Well-done meat is the “most cooked” on the menu. In general, it's fairly tough to chew through and has no pink in the center, although an excellent chef will make ordering well-done a flavorful and enjoyable experience.
Stages of steak doneness:
Medium Rare. Medium. Medium Well. Well Done.
Whether you have your steak medium-rare or well done (or any of the variation in between, as well as extra rare and rare) is simply personal preference. Yes, medium-rare steak will usually be more tender and juicy, but well done steak can also be tender and juicy – it's all about how you cook it.
A well-done steak is defined as a steak that's been cooked to an interior temperature of 160 F or higher.
When it comes to nutrients there's actually no difference between a steak that's cooked rare or well done — the contrast is in the flavour and juiciness. For steaks, common graduations of doneness are based on the colour, juiciness and internal temperature.
Well (Over 160°F)
A well done steak will be grey throughout. It will be very firm and most of the juices will have cooked out of the steak.
When you cook a steak to medium-rare the internal temperature is hot enough to allow excess moisture to escape through vapor or steam, keeping your steak juicy and flavorful. Medium or well-done steak not only exceeds the just right zone of protein balance, but it also causes moisture to evaporate from your meat.
Everyone likes to order their steak differently, but when it comes to flavor, one level of doneness is a cut above the rest. If you want the most flavor and juice in your slab of meat, you should order you steak medium rare, not medium well or well-done.
Most steaks are best at medium-rare to medium. These temperatures cause the fat within the cuts to render, which allows the flavor from fat to move throughout the steak and keep it tender.
In such cases, we suggest the USDA guidelines of cooking steak to at least 145 degrees F plus a 3 minute rest be strictly followed.
Most chefs regard beef cooked to medium-rare — with an internal temperature of 130-135F (55-57C) — as the best way to bring out flavour and retain moisture in tender cuts such as rib eye and top loin. Unlike rare, medium-rare allows time for the outside to caramelise and develop a sear.
Blue steak is the rarest and most tender way to prepare a steak, making it an essential part of menus in steakhouses and restaurants.
Medium-rare steak is the most popular level of doneness. Steaks served at this temperature are slightly warm, and have the best juiciness and texture. Medium-rare steaks are seared on the outside and the center has a dark pink red color.
Japanese Kobe steak is one expensive meat. In fact, it's usually considered the most expensive steak in the world, although prices vary by location, restaurant, etc. In fact, Japanese Kobe is often hailed as having the best marbling of any steak that your money can buy.
3. The meat gets tougher. Order well and you're totally drying it out, making the steak tougher and less melt-in-your-mouth tender. Technically, medium rare is considered perfectly cooked because that's when the proteins haven't started to break down but the fat has rendered and given it juicy flavor.
The most popular cut to be served rare and medium-rare was prime rib and the most ordered medium-well and well-done cut was a T-Bone. Although most high-end chefs would say medium-rare is the only way to cook a steak, Jens Dahlmann, the executive chef at Longhorn, justified some cuts staying on heat a little longer.
Your basic answer choices are: rare (outside is cooked, but the inside is still partially raw), medium (outside is cooked more thoroughly and the inside is cooked, but still slightly red), and well done (outside is charred and the inside is completely cooked through).
If your medium rare steak has been cooked to a minimal internal temperature of 145°F and then allowed to sit for three minutes, it's safe even though its center is pink.
When having steak, serve it in thin slices rather than eating the whole steak. It's also important to choose cuts of meat that are lower in fat such as sirloin, flank steak, eye of the round, beef tenderloin, lean and and extra lean ground beef, pork tenderloin, and centre cut pork chops.
Medium (or Medium-Rare) Meat
That means your steak or burger will be tender but well-cooked and provide just enough flavor. High-quality meat will be tasty at this temperature and tender enough to chew easily. The center of the meat will display a light pink color with charred brown outsides.
Round Steak
According to The Spruce Eats, round steaks tend to have the least fat marbling, making them very tough and less flavorful than steaks coming from other parts of the cow. Because this cut is 100% muscle, round steaks cannot be cooked quickly with high heat like their fattier counterparts.
Ribeye has more flavor than a filet mignon, but it's also slightly chewier. This is a pretty forgiving steak to cook because it has so much intermuscular fat; overcook it slightly, and it will still taste juicy. When shopping, look for ribeyes with good marbling and a nice fat cap on the top.
It's Dangerous To Eat Well-Done Steak
Cooking your steak at rare (135 degrees Fahrenheit) is enough to kill bacteria like E. coli or Salmonella. However, the high temperature it takes to cook your steak well done can cause a reaction that produces chemicals called heterocyclic amines (HCA).