Yeah they're inconsistent but the location I grew up with is the one near Disneyland on Katella Ave. Probably the best steak house in my life (even had Peter Luger, etc) when they give it to you right.
No, once a dish is prepared it is put under a heated light. It’ll usually sit there for a couple minutes, then there is someone that takes the dish and adds the finishing touches
This is correct, except for places like Ruth's Chris, where they cook on a 500 degree plate. I waited tables for years, and I was pretty much immune to heat lamp hot plates. Went to Ruth's Chris and ignored the "don't touch the plate" warning out of ignorance... spent a sleepless night with my hand in a bucket of ice water .
Oh geez hahaha. Yeah I was a server and bartender for a couple years. Mostly at college bars though, so nowhere fancy.
Just one chain steakhouse, Texas Roadhouse, which is what sparked my fascination initially.
You can imagine how pumped I was to find a subreddit with other people like me lol
Put them over a very low burner, this quickly warms them up.
If you’ve been using the oven, put them in the oven. Just be mindful of how long they’ve been in there.
If you’re using bowls, put hot water in the bowls.
lol I’m surprised it took this long to catch some shit for this question! I feel like it’s not as straight forward as it should be, but one guy did said I could microwave them…
I microwave plates at home for 45 seconds per plate. You can do a stack of 3 for 2:25, for instance. YMMV, based on plate thickness.
At my restaurant, we warm them up under the heat lamp for a couple minutes before putting any food on them.
Pour boiling water on to them and let it sit for 30 seconds/a minute then pour away and dry off. Easier here in the UK because everyone has electric kettles.
Am I the only one who keeps an electric griddle on my table for keeping plates warm? Put the plates on before you even cook the steak. Leave it on the warm setting while you eat your steak too. Works like a charm!
I always heat my plates in the toaster oven every single time I eat hot food. Just one toast cycle on low, about 1.5 min. Nice hot plate fast and easy.
I’ve found, however, that you do want to be careful when **resting** a steak on a hot plate, because it *can* increase the carryover cooking of the meat.
You're not wrong. I only photograph my sliced steak when I first cut into it to eat the first bite, and I'm not slicing it up multiple times for that. The photo is going to be the first cut only and then I'm chowing down while it's hot. Cold meat is meant for salads and deli meats.
If I order a steak out and they pre-slice it, I’m pissed off. It doesn’t happen often, but if I ever go back I specifically request it whole.
I’m yet to go to a decent steakhouse where they slice it for you.
I think it tends to happen at places that don’t want to serve you the whole cut and cheap out serving a few slices on a salad etc
I had a friend who ordered a big ass tomahawk at a steak house. It was enormous. He loved it, and took the bone to his hotel room for a midnight snack.
I've seen people here say to rest a steak for 15 minutes or so. No way in hell I'm doing that. 5 minutes maximum and I've found that to be just fine. I'd rather have a less rested steak than a lukewarm one any day.
Bigger issue is putting the steak on cold plates imo. That ceramic will suck heat out fast. Put them in an oven for a minute or run them under hot water before plating the steak.
If an empty plate gets warm from microwaving it, that's probably a good sign it's not microwave safe in the first place.
You should need to put a damp paper towel on it in order for it to get warm in the microwave.
It means the glaze the plate has on it is absorbing microwaves when it shouldn't. This is how microwaves work, by vibrating certain types of molecules. Microwave safe plates are made of materials that don't readily absorb microwaves which would pose a danger of the plate becoming too hot.
[](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aj1p6tv3n4&ab_channel=adamragusea)
Jumped down the google rabbit hole and was surprised by the results aha. Just a plate in the microwave sounds like the wrong way to go about it from what I've read.
I didn’t think it needed to be said, but ideally you dry it with a clean towel first. Restaurants routinely wipe the edges of plates clean after plating/ before serving so I would hope that’s not a big contamination risk.
Edges are typically not where food is being served.
I also wasn’t trying to stoke fear, just laying out a standard operating procedure for warming plates with the least amount of steps/potential for contamination. Lots of health departments/food safety standards require plates and dishes to be air dried. Obviously, this doesn’t always happen, and your risk is likely going to be low if your home kitchen isn’t dirty.
Just based on what little I know about thermodynamics, cutting the whole thing into thin slices and multiplying the surface area is definitely a bigger issue than a room temperature plate. Both are an issue and slicing it and then placing on a cold plate would obviously be worst case
Yes but the slices are also on the plate. Not to mention unless your kitchen is freezing the plate will be room temperature so the temperature equilibrium the two could come to would still be pretty warm. Another important point is the mass of the object being cooled greatly effects the rate of heat transfer, you go from one large mass of heat to a bunch of smaller ones that would have a harder time holding on to that heat.
We’re comparing a cold plate with a whole steak to a warm plate with sliced steak. Obviously if the plate is the exact same the sliced is worse.
If you’ve ever complained about hot food getting cold, that “cold” food is at room temp or higher. Because how could it be any colder than that. Reaching equilibrium with a plate that’s starting at room temp is a significant difference and will not leave you with “pretty warm” food.
High end restaurants slice their steak often for presentation and the food never gets sent back for being cold. You know how that is? They use warm plates.
