a thread full of my cooking misconceptions.

[Dantrag]

Most people overcook pork. They think it needs to be completely done to be safe. Which, it doesn't. Pork chops can be difficult to cook sometimes though, I still overcook them from time when I'm pan frying them.

[ZarakiKujata]

He was obviously banned for eating unicorns

So wop is really Vealdemort?

[Daydreamer]

Well, yes and no. Salt should only be used to enhance flavors, not to replace it (by adding too much salt). Not everything requires salt to taste good, though.

This is exactly what I said. And yes not everything requires salt to taste good, but for the most part something with no salt will taste better by adding even the tiniest amount.

I'm still not sure why you said "yes and no," considering it sounds like you agreed with me.

[Mojo]

As far as the steak thing goes, it all really depends on the cut. "Medium rare onry" is just silly. Cheaper cuts aren't fatty enough to make that remotely worthwhile unless you enjoy chewing every bite for five minutes. I'd take a medium+ cheap cut and steak sauce over a medium rare cheap cut any day.

[Daydreamer]

As far as the steak thing goes, it all really depends on the cut. "Medium rare onry" is just silly. Cheaper cuts aren't fatty enough to make that remotely worthwhile unless you enjoy chewing every bite for five minutes. I'd take a medium+ cheap cut and steak sauce over a medium rare cheap cut any day.

Actually fat melts at medium rare temperatures in beef, which is when the steak would be most tender. Anything considered a steak and not a roast does not get more tender at temperatures beyond medium rare. In fact, this is why chef's recommend medium rare.

I should rephrase this as I can see people trying to give me crap for it. Any cut of meat that you are going to try to cook quickly (under 20 minutes) on a hot surface will not get more tender after medium rare. The only thing that happens is it loses more moisture and dries out, and actually becomes tougher.

[Gregorio]

Any time a customer at the restaurant I work at asks for a steak well done, I offer to cut off the bottom of my shoe for them. True story.

Also I know a guy who took a girl on a date and they went to Ruths Chris, and she ordered a steak well done then asked for ketchup for it. I probably would have excused myself from the table and drove away right there, but that's just me.

[Mojo]

Actually not exactly. In cheaper cuts of beef, there isn't a lot of fat. There's a lot of collagen though, which is the connective tissue that holds muscles together. It requires higher temperatures to break it down and the reaction is slow, but a medium+ cheap cut of steak is still easier to chew than medium rare.

[Daydreamer]

Actually not exactly. In cheaper cuts of beef, there isn't a lot of fat. There's a lot of collagen though, which is the connective tissue that holds muscles together. It requires higher temperatures to break it down and the reaction is slow, but a medium+ cheap cut of steak is still easier to chew than medium rare.

Yes I know there is collagen, which turns into yummy gelatin when it melts, however when I said fast steak like cooking times (the high heat under 20 minute) thing I said it for that reason. To really get the collagen to break down takes hours, usually in the form of a braise.

[Enkidu]

Personally I like sauces on my steak. I have no problems tasting the steak, even with harsher sauces (horseradish sauces or vinegar based sauces). To me it pulls out the flavor of the steak. Sometimes I like steak by itself, but even expensive cuts in my opinion are better with some sauce. I also usually marinate steaks for about 10 minutes in a mixture of Worcestershire sauce and liquid smoke before grilling, yes wood chips are better but it's a bitch to clean up. Just puts a lot of flavor on the seared outside of the steak. I like my steaks more then places like Ruth's Chris, BOA, or any of the other steak places around here, just personal preference I guess. And I prefer medium rare, but medium is okay too. The only thing I can't stand is rare and well done.

I would say that the picture of wagyu posted earlier drowning in a teriyaki sauce is too much, but a little sauce goes a long way. Even wagyu is just kind of boring by itself.

[Dantrag]

The kobe we had didn't require any kind of sauce and it probably wouldn't not have made it any better, if not worse.

[Uzor]

This is exactly what I said. And yes not everything requires salt to taste good, but for the most part something with no salt will taste better by adding even the tiniest amount.

I'm still not sure why you said "yes and no," considering it sounds like you agreed with me.

The yes part was agreeing, the "no" part was that not everything tastes better with salt

One thing I absolutely loathe to eat at Mc. Donalds and fast-food restaurants in general (the few times I go there, which is almost exclusively when I'm drunk and feel like I could eat butter with a horse on the side) is that everyone salt the fries constantly, ending up with salt and fries, rather than salted fries. I wish they would stop salting them and just let the customers do it themselves.

