It’s okay. There are many celebrities who like to eat well-done steaks, including Trump, Roosevelt, Truman and Grant. And in the early days, everyone ate well-done steak.

The origin of steak doneness

The word rare in English is associated with the rareness of steak around 1615. The original meaning of the word does not mean raw or tender, but refers to "poorly cooked" meat.

From the 17th to the 19th centuries, preparing meat to look like raw meat was strongly frowned upon. This is largely for safety reasons, as undercooked meat is thought to be a health hazard.

By the early 20th century, the stereotype of rare beef was finally changing, but a good steak should still not "bleed." Until the invention of the kitchen thermometer in 1932, people were still particular about eating cooked meat.

But comparing recipes from that time to the present, you will find that the definition of rare is very different: meat that was once considered medium rare may be medium rare thirty years later. But despite this, until 1979, the vast majority of people still wanted to eat their meat well-done.

The real change came in 1982. The trend for high-end French cuisine has taken New York by storm. The trendy French cuisine at that time focused on keeping the ingredients as fresh and unprocessed as possible, and the concept was derived from Japanese sushi.

The media promoted the trend, and from then on, high-end restaurants turned the transformation of meat into proof of their culinary prowess.

Since the development of steak doneness, there are generally 8 degrees of classification. It is not the 1, 3, 5, 7, and well-done that our Chinese call it. The correct standards are Raw, Blue, and Rare. , Medium-Rare, Medium, Medium-Well, Well-Done, Overcooked, each has 8 doneness levels.

Introduction to steak doneness

Raw: refers to uncooked beef dishes;

Blue: near-rare steak It's not a piece of raw meat, but the surface is fried and crispy, but the inside is still raw and may be a little cold to the touch.

Rare steak: About 75% of the surface of a rare steak is pink, with a lot of blood.

Medium Rare: About 50% of the surface of medium rare steak is pink, with less blood. This temperature is the most common in European and American restaurants.

Medium: About 25% of the surface of medium-rare steak is pink and the blood has dried. The steak has a balanced temperature and taste.

Medium Well steak (Medium Well): The interface of Medium Well steak is slightly pink, and the texture is thick and chewy.

Well Done: The interface of well-done steak is brown. Well-done steak is generally brown or browned, and has a thick taste.

Over Cooked: The steak is darker in color and crispy.

How to judge the doneness of steak?

1. Thermometer method

Rare: 125°——49-53°C

Medium rare: 130-135°——54-56°C

Medium: 140-145°——57-62°C

Medium well: 150-155°——63-68°C

Well- done: 160°F - 71°C

2. Tactile method

The doneness of the steak can be determined by detecting the texture of the steak corresponding to the touch of the muscles in the mouth of the hand. As shown below

According to statistics, about 36% of Americans still order fully cooked meat in restaurants.

Generally when you go to a Western restaurant, the chef will generally not recommend you order well-cooked beef. In fact, the main reason is that well-cooked beef is very difficult to make, and even top chefs may not be able to cook it well. It is naturally difficult to do a good job in a restaurant.

So, eating well-cooked steak is not just an ignorant poor girl. After all, everyone ate well-cooked beef in the beginning, and many people like to eat well-cooked beef. It’s just that people in the food industry Public opinion has gone astray. No matter how cooked the beef is, just choose it according to your own taste. Taste is the most important thing.