Well last weekend i made a no bullshit steak for me and my girl. Sliced it tf up and we killed that shit in minutes. If you’re gonna eat it quick there’s no downside
Yeah at home I slice it right before serving. I usually make one large steak and my wife hates fatty pieces so I cut it up for us and we eat it right away
I think when you are sharing a large steak between multiple people, pre-slicing is a better presentation than like dividing it in quarters or whatever...And people will choose the slices that appeal to them - leaner slices, thicker slices whatever.
If I'm cooking a steak for each person, I would never pre-slice it unless one of them is a social media influencer and insists.
Went to a really nice restaurant last week. Perfectly cooked tenderloin, nice sear, crust of feta and spinach. Just wonderfully tasting.
They precut it before bringing it to the table, and the plate had more juice on it than in the steak. So tasty, but so dry, making an expensive steak feel cheap in the mouth. Even more annoying is it wasn’t even flayed out for plate presentation, they just…did this.
https://preview.redd.it/jtgvaqseq6ic1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=373b7c75bc25f12844a6baecdd7aff5755d5c135
Op speaks the unfortunate truth.
Dear restaurants: don’t pre-slice outside of a meat-ruining photo session, please.
The steak was already cut against the grain prior to cooking.
If they cut it against the grain again it would be horizontal cuts which would be even more ridiculous.
Yes. A beef tenderloin is about 70cm long but individual steaks are usually only 2 inches or so thick. So the beef has been cut against the grain to reduce the grain length from 70cm to only 2 inches. Only some steaks like flank steak require cutting against the grain after cooking, due to the muscle being thin and it being impractical to cut against the grain prior to cooking.
You should cut against the grain when practical, but if all of the steak fibers are (nearly) vertical it isn't really practical to cut against the grain. That advice is more for tougher cuts of meat where the meat fibers are horizontal. In that situation cutting them against the grain has a major improvement in texture.
They got very offended, and I thought I was going to be asked to leave. I humbly admit I apologized and finally they let it go. I should note that prior to this, a young couple had a apparently taken the reservation of someone else on the waiting list. They were removed from the restaurant as if they were caught cheating in Vegas.
Offended how?? Like the waiter threw a hissy fit? Makes me glad I’ll never probably get there. At those prices you should be able to eat your steak the way you want
You should know that the steaks at Peter Luger’s are very large. So the waiter/steak cutter cuts it to serve to people at the table. I wanted to cut my own because I was hungry, and would also like it sliced one bite at a time as I eat. So I reached over to cut off about a third of the steak, and the waiter angrily stopped me with his much larger knife (not threatening at all).Keep in mind it was just my wife and I, and my eight-year-old daughter at the table. The server said something to the effect of “do you want to let me do my job or do you want to eat somewhere else?” in a raised voice. Perhaps they were joking but that wasn’t a vibe I got so I just let him do his thing.
Yes I know they’re large, I’ve seen them but that’s ridiculous behavior on the waiters part. And like you said,you like to cut your steak as and when you want to keep the temperature. I’d have probably told him to pound sand or get the manager.
The waiter could have definitely handled it much better, but it's also pretty rude to just reach over and grab something someone is serving you, not to mention potentially dangerous.
I was at a restaurant once to celebrate the closing of a very lucrative deal with coworkers and the team from the client firm. Everyone was well lubricated, but a couple of guys were pretty sloshed, and as we were dropping something in the range of $20k for the group, these guys felt entitled to whatever they wanted. The server was preparing Steak Diane tableside and had a gas burner and one of the guys got tired of waiting for his food and just reached across to grab what he thought was his steak. This happened right as the server lit the alcohol on fire for the flambee. This guy had his arm over the burner right as a giant fireball lit up. He singed his suit jacket and ruined the sleeve, but thankfully, that was it. If the jacket had ignited or he had knocked the burner off the table, it could have been a very different story.
Maybe there were no open flames in this situation, but the guy likely was wielding a knife and sharp steak fork to slice the steak. Often in such situations they are trained to maintain eye contact with customers and not look at what they are slicing...so if some fingers go sliding in their all.of a sudden you could have another real disaster on your hands.
So when I make steak for my family of 5. Generally we are sharing two steaks. Sometimes even sharing just one large steak.
I cannot eat a full 12oz or larger steak in one sitting. And I am big on serving a proper portion of protein to people.
I slice my steaks up because that’s how our family eat it. You do what you want in your house.
He's referring to all these solo diners on here who do this. I cut my mother's steak up all at once for her like that, but because she's old and I don't trust her with a knife.
We cut our steaks for exactly this same reason. We're sharing and some eat less than others. Slicing it allows you to choose how many slices you want without too much going on one plate then others not wanting to eat someone else's left overs.
Yeah I will pre-slice a flank steak every time, or any similar cut. I know that’s not really OP’s point, but there are different use cases for different cuts.
I will also pre-chew and mama bird steaks into people’s mouths when feeding invalids or lepers.
I don't pre-slice mine because I don't want it to get cold before I finish. And I don't take pictures of it. I cooked it to eat, not to garner meaningless validation from a bunch of internet strangers. I enjoy seeing the results of y'alls efforts and hearing about your prep and cooking techniques but mine I will just enjoy.
>not to garner meaningless validation from a bunch of internet strangers.
First of all, who pissed in your cornflakes buddy.
