flames. :D

There is nothing worse than overcooked Turkey or Chicken. It's like eating splinters. I would have cried too, especially as Thanksgiving is one of those days men fast before stuffing themselves into oblivion...

Nah, your situation is "rare." SmileWavy

Both the wife and I enjoy our steaks medium. I got grossed out with rare steak at BBQ once and was never the same. Son hates all meat products except for pork and hot dogs, daughter likes steak (tri-tip) and pork. Mmmmmm poooorrk. Wilbur never stood a chance. :)

Kids not liking meat is interesting to me. I imagine it's the work that goes into it - cutting, chewing , etc.

Well-done well-done meat (as in meat that is prepared skillfully to non-redness) need not be tough. And you can retain a lot of juiciness and all the flavor in a pink-free slab of beef - Dad does it all the time on the grill, and he has thus far retained his amateur chef status. Some decent restaurants can do well-done without hitting tough or try. I am still learning how. :)

my parents and girlfriend insist on having everything well done...

if you ask me, nothing tastes better than a nice, pink, juicy cheeseburger... or steak...

I am a rare guy. I get angry with restaurants that won't cook any less than medium.

Sushi

I like my beef rare,
Tuna steaks just get some grill marks on them.... yum

I think it should be a crime to incinerate a nice cut of beef. Medium rare is warm, pink, juicy perfection. Am I making you hungry?

The other question is why do girls order filet? It is the most tasteless of all beef cuts. Ask any cattleman, a real steak is a Sirloin, New York, Rib Eye or T-Bone.

I like my plate to look like a set from C.S.I..

Tom

"Just kick the cowboy off and put it on a plate":D :D

I like it still fighting for it's life, that's what the knife is for http://www.pelicanparts.com/support/.../flylicker.gif

i like to hear it "MOOOOOOOOOO" as it melts in my mouth.

LOL. My father in law's version of this one was, "Knock the horns off and walk it on in."

I'm a vegetarian. 20 years now. Man, could I eat some prime rib back before. I once walked in to a restaurant, had 2 drinks and ordered a full blown prime rib dinner. Salad, baked potato, the works. Finished it up with 2 glasses of wine and ordered another COMPLETE prime rib dinner. Ate it too.

BTW, I've since quit drinking as well.

To cook a steak so that it doesn't surrender its juices to the fire, first put it on a real hot griddle for a minute each side or until just the surface is hardened and slick. Then cook it anyway you like. The juice will cook the meat by steaming it and then run out all over the minute you cut into it. It helps to hold the steak flat with a heavy maple plank while searing. Or during the whole cooking if you continue with the griddle. Used to be a place up on the Kern River north of Lake Isabella (CA) that did this. They also had incredible prime rib. I'd drive 4 hours to eat it. No more. Well, and the place burned down in one of the Sierra fires a while back.

I love my red meat well done, maybe a little rare, but I'm not a fan of a really rare steak. I once dated a vigen for 2 weeks and I ended up dumping her at In'N Out when she told me she couldn't eat dinner there. I felt kind of bad about it until I found out she was a total freak about a week later (I know, I know, why didn't I realize this before I went out with her.....).

Which In-and-Out? The one on Van Nuys. That's a famous date-dumping ground. :D

At first, I couldn't figure out if he mispelled *vegan* or *virgin* :D :eek:

Funny.

My hubby and I are opposites too.

I like almost everything med-well to well done and things hot. Tim likes meat rare and what I would consider hot food...he likes them "lukewarm." I mean even his toast is not even toast. It is bread that was in the toaster for like 4 seconds. :)

Nope, I like Med. Well to Well done - dark toast too; my wife like things more rare. And I love spices and peppers, but not heat (temperature). My wife, on the other hand, likes food hotter than the surface of the sun.

I think thorough dark cooking (beef, cajun, etc.) came about for me because I was the oldest and had to cook for my younger brother & my family when my mom worked (and thus learned by trial and error - mostly error - and had to eat my burnt mistakes).

