While I understand that part, if it's not the way that I wanted it the first time, I am already unhappy. When they take it back, they take back the whole meal, and now my wife has her meal, but I don't, and when it comes back, it feels as if I have something that has been reheated in a microwave. For this reason, I am more likely to order steak at a regular restaurant than at a steak house. When I go to a steak house, I'll order something other than steak, usually, because it's rare for it to be cooked properly at a steak house.
One thing about meat is, once you remove it from the heat source it continues to cook for a couple of minutes. Most steak houses remove the steaks "early" because they don't want the meat overcooked. Also, they have meat cut to order (or cut it themselves) so that the thickness is consistent which allows them to time the cooking more precisely. I can eat a rare steak but it isn't my preference. I like mine medium with just a pink center. If I see blood running then I don't want it. I have an aunt who used to say to just "strike a match and hold it over the steak." She really liked rare steak.
If there's pink in the center, then the center isn't cooked. If I were to leave it to the steakhouses, my steak would still have a pulse when it arrived on my plate.
When they bring it to me, and it's bleeding, I lose my appetite for steak, so even if they do finally cook it, I am not as hungry for steak as I might have been when I walked in.
When we get ribeye, we get the whole lip-on ribeye and I cut my own steaks but other than that, how much heat depends on the grade. If it’s select, about mid-rare to medium and pique’d prior to cooking. If it’s choice, mid-rare to rare. If it’s prime, knock of it’s horns, wipe it’s butt, throw it on the plate. As a side, has anyone tried the Hibachi places where you cook your own steak, shrimp etc ?
I've not heard of that. Sounds like an insurance claim waiting to happen. I have done Mongolian Grills (pick your own stir-fry ingredients from a raw buffet.) But someone else cooks it.
When I lived in southern Arizona, there was (maybe still is) a place around Amado (just a half mile from the dog track) that would let you pick your steak and either let the cooks do the work or you could belly up to the “community” grill and do it yourself. Since I was much younger and “cocky”, I’d pick a 3# prime Porterhouse, go to the grill and flip-flop it a couple of times to put the char marks on it and by the time I got back to the grill, my sides would be there. I think the going price back then was about $18 if I remember right.
Stick a fork in it and as long as it doesn't moo, I'm happy. No, seriously, I like a hot red center but I wouldn't send a warm red center back.
All I've got to say is that we have some real animals on this forum. It's hard to imagine so many human beings who don't even cook their meat before eating it.