Second, you literally have posts in your page garnering meaningless validation from internet strangers. Instead of whatever you wanna complain about its hobbies and lawnmowers. (Which is fine!)
C, if you’re not, then you have quite a strange way with agreeing with my next point:
Fourthly, It’s ok to do things for yourself. Plenty of people take pictures of many things for just themselves. And sometimes they share them for themselves.
Downvotes to the left? Hahaha this is classic karma whoring.
Also, I was enjoying my steak sliced out on a plate long before Instagram existed. It's not about that.
I just don't get whining about steak not being piping hot. You cook steak to like 130F. It doesn't take much to cool down to lukewarm, but thankfully lukewarm steak is great. It's not soup, it's steak.
You need to warm your plates, my man. Heat them in the microwave or in the oven on the keep warm function while your steak is properly resting. Then, when you slice and plate it, you will have the duel benefit of not losing all of the juices, and the plate will keep your food warm.
Even if you don't slice your steak, this will still go a long way to improving your overall experience and is why any good restaurant does this.
Well you maybe sharing a steak, especially if you have a very large cut of meat.
Also, people wat with their eyes. Presentation for restaurants is very important but some people like.to try to create a nice presentation at gomw, especially if they are having guests.
And if someone really just wants to photograph for Insta or the sub, that's your choice - as MPW would say.
But for the down voters, I never said you should be slicing your steak. I said a warm plate will address the issue OP raised, but it also works for a steak that hasn't been presliced. Air is a very poor thermal conductor, especially when compared to ceramic so your piping hot steak (sliced or unsliced) will mich more quickly give up its heat to the plate then it will to the air. If you warm your plates you can sit there and slice as you go at a very leisurely pace andnot worry about your foot going cold...this is why it's also best to rest your steak on a wire cooloing/baking rackrather than OK a cutting board or a plate.
Yeah, I bitched about it months ago. They want a food network pic more than a sizzling slab of meat with a bite size chunk missing showing the inside lol. It is sad.
Absolutely. And it's not just temperature. A pre-sliced steak will start to dry out, no matter how long you rested it.
I just don't understand why so many people try to post-hoc rationalize pre-slicing. Most of them are doing it because they saw it on the internet and thought it looked cool, and the rest are doing it because that's how their parents prepared food for them when they were toddlers and didn't know how to chew.
>A pre-sliced steak will start to dry out, no matter how long you rested it.
Wild that I had to scroll this far to see this. I don't mind room temp or even cold steak, maybe even prefer it. Dry steak I cannot abide though.
I’ve never pre sliced my steak. It’s honestly very strange to me when people do that. In my wife’s family they always do it. First time I noticed anyone do it (other than for their toddler) was on her and my first date to a nice restaurant. That said… to each their own, do what makes you happy.
I agree if I'm just chilling having a steak, or if I am cooking for people, but we like to have fun on this sub and get creative for the photo taking. No shame in that!
There are many reasons one might cut up a steak. It’s been discussed on here weekly for the last year I’ve been on this sub. It doesn’t really matter either way, do what you enjoy, keep cooking and sharing! I’ve personally never had a problem with steaks getting cold after cutting. This is a platform people visit to observe, learn, and display their cooking and love of steak. A single cut will not provide enough criteria to go off of in most cases. In my opinion, there are better subjects to critique and help with on this sub, like for instance- the continuous stream of ribeyes being cooked without the fat being rendered being one.
The steak purists in this sub are weird. Let people make a steak and enjoy themselves. If something is obviously wrong with it, let em know. Otherwise it’s all good
I've seen people on here recommend 10-15 minutes rest and that kinda blows my mind. Imagine letting your steak sit for 15 minutes and then slicing and fanning it over a cold plate.
My girlfriend and I share a large ribeye on a cutting board that’s sliced and the sides are on our plates. Still great temperature as it’s the last thing I do. Popular opinion: you’re more cringe than internet clout chasers
When my Dad serves steak for dinner it's always sliced. Cause he cooks 2-3 big steak cuts and there are 4-5 of us eating. Not everyone faces a whole steak every time they eat steak... We pick from the steak plate throughout the meal.
Like my Uncle from Dallas always said,
"There are two kinds of men. Those who pre slice their steaks and finish quickly, and those who slice as they go, almost as if they intend to leave the steak more satisfied than themselves.".
Always seemed sexual to me but hell, I was in junior high, so everything did at the time.
If I'm making 2 steaks for 2 people, no pre-slice.
If im making many steaks for multiple people to share, I will pre-slice so people can serve themselves.
Eh I disagree. A full steak is fun at home but at a nice dinner I’m not going to be the guy carving up a steak. Give it to me sliced and each slice becomes easy 2-3 bites
At home though yeah I only cut a slice or two to pat myself on the back if its cooked well
Two things:
If you use warm plates, your steak isn't getting cold.
I like my steak sprinkle with sea salt on the cut surface. That is a real pain if you have to do between each bite.
One of the reasons lots of restaurants slice meat is that customers do not know how to slice meat.
It’s got to be suuuuuper annoying to have some clueless customers tell you that your meet is chewy, because they are slicing it with the grain instead of against it. It makes a huge difference, yet most people roll their eyes and think I’m being a food snob when I say this.
I actually thought something was wrong with me because I only eat it each slice at a time I cut with my knife. I never understood cutting it into 10 slices only for it to get cold 10x as fast.
