I rarely talk in absolutes. I've tried rare at home. It's easier to chew. I've tried well done at home. It's more difficult to chew. But maybe different cuts are different.
For some time, some years, whatever steak I ordered was a little more done that I ordered or wanted. For years I ordered my steaks medium well. Invarably they were served well done. Then I got to ordering steaks medium and I'd generally get what I wanted. Sometime knowing what I was likely to get I ordered medium rare just to see. We don't go to steak houses any more because my wife can't chew a steak, any steak so we go to Red Lobster occasionally. But mainly we have quit eating out. Cooking is getting difficult for her and she is also going blind with an eye diesase. Not sure what we're going to do. I'm on oxygen and not suppopsed to get with-in fifteen feet f a flame. I have but half to be extremely cautious. Wer've gotten most of the electrical appliances that might serve us better but I can see where all our cooking might become the slow cooker, the toaster, and sandwiches. We're playing it by ear. Instead of making pancakes whic my wife can eat, we 're buying EGGO. I've been eating wieners and lunch meat and chili and cracckers or corn tortillous. It looks like my steak days are over, butif the opportunity arises it'll be Medium rib-eye. .
@Bill Boggs, I am very sorry that things are going poorly for you and for your wife. That's among the perils of living a long life, I suppose, but I know that it's hard. I have had the opposite experience with steakhouses. When I order well done, it's still bleeding in the middle. I tell them to cook it until they think it's well done, then leave it on for a few more minutes. Even then, I often have to send it back, so I'll eat steak at home but I rarely go to steakhouses, and when my wife wants to go to a steakhouse, I'll order something other than steak. An air fryer might be something that would work for you. It takes a little getting used to them, I guess, but you can cook almost anything in an air fryer, and you're not going near a flame or even a hot burner. Please keep in mind that I have never used our air fryer myself, but I am going by what my wife has said. Since I do the dishes, I can say that ours, at least, is extremely easy to clean.
My preference is a medium-well NY strip or a ribeye. Like Ken, I find most often steaks are undercooked, so I choose medium well instead of medium.
We have given thought to an air cooker. and the lady of the house decided she didn’t want one at that time. I am a dishwasher and not a cook. I can get by okay but the problem is finding something she can and will eat. I can exist on Mexican and prepared foods. We are constantly searching. Our son has been buying our groceries. It has been some time since I have been able to drive. We’ll get along okay but it is something of a problem. A big problem is our physical abilities since we are getting long of tooth.
Last night my wife cooked a steak that I could cut and chew effortlessly! It was a 5-ounce Filet Mignon from an Omaha assortment of beef cuts, and Judy butterflied it and cooked it in a heavy iron pan until it showed just a slight hint of pink. We estimated it was somewhere around Medium. I was able to cut and chew the entire fillet because it was half the regular thickness and was a fine cut of beef to begin with! Steer & Stein doesn't offer Filet Mignon, but I'll try their small Sirloin butterflied and cooked Medium. Yowsah! Hal
Last night Judy and I went to Steer & Stein. I made an agreement with her: I would order a Sirloin Steak and she would order Teriaki Chicken. I would try small portion of my Streak, and if I couldn't eat it, we would trade Dinners. The meals came. I sawed off a small portion of the steak, which a been Butterflied and cooked Medium, as I had asked, but I couldn't eat it...it was like chewing on a piece of rubber. Our waiter Juan came around to see how I was doing, and he suggested taking it back and cooking it a bit longer, sort of like Medium Well. It came back, and I still couldn't chew it, so Judy and I exchanged plates. I finished every last morsel of the Teriaki Chicken, and Judy consumed the entire Steak! (We both wear full Dentures) She had a glass of Zinfandel and I had a 32-oz Super Stein of Beer. A couple weeks ago, Judy prepared a Filet Mignon from the Omaha Beef Assortment we got for Christmas. She Butterflied it and cooked it so a little pink showed, and I ate it like it was an Angel Food Cake! So whenever I feel Stakey, I'll buy a Filet Mignon and have the butcher Butterfly it, then Judy will cook it in a heavy cast iron pan, (not a skillet). YOWZAH! hal
My steaks have to be medium well, I requested this last week at Applebee's Restaurant, but it was served looking like the cow was walked past the oven once and threw on my plate! My server immediately corrected it and my request came back perfect, come to be the raw steak was for the table directly next to mine.
I used to like my steaks well done until a pain-in-the-butt friend had a cookout and refused to cook it that way until I first tried it medium-rare, promising to throw it back on the grill. I've not had another overcooked steak since then. I've cooked a Cowboy Cut (very thick) rib eye a few times and it's been very good. I "age" it in the fridge by spreading Kosher salt on it, then putting it on a cooling rack (uncovered) over a paper plate for at least 24 hours. I also use a cooking technique where you flip the steak frequently, cooking from both sides inward concurrently, rather than grilling one side at a time. Grilling these is one of the few times I fire up the real charcoal grill. I've not done one of these using my sous vide machine yet. I might just do that soon.
No matter who it is, everyone who likes a steak has their own “secret” marinades or seasonings they like to use and everyone is a grill master and as proof, some even have an apron that says so. All that said, most people outside of the restaurant industry do not know two elements of cooking a steak that are extra important and make the experience of eating it more enjoyable and it’s all in one word…..”Rest”. Before throwing the behemoth on the grill, let the steak rest outside the cooler until it comes up to room temperature. Doing so allows the juices in the meat to disperse more evenly throughout the meat. Even if it’s marinated, it should still rest out of the cool before cooking. It’s the same with after the steak comes off the grill…let it rest. The outside temps are hotter than the inside and during the cooking process the juices are being driven inward away from the heat. Resting allows those juices to again, disperse more evenly throughout. And just a note: Even after taking the meat off the grill, it keeps cooking. If one takes the steak off the grill at about 5 degrees less than is desired, the entirety of the meat will be the desired temp and will be an even temp after resting for about 5 minutes or so.
I agree with "rest after cooking" for all the reasons you cited @bob, but I'm not certain the facts support the "rest before cooking" theories...or do they?
You’ll notice that when you’re cutting meat that there’s little blood and even if it sets for a few minutes there is still not much to think about. But..when you take that same cutting and put it in the cool, as it cools, the fibers of the muscle contract and the juices come to the surface. By allowing the muscle to relax (rest) before cooking, whatever juices are in the meat will stay and will actually draw some of the juices back into the meat from the container you have the meat in or on. (think capillary action) Now, there are those who believe that allowing the meat to rise to room temperature will harvest a bunch of unwanted bacteria thereby making the diner sick. Typically speaking, room temperature is around 70 and most coolers are set between 38-42 so we’re not talking about allowing the Beef to sit out for hours but rather for maybe 30 minutes at the outside.