How to Properly Order a Steak

Joseph Gionfriddo — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:03:15 +0000

One of the things we have noticed the most throughout our careers in the food industry is the differing opinions on what doneness/temperature means when ordering steaks or hamburgers. It seems that some customers don’t understand what they really want so they order it cooked to one level of doneness and when it comes out like that they say it is either under- or over-cooked. Likewise, we have both eaten at several restaurants where we order a particular level of doneness and receive our meal either under- or over-cooked. To solve this a lot of restaurants are moving to just two options, pink or no pink.

There is a lot to take into consideration when trying to cook to various temperatures and we’ll go over that in a future post but today we wanted to share with you the definitions that we use at our steakhouse and are generally accepted specifications. We have tried to simplify the definitions so that they’re easily understandable for the common customer.

Rare - Cool red center

Medium-Rare – Warm red center

Medium -Pink throughout

Medium-Well – Pink only in center

Well – No pink

Note: Consuming raw or undercooked meat, poultry, seafood or eggs, may increase the risk of food borne illness.

What is your preference when your order a steak or hamburger?

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Photo by: VirtualErn

Prime Cuts » Temperatures

How to Properly Order a Steak