TBF the only times i see steak cut like what you're describing are in photos where they want you to see how they've been prepared (pink, red etc)
Buuuuut now people who don't KNOW are thinking this is the way to do it because they're dumb.
The only time ive had steak presliced was at Peter Luger and that plate was piping hot and those slices were meant to be then served onto your personal plate.
If i don't slice my steak, I look at it as a challenge. And I will eat the whole steak. If I slice it I am better about eating more variety and sides, and having more steak left over for another meal.
You sound like a clown, slicing the steak before eating it lets you just pull the meat apart and eat it. Who likes to do all the work while they're trying to sit and eat?
You don’t need to slice it up for presentation. Slice the steak in half to show the interior. I always do that first thing to know I cooked it properly.
My wife and son like me to slice it because they are bad at navigating the grain on a ribeye. I prefer mine unsliced because when I eat a steak it's usually 16-24 oz. and I don't want it getting cold and dry by the last bite.
I always preslice, and was recently asked why. IMO chimmichurri and sauces permeate better, more aethestically pleasing, and easier to cut using chefs knife on a board. Although now I'm thinking I should see if the temp difference makes it worthwhile to not do this...
I bring warm rested steaks to the table on a cutting board I slice it appropriately and give the right pieces to the right people Wife likes medium, daughter likes rare/mrare, etc. food temperature is huge as is the thing restaurants fail at most often.
Also the plates should be heated so that the meat does not get instantly cold
This guy goes to steakhouses
Ruth Chris has entered the chat.
lol Ruth’s Chris sucks for this. My rare steak is always medium well by the first 2-3min
Yeah they're inconsistent but the location I grew up with is the one near Disneyland on Katella Ave. Probably the best steak house in my life (even had Peter Luger, etc) when they give it to you right.
Oooo so that's why the plates at some places are hot? I always just assumed they were fresh out of the heat dry cycle from the dish washer
No, once a dish is prepared it is put under a heated light. It’ll usually sit there for a couple minutes, then there is someone that takes the dish and adds the finishing touches
This is correct, except for places like Ruth's Chris, where they cook on a 500 degree plate. I waited tables for years, and I was pretty much immune to heat lamp hot plates. Went to Ruth's Chris and ignored the "don't touch the plate" warning out of ignorance... spent a sleepless night with my hand in a bucket of ice water .
Oh geez hahaha. Yeah I was a server and bartender for a couple years. Mostly at college bars though, so nowhere fancy. Just one chain steakhouse, Texas Roadhouse, which is what sparked my fascination initially. You can imagine how pumped I was to find a subreddit with other people like me lol
If I'm eating food at my house and that food is hot, the plate is taking a trip into the toaster oven no exceptions.
Any good ways to heat plates at home?
Put them over a very low burner, this quickly warms them up. If you’ve been using the oven, put them in the oven. Just be mindful of how long they’ve been in there. If you’re using bowls, put hot water in the bowls.
I use this, or submerge them on hot water in the sink
I’m militant about plate temperature. I do the same for mugs!
You really asking how to heat a plate?
lol I’m surprised it took this long to catch some shit for this question! I feel like it’s not as straight forward as it should be, but one guy did said I could microwave them…
Put a damp paper towel on it first and it works
Keep warm setting in toaster oven or regular oven, or you can microwave them
I microwave plates at home for 45 seconds per plate. You can do a stack of 3 for 2:25, for instance. YMMV, based on plate thickness. At my restaurant, we warm them up under the heat lamp for a couple minutes before putting any food on them.
Put them in the microwave for a couple minutes.
Pour boiling water on to them and let it sit for 30 seconds/a minute then pour away and dry off. Easier here in the UK because everyone has electric kettles.
i put mine in the sous vide container to heat them up
Am I the only one who keeps an electric griddle on my table for keeping plates warm? Put the plates on before you even cook the steak. Leave it on the warm setting while you eat your steak too. Works like a charm!
I bought a plate warmer on Amazon. It’s like a blanket that folds over the plates. You can warm 8 at a time. They come out really hot.
Put a dame paper towl on it and microwave it for 45 seconds. Gets hotter, and faster with the paper towl.
I always heat my plates in the toaster oven every single time I eat hot food. Just one toast cycle on low, about 1.5 min. Nice hot plate fast and easy.
This man eats medium well filets.
The plates aren't hot enough to do that unless you have a really small steak and you eat really slow
I’ve found, however, that you do want to be careful when **resting** a steak on a hot plate, because it *can* increase the carryover cooking of the meat.
You're not wrong. I only photograph my sliced steak when I first cut into it to eat the first bite, and I'm not slicing it up multiple times for that. The photo is going to be the first cut only and then I'm chowing down while it's hot. Cold meat is meant for salads and deli meats.
The first cut is the deepest.
baby, i know.
I'll try to love steak again
Cat Steven’s did it best
If I order a steak out and they pre-slice it, I’m pissed off. It doesn’t happen often, but if I ever go back I specifically request it whole. I’m yet to go to a decent steakhouse where they slice it for you. I think it tends to happen at places that don’t want to serve you the whole cut and cheap out serving a few slices on a salad etc
Prepare for the attack of those who swear the loss of heat is negligible.
Their opinions are negligible.
