Ordering steaks well done

I felt like treating myself. So today I had a filet. It was really good. I had ordered it rare and it came rare. While I was sitting at the bar I overheard the bartender and a waiter discussing steaks. Both had recently served customers steaks. One had ordered it well done, while the other’s customer had ordered it extra well done. What they and I found funny was that both customers complained about their steaks being dry.

This got me to thinking. First question: is it possible to cook steaks well done that aren’t dry? Second question: should good restaurants refuse to cook steaks that way?

I have never had a well done steak. On the second question, I would say yes, but I don’t run a restaurant.

D.

I'd say it's possible, but you'd need a lot of fat.

I always cringe when I hear someone order steak well done.

I always cringe when people cringe when people order steaks well-done.

It refers to burgers, not steaks, but I remember chuckling at this tweet from several months ago:

@cpkimball the secret to juicy well-done burgers is to smack your guests until their tears moisten the meat.

I'd guess that if you cooked a steak sous vide, you could pull off a well-done one that wasn't entirely dried out. That said, I can't imagine it'd taste very good.

If I owned a restaurant, I'd cook well-done steaks for customers but I think I'd make them pay in advance.

=R=

My friend Patrick, a chef, said that when guests ordered steaks well done, he'd cook them rare-to-med.rare, then microwave them to turn the interiors gray. The meat remained moist, but looked well-done, and the customers loved it. Have no idea if he was bullshitting me.

Hellodali wrote:the secret to juicy well-done burgers is to smack your guests until their tears moisten the meat.

You may also want to lighten up on the seasonings, as the tears will provide a little bit of salt.

I like the restaurants that state on the menu things like: "management not responsible for steaks ordered to be cooked past medium rare", etc.

Im ok with a place putting a disclaimer on the menu, or refusing to cook a steak well done. its all good.

Minetta Tavern ruined my Valentine's dinner this weekend by delivering a nearly-raw, but otherwise perfectly good, dry-aged NY Strip to my table when I specifically asked for "MEDIUM FUCKING RARE".

I should have punched the French-accented waiter in the balls, and thrown my sweet, juicy-juice-y $15 cocktail at the cute bartendress before walking out on the check.

Being the polite little bastard I am, I forced down the chewy, fatty meat and happily paid my $250 dollar bill (I'll show you assholes how many $15 cocktails I can drink!). Next time I will order my steak ala Fallujah (i.e. burnt-to-death) and hope it arrives the slightest bit cooked, and my drinks "unbearably bitter, effing disgusting" and hope I get something a little more chalenging than a grapefruit apple-tini.

You could boil it.

Hellodali wrote:It refers to burgers, not steaks, but I remember chuckling at this tweet from several months ago:

@cpkimball the secret to juicy well-done burgers is to smack your guests until their tears moisten the meat.

*takes a bow*

Indeed you should take a bow. Sorry I missed the credit!

David Hammond wrote:My friend Patrick, a chef, said that when guests ordered steaks well done, he'd cook them rare-to-med.rare, then microwave them to turn the interiors gray. The meat remained moist, but looked well-done, and the customers loved it. Have no idea if he was bullshitting me.

probably work darn good!! Have done some "bar" type steak frys for crowds--we took chuck(maybe chuck eye) steaks charred them all bloody rare and then put them in 3 different pans of hot au jus and labeled them rare--medium--well--never a complaint about 'bloody' meat and always tender

ronnie_suburban wrote:If I owned a restaurant, I'd cook well-done steaks for customers but I think I'd make them pay in advance.

I like that idea! Actually, if it were me, I'd cook it to medium and see how that flys. I cured the Chow Poodle of ordering meat well done in just that way.

Habibi wrote:Minetta Tavern ruined my Valentine's dinner this weekend by delivering a nearly-raw, but otherwise perfectly good, dry-aged NY Strip to my table when I specifically asked for "MEDIUM FUCKING RARE".

[snip]

Being the polite little bastard I am, I forced down the chewy, fatty meat and happily paid my $250 dollar bill

You should have sent it back. I think I read that some places do that, send it less cooked, because it's easier to cook more than less, if they are concerned about the done-ness. On the other hand, it could have just been crazy valentine's fu.

leek wrote:

Habibi wrote:Minetta Tavern ruined my Valentine's dinner this weekend by delivering a nearly-raw, but otherwise perfectly good, dry-aged NY Strip to my table when I specifically asked for "MEDIUM FUCKING RARE".

[snip]

Being the polite little bastard I am, I forced down the chewy, fatty meat and happily paid my $250 dollar bill

You should have sent it back. I think I read that some places do that, send it less cooked, because it's easier to cook more than less, if they are concerned about the done-ness. On the other hand, it could have just been crazy valentine's fu.

Couldn't send it back - they sliced it so the old battle axe and I could share.

All hyperbole aside - this was a great steak ruined (to my taste) by failure to follow directions. I doubt this was intentional, but with Minetta being a serious steak place, I wouldn't be surprised if they just assumed that all of their customers preferred things more on the rare side. And this I blame on you, foodies of the (inter)world.

ronnie_suburban wrote:I'd guess that if you cooked a steak sous vide, you could pull off a well-done one that wasn't entirely dried out. That said, I can't imagine it'd taste very good.

You're absolutely right - I've done that by accident and it wasn't dry, but the texture of the meat was horrendous.

Habibi wrote:And this I blame on you, foodies of the (inter)world.

Might have been my fault. As punishment next time I'm in NY take me to Minetta Tavern and make me suffer though one of those dry-age dead-rare nightmares. (I hope you at least got a nice size portion) .

In Kitchen Confidential, he mentions how when working in the Rainbow Room in NYC he would deep fry the steaks that were ordered well done.

I completely buy the microwave story. And all vapors and jokes aside, I don't think it is that hard to make a juicy well-done steak, because I've done it at home, on accident, several times. I would hate to eat a well-done filet because the lower fat content and cube shape virtually gurantees a dry steak. But I've cooked the pink out of several "grocery store quality" steaks and still ate them.

I've had the same experience, but that's because grocery store steaks tend to be 1" thick or less. The only way I can get a sear AND a medium-rare steak is to use the bizarro method and cook it straight out of the fridge instead of letting it reach room temperature first.