[zoobernut]

I am not exactly sure why people think that sauce is the devil when it comes to good cuts of meat. I agree that it is strange to add your own sauce on a steak that you get in a nice restaurant after it comes to you, like A1 or Ketchup. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't come with some sort of a sauce to begin with.

Sauce done correctly is a great thing even on really expensive cuts of meat. A well done sauce will compliment the meat and help tenderize it further, like a sauce with a strong acid component.

This thread is just completely full of over generalizations when it comes to meat and meat preparation.

[Xfaustx]

This thread is just completely full of over generalizations when it comes to meat and meat preparation.

The only logical thing I've read this whole thread. Reading this thread is like having 20 people try to shove their opinions down your throat at once.

*edit* oh wait that's because that's what most people do in cooking threads. when people say things like "you should NEVER butcher a nice piece of meat with sauce" makes me cringe now-a-days, I had that mentality, but it's pretty annoying. it's like.... your opinion man. Just eat what you like.

[Ksandra]

On the other hand, if you're getting a fucking thick cut of beautifuly marbled filet mignon, you're an idiot for having it cooked past medium or covering it with sauce because then it's going to taste the same as if you ordered some dirt cheap beef neck and did the same thing to it.

I still disagree on this part, but again I think that's because well done is all I eat, so maybe I'm more used to it than you. The best example I can give is my husband's mom is the queen of steaks. I seriously don't know how she makes them so damn tasty because she doesn'tt eat beef, but I've never tasted anything like it. She usually though gets whatever is on sale, so sometimes it's a ribeye, sometimes a new york, and sometimes a fillet minion. All, she is pro at cooking. And all I can taste a complete difference in. And she's not using any other seasoning or anything. You really wouldn't be able to convince me otherwise because I taste it and I can tell.

[Xfaustx]

fillet minion

this gave me a pretty good laugh. sorry.

I do prefer steaks rare or mid-rare if the quality is there. A good madeira sauce or some sort of mushroom sauce is great with steaks, it's the reason these sauces were invented. to say that sauce should never touch a good steak is slightly ignorant. It more or less depends on what I feel like eating, I loveeeee me a plain seasoned steak but that doesn't always do the trick. My GF would get so mad if I would comment on her steak/burger being cooked medium well "IT'S WHAT I LIKE TO EAT!!!!"

[Siniroth]

I'm going to go to the most expensive restaurant in the world, and order the most expensive cut of meat, and ask for ketchup, and put on a trollface mask.

This is on my bucket list due to threads like these

[Ksandra]

this gave me a pretty good laugh. sorry.

hahaha whoops

[zoobernut]

I'm going to go to the most expensive restaurant in the world, and order the most expensive cut of meat, and ask for ketchup, and put on a trollface mask.

This is on my bucket list due to threads like these

I know a guy at my work who did this. He went to Ruth's Chris and asked for ketchup. When they didn't have it he went out to his car and got his own and brought it into the restaurant.

[Xfaustx]

I know a guy at my work who did this. He went to Ruth's Chris and asked for ketchup. When they didn't have it he went out to his car and got his own and brought it into the restaurant.

Fuck Ruth's Chris, I use to work for those douches, an affiliated Fish Market. Worst restaurant group I've EVER worked for. Treat employees like garbage, and the food is horribly overpriced for what you get, though I suppose that is 90% of semi-fine dining. I now work for a high end steak house, and it's even more horribly over priced. $10-$12 for a baked potato. Which pays for the whole case of 40. El Oh El.

*edit* 666th post. fuck.... YES

[Daydreamer]

The yes part was agreeing, the "no" part was that not everything tastes better with salt

One thing I absolutely loathe to eat at Mc. Donalds and fast-food restaurants in general (the few times I go there, which is almost exclusively when I'm drunk and feel like I could eat butter with a horse on the side) is that everyone salt the fries constantly, ending up with salt and fries, rather than salted fries. I wish they would stop salting them and just let the customers do it themselves.

I just mean that imo yes, everything does taste better with salt, BUT there is definitely a limit to the salt needed. Basically as you stated, salted, but not enough so that you can taste the salt, with certain exceptions where you want the salty flavor.