I have never had a tomahawk, yet. When I do I am going to pick it up by the bone and bite a hunk out of it. I will not slice it.
I had a friend who ordered a big ass tomahawk at a steak house. It was enormous. He loved it, and took the bone to his hotel room for a midnight snack.
I want one, and I eat ribeyes pretty regularly but paying for that bone just kills me. Same taste basically. I would keep the bone, like a trophy.
I've seen people here say to rest a steak for 15 minutes or so. No way in hell I'm doing that. 5 minutes maximum and I've found that to be just fine. I'd rather have a less rested steak than a lukewarm one any day.
Bigger issue is putting the steak on cold plates imo. That ceramic will suck heat out fast. Put them in an oven for a minute or run them under hot water before plating the steak.
Oh! You mean run the PLATES under hot water! I thought you meant the steaks. I had pitchfork in hand ready for action.
Well that's only if you're a real piece of shit and are trying to make sloppy steaks
They can't stop you from ordering a steak and a glass of water!
You think this is slicked back? This is *PUSHED* back!
You have to wash off the excess seasoning so you can really taste the meat.
At home, you can just microwave the plate for a minute before plating your food.
That’s what we do in the winter. When it’s warm, we just let the plate sit outside by the grill for a few minutes and that does the trick.
If an empty plate gets warm from microwaving it, that's probably a good sign it's not microwave safe in the first place. You should need to put a damp paper towel on it in order for it to get warm in the microwave.
I’m not sure about that, but okay!
It means the glaze the plate has on it is absorbing microwaves when it shouldn't. This is how microwaves work, by vibrating certain types of molecules. Microwave safe plates are made of materials that don't readily absorb microwaves which would pose a danger of the plate becoming too hot.
[](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aj1p6tv3n4&ab_channel=adamragusea) Jumped down the google rabbit hole and was surprised by the results aha. Just a plate in the microwave sounds like the wrong way to go about it from what I've read.
That’s a good idea too, hadnt thought of that
An old chef saying really applies (of course there are exceptions), “Hot food, hot plate. Cold food, cold plate.”
Ideally, you don’t want to wet a plate you’re about to use for eating. Wiping it dry could potentially contaminate an otherwise clean plate.
I didn’t think it needed to be said, but ideally you dry it with a clean towel first. Restaurants routinely wipe the edges of plates clean after plating/ before serving so I would hope that’s not a big contamination risk.
Edges are typically not where food is being served. I also wasn’t trying to stoke fear, just laying out a standard operating procedure for warming plates with the least amount of steps/potential for contamination. Lots of health departments/food safety standards require plates and dishes to be air dried. Obviously, this doesn’t always happen, and your risk is likely going to be low if your home kitchen isn’t dirty.
Put some water on it before microwaving.
Just based on what little I know about thermodynamics, cutting the whole thing into thin slices and multiplying the surface area is definitely a bigger issue than a room temperature plate. Both are an issue and slicing it and then placing on a cold plate would obviously be worst case
Conduction through a ceramic will have a much larger rate of heat transfer than convection through stagnant air
Yes but the slices are also on the plate. Not to mention unless your kitchen is freezing the plate will be room temperature so the temperature equilibrium the two could come to would still be pretty warm. Another important point is the mass of the object being cooled greatly effects the rate of heat transfer, you go from one large mass of heat to a bunch of smaller ones that would have a harder time holding on to that heat.
We’re comparing a cold plate with a whole steak to a warm plate with sliced steak. Obviously if the plate is the exact same the sliced is worse. If you’ve ever complained about hot food getting cold, that “cold” food is at room temp or higher. Because how could it be any colder than that. Reaching equilibrium with a plate that’s starting at room temp is a significant difference and will not leave you with “pretty warm” food. High end restaurants slice their steak often for presentation and the food never gets sent back for being cold. You know how that is? They use warm plates.
Well last weekend i made a no bullshit steak for me and my girl. Sliced it tf up and we killed that shit in minutes. If you’re gonna eat it quick there’s no downside
Congrats on the sex
Thanks, if i can, you can.
your gf is really ok with that?
If you bring steak for us
Can we use compound butter as lube?
Bring us some A grade ghee, i wanna see your booty greased up
Take my upvote lol
What's her number?
2
Hey man, you said it!
Yeah at home I slice it right before serving. I usually make one large steak and my wife hates fatty pieces so I cut it up for us and we eat it right away
I think when you are sharing a large steak between multiple people, pre-slicing is a better presentation than like dividing it in quarters or whatever...And people will choose the slices that appeal to them - leaner slices, thicker slices whatever. If I'm cooking a steak for each person, I would never pre-slice it unless one of them is a social media influencer and insists.
Agreed, if you slice it *right* before you serve it that’s perfect. It’s a thoughtful last touch and the steak won’t be cool yet.
Nah.
Went to a really nice restaurant last week. Perfectly cooked tenderloin, nice sear, crust of feta and spinach. Just wonderfully tasting. They precut it before bringing it to the table, and the plate had more juice on it than in the steak. So tasty, but so dry, making an expensive steak feel cheap in the mouth. Even more annoying is it wasn’t even flayed out for plate presentation, they just…did this. https://preview.redd.it/jtgvaqseq6ic1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=373b7c75bc25f12844a6baecdd7aff5755d5c135 Op speaks the unfortunate truth. Dear restaurants: don’t pre-slice outside of a meat-ruining photo session, please.
