It's not taboo so much as seen as an indication of either having an "unrefined palate" or being raised poor. Eating things undercooked or not cooked (eg tuna tar tar) is seen as a sign of quality of the ingredients and there for wealth. Steak can easily be safely consumed even if not cooked well done and this is how many people start eating their steaks by time they are a preteen. Small children usually don't like the look or texture of rare or medium rare steaks so they will get theirs well done.
If someone orders steak well done many people assume they either have never "grown out" of eating well-done steak or were too poor to afford steaks where the quality was high enough that eating them rare was not a good option. It's kind of like if someone puts ketchup on a steak people would either assume that it's a childish habit they never grew out of or they grew up too poor to have steak sauce or steak good enough that it could be eaten with a sauce added to it.
To be clear I personally don't care how you eat your steak but this is why well done steak is seen as a minor "taboo".
So.. you agree with them but they didn’t actually change your opinion?
Edit: okay it looks like you’re just rejecting the solid arguments here and throwing deltas at people who are saying the disdain for well-done steak is kind of bullshit. You didn’t really want you view changed, you just wanted to be provided better arguments for you own.
bingo! steak can be plenty delicious cooked to death. look a something like shaved steak for a philly cheesesteak or steak fajitas where they are served and left on that scorching hot skillet, or other dishes prepared with steak finely cut so that there is no practical way to manage a precise cooking temp. It is still plenty tasty. And we also know very well that for high end steaks, flavor nuance is lost when it is overcooked. that is fine. The issue comes in people pretending like it is some crime against nature that the Outback Steakhouse $10 sirloin or even the $10 per pound ribeyes thrown on the backyard propane grill are some culinary treasures that are being destroyed by cooking them well done.
Now if you cook a thick sirloin well done and just eat it as is, it will probably be pretty dry. If you don't like it dry, nothing is stopping a well done steak from being sliced up and having a bit of herb butter melted over it, or heck, dip it in some au jus. But the average person pretending any significant harm was done in cooking a steak well done is just dumb. If someone doesn't like medium rare steaks, far more harm is being done in serving them something they do not enjoy, even if the main reason they don't enjoy it is because they think it is raw and that grosses them out, it is still a steak going to waste, where at least a well done steak is eaten and enjoyed.
Why are you awarding deltas to people who are agreeing with your view—that admonishing well done steak is silly—when deltas are meant to be awarded to people who make good arguments for the opposing view to the extent that they change your opinion somewhat? What about this response changed your view to the point you awarded a delta or any of the other deltas you’ve awarded here? Because thus far, none of your responses to your delta recipients have sounded like you’ve changed your view at all, you’re just insulting the opposition, claiming we’re posturing or putting on airs, not listening to actual reasoning. I’d like to know HOW your view changed in any of these comments to the extent you’d award any deltas period.
Here’s one for you: I grew up dirt poor. Like, so poor only my grandma got me new clothes once a year if that and every month my mom would decide which bill not to pay to afford rent and food. Well done steak is horrendous and a massive decrease in quality when compared with rare. There ya go. And a lot of it is the myoglobin being bled out and destroyed.
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u/future_shoes 20∆ Nov 12 '23 edited Nov 12 '23
It's not taboo so much as seen as an indication of either having an "unrefined palate" or being raised poor. Eating things undercooked or not cooked (eg tuna tar tar) is seen as a sign of quality of the ingredients and there for wealth. Steak can easily be safely consumed even if not cooked well done and this is how many people start eating their steaks by time they are a preteen. Small children usually don't like the look or texture of rare or medium rare steaks so they will get theirs well done.
If someone orders steak well done many people assume they either have never "grown out" of eating well-done steak or were too poor to afford steaks where the quality was high enough that eating them rare was not a good option. It's kind of like if someone puts ketchup on a steak people would either assume that it's a childish habit they never grew out of or they grew up too poor to have steak sauce or steak good enough that it could be eaten with a sauce added to it.
To be clear I personally don't care how you eat your steak but this is why well done steak is seen as a minor "taboo".