dottie know you suppose to have it on the rare side but we do well done...we only buy top sirloin, and gasp! i bake it in the oven...that way it stays fairly moist and really tasty...

Medium rare for me!

Dottie, when we buy steaks we get boneless rib eye. Mike does them on the grill and they are wonderful. We are beef eaters here and stock up on them when they are on sale, which is pretty often.

When we go out to eat and order steak it depends on the restaurant weather we get MR or M. If we don't know we will tell the waitress we want it pink but not overly bloody. Usually it is medium and we are satisfied but they still aren't as good as Mike does them.

Sometimes we will order prime rib but Mike always says that my prime rib is much better so I will usually make that at home when we want it. We will eat the two ends and then I slice the rest about an inch to an inch and a half thick and freeze them. When we want prime rib again I just thaw it and then nuke it until it is heated through and it tastes just as good as the day I cooked it.

I'm not a big beef eater, and the only steak I like is prime Filet Mignon, medium rare. I tell them the cow is already dead - no need to cremate it.

Ribeye here, too, and also medium rare. I always cook it a touch too long, unfortunately.

I like ribeye....ask for it rare. It helps that we have been going to one of the best steakhouses in the US for almost 50 years. It comes out just perfect...not too rare but rare enough.
Actually Jocko's called their rib eye a Spencer steak and it is cooked on an open pit over red oak coals,
I have cooked steak in a really, really hot cast iron skillet on the stove top and then stuck in the oven to finish cooking for those who like it other than rare.
I go by the feel of the meat when cooking it. Soft, like the skin between the thumb and the index finger while relaxed is rare, the feel of the tip of the nose is medium and the feel of the knuckle is well done.
The reason I ask for my steak rare in a restaurant is the chances are it will come out just the way I like it and if not, I can send it back more easily.
I hope you find a steak you love....come visit me and I will take you to Jocko's and get a steak you will love.

I know what you mean about not wanting to make a scene when someone else is paying, but politely sending a dish back to be redone is not what I'd call a scene. I would have sent it back. I really dislike well-done beef.

I avoid all those cuts that are tender because they're marbled with fat, which I can't eat. So my favorite cut in a restaurant is sirloin, and my favorite at home is top round. My dad used to cook flank steak, and served it rare and thinly sliced. It was delicious!

I usually order fish in a restaurant, because that's something I rarely cook for myself. But if I order a steak I say "medium rare." The last time I said "rare" it was in a restaurant in Ohio, and the steak arrived still breathing. :-)

I prefer any beef cooked rare. We have steak every couple of months due to the cost. I buy a whole tenderloin and have it cut. It must be grilled. Six minutes per side is just perfect for us. The only meat I cook in the oven is meatloaf. All the roasts and whole poultry are done on the rotisserie. Oh so tender and moist.
I would have sent my steak back no matter who was paying the check.

Had Buffalo rib eye steaks last night. SO GOOD!! Friend raises them and sells to a coop. These were so tender.

I bought a couple of Porterhouse steaks a few weeks ago, and DS cooked those on the grill! We both like ours RARE If/When we have steaks they have to be cooked on the grill! lol

Ribeye or Delmonico, medium rare please!

I have to chime in here.

Buy steak on sale. Have it come out of the fridge for a half hour or so before grilling. Saute your mushrooms! Light your grill (the outdoor kind, gas or charcoal), oil the grates with peanut oil, and get that puppy up to 500 degrees. Might take awhile! SEARING hot!!!

Oil the steaks with that peanut oil too, then season the steak with whatever spices or rubs you wish!

For a 1 1/4" thick steak (OK, approximation here)..Slap that steak on the super hot grill and immediately shut the lid. Go away for 3 minutes. WATCH the clock!

DO NOT MESS WITH THAT STEAK. LEAVE IT ALONE!

Flip it, cover the lid and give it another 2 minutes (for rare), while you check yourself for singed eyebrows!

Take it off the grill, tent it loosely with aluminum foil for a few minutes (3-5) to let the juices redistribute.

Dive in to a rare steak.

Summary:

Point being, super hot, well oiled grill, oiled steak, and clock watching!!!

Practice!

Rare to barely med rare. I like it as rare a possible but with a warm center.

I am leaving for JOCKO'S in about 20 minutes. YUM

I only eat it extra, extra rare. I like it cold in the middle.