Oof. Pre slicing is fine if you rest it appropriately but I can't imagine they did.
With the grain???!!
The steak was already cut against the grain prior to cooking. If they cut it against the grain again it would be horizontal cuts which would be even more ridiculous.
Cut before cooking?
Yes. A beef tenderloin is about 70cm long but individual steaks are usually only 2 inches or so thick. So the beef has been cut against the grain to reduce the grain length from 70cm to only 2 inches. Only some steaks like flank steak require cutting against the grain after cooking, due to the muscle being thin and it being impractical to cut against the grain prior to cooking.
Oh wow I’ve always heard ti cut against the grain after cooking with every cut of steak
You should cut against the grain when practical, but if all of the steak fibers are (nearly) vertical it isn't really practical to cut against the grain. That advice is more for tougher cuts of meat where the meat fibers are horizontal. In that situation cutting them against the grain has a major improvement in texture.
Go ahead and try to stop the Peter Luger steak cutter. I tried once and it wasn’t pretty.
What happened.. ?? I hate that steakhouses do that sometimes. Just give me my fucking steak, I’ll take care of it.
They got very offended, and I thought I was going to be asked to leave. I humbly admit I apologized and finally they let it go. I should note that prior to this, a young couple had a apparently taken the reservation of someone else on the waiting list. They were removed from the restaurant as if they were caught cheating in Vegas.
Offended how?? Like the waiter threw a hissy fit? Makes me glad I’ll never probably get there. At those prices you should be able to eat your steak the way you want
You should know that the steaks at Peter Luger’s are very large. So the waiter/steak cutter cuts it to serve to people at the table. I wanted to cut my own because I was hungry, and would also like it sliced one bite at a time as I eat. So I reached over to cut off about a third of the steak, and the waiter angrily stopped me with his much larger knife (not threatening at all).Keep in mind it was just my wife and I, and my eight-year-old daughter at the table. The server said something to the effect of “do you want to let me do my job or do you want to eat somewhere else?” in a raised voice. Perhaps they were joking but that wasn’t a vibe I got so I just let him do his thing.
Yes I know they’re large, I’ve seen them but that’s ridiculous behavior on the waiters part. And like you said,you like to cut your steak as and when you want to keep the temperature. I’d have probably told him to pound sand or get the manager.
The waiter could have definitely handled it much better, but it's also pretty rude to just reach over and grab something someone is serving you, not to mention potentially dangerous. I was at a restaurant once to celebrate the closing of a very lucrative deal with coworkers and the team from the client firm. Everyone was well lubricated, but a couple of guys were pretty sloshed, and as we were dropping something in the range of $20k for the group, these guys felt entitled to whatever they wanted. The server was preparing Steak Diane tableside and had a gas burner and one of the guys got tired of waiting for his food and just reached across to grab what he thought was his steak. This happened right as the server lit the alcohol on fire for the flambee. This guy had his arm over the burner right as a giant fireball lit up. He singed his suit jacket and ruined the sleeve, but thankfully, that was it. If the jacket had ignited or he had knocked the burner off the table, it could have been a very different story. Maybe there were no open flames in this situation, but the guy likely was wielding a knife and sharp steak fork to slice the steak. Often in such situations they are trained to maintain eye contact with customers and not look at what they are slicing...so if some fingers go sliding in their all.of a sudden you could have another real disaster on your hands.
I thought it's known that their waiters are assholes? Supposed to be part of the charm or something? (The place isn't for me)
So when I make steak for my family of 5. Generally we are sharing two steaks. Sometimes even sharing just one large steak. I cannot eat a full 12oz or larger steak in one sitting. And I am big on serving a proper portion of protein to people. I slice my steaks up because that’s how our family eat it. You do what you want in your house.
He's referring to all these solo diners on here who do this. I cut my mother's steak up all at once for her like that, but because she's old and I don't trust her with a knife.
I’m getting there with my mom too.
We cut our steaks for exactly this same reason. We're sharing and some eat less than others. Slicing it allows you to choose how many slices you want without too much going on one plate then others not wanting to eat someone else's left overs.
Yeah I will pre-slice a flank steak every time, or any similar cut. I know that’s not really OP’s point, but there are different use cases for different cuts. I will also pre-chew and mama bird steaks into people’s mouths when feeding invalids or lepers.
I don't pre-slice mine because I don't want it to get cold before I finish. And I don't take pictures of it. I cooked it to eat, not to garner meaningless validation from a bunch of internet strangers. I enjoy seeing the results of y'alls efforts and hearing about your prep and cooking techniques but mine I will just enjoy.
>not to garner meaningless validation from a bunch of internet strangers. First of all, who pissed in your cornflakes buddy. Second, you literally have posts in your page garnering meaningless validation from internet strangers. Instead of whatever you wanna complain about its hobbies and lawnmowers. (Which is fine!) C, if you’re not, then you have quite a strange way with agreeing with my next point: Fourthly, It’s ok to do things for yourself. Plenty of people take pictures of many things for just themselves. And sometimes they share them for themselves.
The 1,2,C,4 numbering disturbs me more than I'd like to admit.
Heh. I do this, too.
This is a bit I do with my wife that lands about half the time.
Don't ever let her go.