As to hot food: well, in college I made a deal with my roomates that I'd cook if they did dishes (way better end of the deal in my opinion) and today I do most of the cooking for my family, so I eat last after everyone is served and feel that lukewarm food is "normal."

I expect those that cooked a lot at an early age feel burnt and room temperature is about as good as it gets!
When I cook something only for myself, I usually take it out of the oven, set my watch for 10 minutes, and wait for the beep before I eat!

MOOOOO
 

Thats Cow for come on over here Baby... / sound of knife sharpening / I like it cooked medium rare...not quite bloody on the plate....

I find it tremendously easier to digest the more rare it is. If it's blood red, however, digestion sort of stops because at that point my stomach is telling me, "Uh oh, do you think all the 'disease' has been cooked out of this thing?"

BTW: can certain ailments in the beef be "cooked out" of it? Was that the reason our ancestors even began cooking meat?

Woodland Hills (Ventura between Corbin and Winnetka) :D

I may be way off here, but I think most of the bacteria found in meat (the ones that make you sick, I'm not even going to try to spell them)come from the (improper) handling of the meat. If it doesn't become contaminated somewhere along the line, even raw is safe.

That being said, I like my beef rare to raw. I don't think anything compares to freshly ground sirloin tartar with a little salt. I like my pork and lamb medium rare and my poultry cooked, but not dry. I like a fair amount of sushi (wasabe......) but most of the fish I eat at home is cooked.

BTW for those of you who are tired of hearing "we can only cook to medium rare" I have always gotten what I wanted from the Outback.

Any of you guys eat at Ruth's Chris Steak House? I hear they are really good but I've never been.

Pete

Love, Love, LOVE Ruth Chris Steakhouse.

Big 'ol hunkering chips for bar appetizers. Great double Dewars, and the steaks. Goodness me! HUGE! And how the steaks come to the table - They're SIZZLING - as in, HOT. So hot, in fact, the steaks have cracked plates in front of the customers. Happened to a friend of mine.

Ruth - good Cajun that she is - is the best thing to come out of the bayou since gumbo... :)

My wife and I have been married for 10 years as of this Friday. In the early years, she would not eat that much beef. I like steak rare and she just did not care for it that much. In the last 4-5 years, she has developed more of a taste for steak and prefers it med-rare. But it HAS to be a good cut. I agree with her on that but I lke it a bit more rare. Kids? Daughter likes it more done, son does not care. He just eats what we give him.:D

So, Dave, your line of reasoning holds a similare line here.


Oh, BTW, when I cook ANY meat, be it mammal or fish, I will always cook it to the level of desired doneness (sp?) and when I pull it from the grill, I immediately cover it with foil for about 3-4 minutes. (Just enough time to prepare the rest of the plate.) Heat is still escaping and taking moisture with it. While covered, the moisture has no place to go and the meat stays moist. Little trick works pretty good. Try it!

Yes, Don: I'll have to give your foil technique a whirl.

If anything, this thread has given me great ideas for my next BBQ.

That's what this board needs: a "cooking discussion."

Ummm Ummm...:)

As I recall from "Fast Food Nation" and biology class, it is lovely little bugs from the intestines that pollute meat - be it poultry or beef. Same creatures that that make a perforated bowel/intestine so dangerous when wounded. Pretty sure fecal matter from animal rendering is what gives the e-coli a chance to get onto meat. Steaks are pretty safe (not much surface area, no way to get inside the meat - ground meat is the worst)

The price we pay for cheap meat is big machines and non-skilled workers putting just a hint of ***** on our plates!

Today's burrito smells like.......victory! Bon Appetit!

It depends on which country you are in. In New Zealand I ask for a steak medium rare, in the US a medium rare is still kicking.

Gawd knows what I would get if I was in the US and said to the waiteress "Still kickin' Baby".

You'd get the waitress...

Cool, I tend to fall in love with waiteresses by the end of the meal.

Confucious say: "It is nice to meet girl in park, but better, to park meat in girl!"

I usually don't eat meat except chicken and fish, and those kinds of meat (at least chicken) have to be "well done" in order to kill all potential germs which can be potentially very dangerous compared to beef...