Steak
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A steak is a slice from a larger piece of meat, usually beef. Red meat and fish are often cut into steaks. Steaks are cut perpendicular to the muscle fibres, improving the perceived tenderness of the meat. Steaks are typically served grilled, though they can also be pan-fried or broiled. Because steaks are cooked quickly, using dry heat, and served whole, the most tender cuts of the animal are usually used for steak. This also means that steaks have a premium price and perception; the idea of eating steak is a signifier of relative wealth.
A restaurant that specializes in steaks is known as a steakhouse. A typical steak dinner consists of a steak, with a starchy side dish, often potatoes, occasionally rice or pasta. A small serving of cooked vegetables accompanies the meat and side. A well-known accompaniment to steak is a cooked lobster tail, a combination often called surf and turf. Special steak knives are provided along with steak; a steak knife is serrated and sharper than most table knives.
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Doneness
The amount of time a steak is cooked is a personal preference; shorter cooking times produce jucier, more tender meat, where longer cooking times reduce the appearance of blood and also reduce concerns about disease. A vocabulary has evolved to describe the degree to which one prefers their steak. In order from least cooked to most cooked:
- Raw - uncooked. Except in special dishes, like steak tartare, steak is not eaten or ordered at this stage.
- Blue rare or very rare - Cooked very quickly; the outside is seared, but the inside is warmed more than cooked. The steak will be red on the inside.
- Rare - The outside is grey-brown, and the very middle of the steak is red, with the rest of the inside pink.
- Medium rare - The outside is grey-brown, the middle of the steak is pink, fading to a grey-brown near the surface of the meat.
- Medium - The very inside is pinkish, fading to grey-brown throughout the rest of the meat. The outside is grey-brown.
- Medium well - The meat is mostly grey-brown with a hint of pink. The juiciness of the steak is reduced when cooked to this level.
- Well done - The meat is grey-brown throughout; the juiciness and tenderness is reduced, and the meat may seem dry and chewy.
Most people tend to order their steak somewhere between medium rare and medium well; steak afficionados are more likely to order a rarer steak.
Types of beef steaks
- Filet mignon - A small choice tenderloin.
- Flank steak - From the underside. Not as tender as steaks cut from the rib or loin.
- Flat iron steak from the shoulder blade
- Rib eye steak - A rib steak consisting of only the muscle.
- Round steak
- Sirloin - A steak cut from the hip.
- Skirt steak - A steak made from the diaphram . Very flavorful, but also rather tough.
- Strip steak - A cut from the strip loin
- T-bone steak and porterhouse - The tenderloin and strip loin, connected with a T-shaped bone. The two are distinguished by the size of the tenderloin in the cut.
- Chateaubriand steak - a large tenderloin steak usually grilled or broiled and served with a sauce (as béarnaise), named after French diplomat and author François-René de Chateaubriand
The salisbury steak is not a steak, but rather a patty from ground beef made with onions and occasionally mushrooms.
See also
- Carpetbag steak
- Restructured steak - Cheap steak formed by binding together small chunks of low-quality meat using transglutaminase
- Steak tartare
External links
- pictures and diagrams of beef cuts
- Development of value-added beef products
- Hormel site; a standard guide for doneness