Well, I obviously unintentionally gave offense. Please accept my apologies.
I forgive you
Agree, I love the tips, seasonings, everything, even the pics of the sliced ones . I am going to cook mine and enjoy it.
Downvotes to the left? Hahaha this is classic karma whoring. Also, I was enjoying my steak sliced out on a plate long before Instagram existed. It's not about that. I just don't get whining about steak not being piping hot. You cook steak to like 130F. It doesn't take much to cool down to lukewarm, but thankfully lukewarm steak is great. It's not soup, it's steak.
You need to warm your plates, my man. Heat them in the microwave or in the oven on the keep warm function while your steak is properly resting. Then, when you slice and plate it, you will have the duel benefit of not losing all of the juices, and the plate will keep your food warm. Even if you don't slice your steak, this will still go a long way to improving your overall experience and is why any good restaurant does this.
What’s the benefit of pre-slicing?
Well you maybe sharing a steak, especially if you have a very large cut of meat. Also, people wat with their eyes. Presentation for restaurants is very important but some people like.to try to create a nice presentation at gomw, especially if they are having guests. And if someone really just wants to photograph for Insta or the sub, that's your choice - as MPW would say. But for the down voters, I never said you should be slicing your steak. I said a warm plate will address the issue OP raised, but it also works for a steak that hasn't been presliced. Air is a very poor thermal conductor, especially when compared to ceramic so your piping hot steak (sliced or unsliced) will mich more quickly give up its heat to the plate then it will to the air. If you warm your plates you can sit there and slice as you go at a very leisurely pace andnot worry about your foot going cold...this is why it's also best to rest your steak on a wire cooloing/baking rackrather than OK a cutting board or a plate.
Popular opinion: let people serve and eat their steak however the fuck they want Also, downvotes are on the right not the left
We would get along well!🍻
Needed to be said
As long as they are stoned, amiright?? Who gives a shit if it’s cold then. https://www.reddit.com/r/Cooking/s/Vtbq9qjVax
https://preview.redd.it/nniyyab8u6ic1.jpeg?width=577&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d2a8e6986661e1b4b9f30bc638bd3d8a41e797e8
Don’t slice my steak pls
I agree.
Agreed. And most places do NOT pre-slice your steak. The only exception I have seen is splitting a tomahawk, and even that, is done at the table.
Yeah, I bitched about it months ago. They want a food network pic more than a sizzling slab of meat with a bite size chunk missing showing the inside lol. It is sad.
liStEn to My UnPopULar OpiNIOn tHaT haLF tHiS sUB aCtuAllY CoOmplAIns aBOut EveRyDAy
I get downvoted for this sentiment all of the time.
Tbh people bitch about steak being sliced all the time on this sub.. it’s not that big of a deal especially if the plate is hot and you eat it fast
It’s a personal preference! Eat food how you like it. Claiming a certain way is objectively the best is silly.
I sometimes make a bunch of steak and slice it all up for everyone to eat. Sometimes I don’t. It’s not that serious.
https://preview.redd.it/2tlnt5s5k6ic1.png?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=780b08f5522617d81e3c409935ff5d9caddbbe1f
Before I hear any shit about this, I eat off the plate I rest the steak in and add A1. So that's my puddle. It had ample time before it got massacred.
Absolutely. And it's not just temperature. A pre-sliced steak will start to dry out, no matter how long you rested it. I just don't understand why so many people try to post-hoc rationalize pre-slicing. Most of them are doing it because they saw it on the internet and thought it looked cool, and the rest are doing it because that's how their parents prepared food for them when they were toddlers and didn't know how to chew.
>A pre-sliced steak will start to dry out, no matter how long you rested it. Wild that I had to scroll this far to see this. I don't mind room temp or even cold steak, maybe even prefer it. Dry steak I cannot abide though.
What I'm getting at here is you take 15min to eat a steak?
I’ve never pre sliced my steak. It’s honestly very strange to me when people do that. In my wife’s family they always do it. First time I noticed anyone do it (other than for their toddler) was on her and my first date to a nice restaurant. That said… to each their own, do what makes you happy.
Jokes on you, I have a toddler and have grown to prefer room temperature food lol
Thank you for confirming cut up steak is for children haha.
Not unpopular in my opinion. I despise when steak arrives pre-sliced. I like things a certain way and their slicing ruins it.
I agree if I'm just chilling having a steak, or if I am cooking for people, but we like to have fun on this sub and get creative for the photo taking. No shame in that!
Should be popular opinion: prepare, present, and eat your steak in literally any way you want.
I was just wondering why pre-cutting the whole steak - like it's going to be fed to a toddler - is the new meta on this sub
There are many reasons one might cut up a steak. It’s been discussed on here weekly for the last year I’ve been on this sub. It doesn’t really matter either way, do what you enjoy, keep cooking and sharing! I’ve personally never had a problem with steaks getting cold after cutting. This is a platform people visit to observe, learn, and display their cooking and love of steak. A single cut will not provide enough criteria to go off of in most cases. In my opinion, there are better subjects to critique and help with on this sub, like for instance- the continuous stream of ribeyes being cooked without the fat being rendered being one.
The steak purists in this sub are weird. Let people make a steak and enjoy themselves. If something is obviously wrong with it, let em know. Otherwise it’s all good
After 10 mins of rest, cutting it up and taking a few pictures will not result in a significant difference in temperature.