If I cook it at home, no matter what kind, I rub a little flour on it, and put it in a very hot skillet with lots of salt and Tony's seasoning on it. I put it in, flip it over, and take it out. The flour will give it a little crust without breading it. I eat beef a lot. Usually 5 or more times a week.

If it is cooked very much at all, I really don't like to eat it.

I also like it extra, extra rare, but I like it a bit warm in the middle. I tell them I want it "hot raw". I'd just as soon have nothing on it but salt, and then only at the table, not while it's cooking.

DH had always had trouble getting it the way I like at home until we watched a steak cook-off on TV one day. An older gentleman was being interviewed and he gave us a tip on how to tell when a steak is done (aside from cutting it open, which I HATE anyone to do). He said you touch the tip of your left index finger to the tip of your left thumb, then with the right index finger poke your left palm at the base of your left thumb. He said, "Feel that? That's rare." Then touch the tip of your left middle finger to the tip of your left thumb. Poke the same spot again. That's medium rare. Then the tip of your left ring finger to the tip of your thumb. Poke. That's done. Then the tip of your left little finger to the tip of your thumb. I bust a gut when he said, "That's too damn done!"

Wow. I'm not the only Caveman/woman in our group. That is what Hubs calls me when (on the rare time) I get a steak done the way I like it. Still red, but hot in the middle. I like what Monica PA said, and I'm going to use that line next time.....The cow is already dead, you don't have to cremate it. LOL Dottie

Acey, I cook my steak similar to you except I get peanut oil nice and hot in a cast iron skillet, sear steak on both sides for about 30 seconds, (stand back....they sizzle and spit!)
Then take them immediately to a HOT grill. It only takes a couple more minutes depending on how you like it. The searing seals in the juice (but makes a mess...)
I think one of the most important steps is to let it rest for maybe 5-10 minutes before you eat. Serve on heated plates.

I order medium-rare in a restaurant. If I'm making at home, I marinate overnight with a bottle of red wine vinegar salad dressing, then broil about 5 minutes per side. I agree letting it "rest" 5 minutes before serving makes a big difference. And don't let it get cold, that makes it tough. My dog always gets the leftovers for that reason.

Make mine a Ribeye grilled Pittsburgh Style, charred outside and pink inside.

I throw a ribeye on the grill about once a week. I like mine rare, DH likes his med.

We have been grilling Flat Iron steaks and they are wonderful and not that expensive. I tenderize and season it well, cook it medium rare and slice on the diagonal (really important). I have been getting them at Kroger. We had one last night and will have leftovers tonight.

Linda

Although I love a good filet, the steak I cook most often at home is London Broil which is only about $2 a pound on sale. I marinate it in a little oil and worcestishire and put it on the grill for 4 minutes on one side and three or four on the other depending on how thick it is. Slice thin and enjoy. It's always better to order steak more rare than you like it in a restaurant (unless it's a really high end place). You can always send it back for another blast but you can't uncook it.

I think there's an art to cooking steak at home. It really requires a very hot grill, and although I found some good instructions on the Web a while ago, and the steak came out good, it just never tastes as good as when a good steakhouse does it. (At home, I don't have an outside grill--I have just a tabletop grill designed for inside use, and it can't reach the optimum temp.)

I like a good filet mignon, myself.

At a good steakhouse, I have never seen "well done" listed as a cooking preference on the menu. Basically there are 3 levels of "medium"--the photos at one place look like they are either bloody, light pink or a slightly darker pink.

I always got grossed out by pink--I wanted something "gray" looking. But when I started to go "pink," I was amazed and quite pleased.

In the D.C. area, there is actually one steak place whose owner/chef refuses to cook certain cuts anything more than "medium"! I haven't been there yet, but I gotta think he knows what he's talking about!

And you really ought to have sent the steak back. The chefs need to know how to respect both the meat and the customer. Them really blowing your steak--it's not like they can put it back on the grill--and having to put it in the financial loss column is the only way they will learn.

Steakhouse beef is AGED. It's also cooked at the super-high temps others have mentioned.

I LIKE beef Porterhouse, Rib-eye, sometimes Filet Mignon. But I LOVE loin lamp chops! (All rare to medium rare.)

Ribeye, medium rare.

If it's not cooked to my satisfaction I will (and have) send it back.

I like a filet, cooked medium. Pink/hot center.
Leslie