A good digital thermometer is crucial to good grilling. Even pork, chicken and ground beef are done to the point of killing off bacteria at a lower temperature than many people cook them “by sight.” The red stuff that runs out of rare beef is NOT blood. Most of the liquid in meat is water. The reddish color in meat and its juices is not caused by blood. It is the protein myoglobin dissolved in water. Myoglobin is found only in muscle, not in the blood stream. The blood was pretty much all drained out in the slaughter house. If the stuff on your plate when you sliced a steak was blood, it would be much darker, like human blood, and it would coagulate, like human blood. For me, the only time to cook any meat to a temperature higher than 160 is when it is going to be pulled. A pork shoulder will take about 12 hours cooked at about 225 until it reaches 203. It will sit at about 180 for up to 5 hours before it makes the last jump. And it will be one of the best things you have ever tasted. Dark crust on the outside, juicy on the inside. But who spends a lot of time thinking about these things anyway?
At our house I was the BBQ meister. Smoke gives the hubby a headache. It’s worked out well. (And about nine years ago, I confessed to him that although all these years I’ve enjoyed cooking to make my family, I actually hate cooking and cleaning up! He instantly offered to take over, and has been chief cook and bottle washer! And he’s better at it than I ever was!)
Had a bone marrow transplant a few years ago. After a year of restrictions, I asked my oncologist when I could have a rare steak. She said ‘Never, it’s not good for you’. I said, ‘Well, I guess I’ll never eat steak again’. She said, ‘Yes, if you have it well done’. I should have quit while I was ahead, because when I said ‘I guess sushi is out of the question’ she left the room, wouldn’t talk to me again and transferred me to another doctor. I feel a little bad, because she did help save my life.
I have a thing about not wanting to get tape worms, so unless I KNOW my beef (ie. when it comes from a friend’s family farm) I cook it ‘til it’s dead. But when I BBQ, it’s never dry. Besides taking your time (none of this “searing” bs) you baste it with a little herb butter, and o/c first you brine or salt it :P Another trick I’ve grown fond of it an oldie but goodie— using jelly (or aspic if you need to be a yuppie foodie) as a baste. Sticks better than BBQ sauce..The problem with restaurants is they don’t bother to put the sauce on until it’s on the plate, so of COURSE it’s dried out! there’s no protection.
Well done!? Why don’t you just eat cardboard, Janis!? It would taste about the same. Besides, the longer you cook food, especially on a charcoal grill, the higher the level of carcinogens in your food. I still remember the first time I ever saw a restaurant menu with the disclaimer, “We are not responsible for the flavor or tenderness of steaks ordered well done.” When our favorite Japanese joint opened about 15 years ago, our favorite chef would always respond to a customer who wanted his steak rare by saying, “Come back tomorrow.” I never learned if that was how long he thought it would take for steak to cook to well done, or if he was implying that he was off tomorrow and wouldn’t have to hear someone request burnt offerings for dinner.
Cminuscomics&stories Premium Member over 7 years ago
You know you are really married when your failures to see your wife’s standard’s are legion.
alviebird over 7 years ago
I have always preferred my meat well done, and it never had anything to do with food poisoning.
cabalonrye over 7 years ago
While my husband and I loved our trip to the US, by the time we came home we were desperate for a rare steak. :)
Olddog1 over 7 years ago
Well done is a waste of steak. Might as well stick to cheap ground meat or stew
joedon2007 over 7 years ago
I still like some good amount of pink in the steak. But doesn’t that look liken chicken on the grill?
sbwertz over 7 years ago
I just tell the waiter to brand it and drive it to the table.
david_42 over 7 years ago
It was the organic, non-GMO, fair trade sprouts.
Bogy Premium Member over 7 years ago
A good digital thermometer is crucial to good grilling. Even pork, chicken and ground beef are done to the point of killing off bacteria at a lower temperature than many people cook them “by sight.” The red stuff that runs out of rare beef is NOT blood. Most of the liquid in meat is water. The reddish color in meat and its juices is not caused by blood. It is the protein myoglobin dissolved in water. Myoglobin is found only in muscle, not in the blood stream. The blood was pretty much all drained out in the slaughter house. If the stuff on your plate when you sliced a steak was blood, it would be much darker, like human blood, and it would coagulate, like human blood. For me, the only time to cook any meat to a temperature higher than 160 is when it is going to be pulled. A pork shoulder will take about 12 hours cooked at about 225 until it reaches 203. It will sit at about 180 for up to 5 hours before it makes the last jump. And it will be one of the best things you have ever tasted. Dark crust on the outside, juicy on the inside. But who spends a lot of time thinking about these things anyway?
jmessick over 7 years ago
I don’t care so much about the color, but I really hate for a good steak to be dried out.
ladylagomorph76 over 7 years ago
At our house I was the BBQ meister. Smoke gives the hubby a headache. It’s worked out well. (And about nine years ago, I confessed to him that although all these years I’ve enjoyed cooking to make my family, I actually hate cooking and cleaning up! He instantly offered to take over, and has been chief cook and bottle washer! And he’s better at it than I ever was!)
david_reaves Premium Member over 7 years ago
That’s what it looks like when you have BIG, THICK, steaks on the grill. No piddly 3-4 ounce deck-of-cards sized meat on that grill!
wdeak over 7 years ago
Had a bone marrow transplant a few years ago. After a year of restrictions, I asked my oncologist when I could have a rare steak. She said ‘Never, it’s not good for you’. I said, ‘Well, I guess I’ll never eat steak again’. She said, ‘Yes, if you have it well done’. I should have quit while I was ahead, because when I said ‘I guess sushi is out of the question’ she left the room, wouldn’t talk to me again and transferred me to another doctor. I feel a little bad, because she did help save my life.
water_moon over 7 years ago
I have a thing about not wanting to get tape worms, so unless I KNOW my beef (ie. when it comes from a friend’s family farm) I cook it ‘til it’s dead. But when I BBQ, it’s never dry. Besides taking your time (none of this “searing” bs) you baste it with a little herb butter, and o/c first you brine or salt it :P Another trick I’ve grown fond of it an oldie but goodie— using jelly (or aspic if you need to be a yuppie foodie) as a baste. Sticks better than BBQ sauce..The problem with restaurants is they don’t bother to put the sauce on until it’s on the plate, so of COURSE it’s dried out! there’s no protection.
K M over 7 years ago
Well done!? Why don’t you just eat cardboard, Janis!? It would taste about the same. Besides, the longer you cook food, especially on a charcoal grill, the higher the level of carcinogens in your food. I still remember the first time I ever saw a restaurant menu with the disclaimer, “We are not responsible for the flavor or tenderness of steaks ordered well done.” When our favorite Japanese joint opened about 15 years ago, our favorite chef would always respond to a customer who wanted his steak rare by saying, “Come back tomorrow.” I never learned if that was how long he thought it would take for steak to cook to well done, or if he was implying that he was off tomorrow and wouldn’t have to hear someone request burnt offerings for dinner.