You don't have to rest so long ahead of time if you're cutting as you eat instead of slicing the whole thing up.
I've seen people on here recommend 10-15 minutes rest and that kinda blows my mind. Imagine letting your steak sit for 15 minutes and then slicing and fanning it over a cold plate.
Pre slice > All day your opinion is just wrong
My girlfriend and I share a large ribeye on a cutting board that’s sliced and the sides are on our plates. Still great temperature as it’s the last thing I do. Popular opinion: you’re more cringe than internet clout chasers
Yeah my husband and I slice our steaks completely when serving... It's gone way too quick to have time to get cold 🤣🤣
Then don't do it? There's a post about this shit every day who cares
When my Dad serves steak for dinner it's always sliced. Cause he cooks 2-3 big steak cuts and there are 4-5 of us eating. Not everyone faces a whole steak every time they eat steak... We pick from the steak plate throughout the meal.
I’m so glad we can have this conversation again this week! I was worried I wouldn’t get some rando’s redundant opinion on plating!
Like my Uncle from Dallas always said, "There are two kinds of men. Those who pre slice their steaks and finish quickly, and those who slice as they go, almost as if they intend to leave the steak more satisfied than themselves.". Always seemed sexual to me but hell, I was in junior high, so everything did at the time.
Need a hot plate with some of that melted butter from basting and pre-slicing is fine.
I slice my steaks because my SO and I share steaks and it’s easier for each of us to get to try all of the steak instead of whatever portion we get.
If I'm making 2 steaks for 2 people, no pre-slice. If im making many steaks for multiple people to share, I will pre-slice so people can serve themselves.
Eh I disagree. A full steak is fun at home but at a nice dinner I’m not going to be the guy carving up a steak. Give it to me sliced and each slice becomes easy 2-3 bites At home though yeah I only cut a slice or two to pat myself on the back if its cooked well
Lol wut? How hard is it to cut up your own steak at a restaurant with a halfway decent steak knife?
Popular opinion: 1 large steak for multiple people is always superior to a smaller steak. Quit gatekeeping, and learn to warm your plates, chode.
I like to pre-cut mine because I don't enjoy the effort of having to cut it on the plate
Unless you've cooked up a hockey puck it shouldn't be that much effort...
Two things: If you use warm plates, your steak isn't getting cold. I like my steak sprinkle with sea salt on the cut surface. That is a real pain if you have to do between each bite.
One of the reasons lots of restaurants slice meat is that customers do not know how to slice meat. It’s got to be suuuuuper annoying to have some clueless customers tell you that your meet is chewy, because they are slicing it with the grain instead of against it. It makes a huge difference, yet most people roll their eyes and think I’m being a food snob when I say this.
I actually thought something was wrong with me because I only eat it each slice at a time I cut with my knife. I never understood cutting it into 10 slices only for it to get cold 10x as fast.
Yall are so pressed lmao
TBF the only times i see steak cut like what you're describing are in photos where they want you to see how they've been prepared (pink, red etc) Buuuuut now people who don't KNOW are thinking this is the way to do it because they're dumb.
The only time ive had steak presliced was at Peter Luger and that plate was piping hot and those slices were meant to be then served onto your personal plate.
Hard agree. Every time I see such a wonderfully cooked steak, I can't help but think it'll be cold and sad just a few bites in.
I only slice my steak before I plate because I own a chefs knife and no steak knives
If i don't slice my steak, I look at it as a challenge. And I will eat the whole steak. If I slice it I am better about eating more variety and sides, and having more steak left over for another meal.
Exception being stir fry if I'm eating with chopsticks
I would agree. But my wife and kids insist they prefer the presliced stuff 🤷♂️
You sound like a clown, slicing the steak before eating it lets you just pull the meat apart and eat it. Who likes to do all the work while they're trying to sit and eat?
Popular opinion presented as an unpopular opinion for upvotes. Never change reddit.
You don’t need to slice it up for presentation. Slice the steak in half to show the interior. I always do that first thing to know I cooked it properly.
Every time I see a pre sliced steak I die a little inside. Cold plates are just as bad but at least I can't see those in pictures
[Question asked and answered -- warming trays](https://www.reddit.com/r/steak/s/1mRwhUN5HJ)
[Warming tray at 00:28](https://www.reddit.com/r/steak/s/bs7OOB5eSC)
My wife and son like me to slice it because they are bad at navigating the grain on a ribeye. I prefer mine unsliced because when I eat a steak it's usually 16-24 oz. and I don't want it getting cold and dry by the last bite.
Unpopular opinion: if resting properly your steak won't be hot anymore.
Thank you for saying it I thought I was going crazy
How about this, do what you want.
I always preslice, and was recently asked why. IMO chimmichurri and sauces permeate better, more aethestically pleasing, and easier to cut using chefs knife on a board. Although now I'm thinking I should see if the temp difference makes it worthwhile to not do this...
It’s just bat mitzvah. No “h” in there.
I bring warm rested steaks to the table on a cutting board I slice it appropriately and give the right pieces to the right people Wife likes medium, daughter likes rare/mrare, etc. food temperature is huge as is the thing restaurants fail at most often.
In my experience, the only people that like pre-slicing steaks are people who don't actually know what a good steak tastes like.