Culture and meat doneness

F

FooD

New member
I noticed this over 20 years ago since I've been married to my wife. I like my red meat cooked to a medium rare for the most part but my wife who's from Central America including most of her family here all like their meat well done.
I thought it was just my wife and in-laws who liked them that way. But over the years I've noticed that some of ours friends with Central American or Mexican backgrounds, whether they were born there or here in the US all have this acquired taste for having their meat well done. I've noticing this more and more as I've gotten into grilling and smoking recently.
On the other hand, most of my non-Latin friends prefer their meat medium rare to medium for the most part, but rarely well done......although we have friends from Argentina who love their steaks thick, juicy, and bloody like I do...:D


Odd thing is, this just seems to apply only to meat as my wife and most of her family love sushi and sashimi.

Just sayin'....:)
 
I've noticed the same thing about many from Louisiana as well. I like my beef from rare to medium rare depending on the cut but my grand son in law wants his well done to the point of burnt to a chunk carbon. I've found this before in a lot of the Cajun families I've know in my life so I would guess it is culture more than anything else.
 
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!

Born and raised in Jersey, I prefer my meat medium rare. Even pork with a touch of pink.

My wife, from the Republic of Georgia, MUST have her meat well done. I'm just now getting her to like beef medium. It would kill me to buy say a beef loin or prime cut of meat because I'd have to murder it for her to eat it. I actually told her there's no way I'm ordering Kobe until she gets over the well done thing. lol
 
I agree. My family is from Louisiana and Oklahoma and we always had meat well done. Thus, I prefer it well done, too. I know it's a sin against beef, but I cringe when I see any blood coming out of my dinner. I'm trying to learn to eat beef "medium" because I can see that the meat is juicier and it's much easier not to screw it up when cooking. Also, I have lots of Mexican friends and the majority of our restaurants are Mexican and it's true - Mexicans generally cook all of their meat well done.
 
I like my pork a little pink also HC. I take a pork loin out of the oven about 140-145 degrees and let it rest a bit. A few minutes and it is close if not slightly over 160 degrees.
 
The trichinae parasite which everyone is so afraid of in pork is killed at 138 degrees. I cook my pork to 138 and the let it rest. It's somewhere around 140-145 when I serve it.

Beautifully pink, rosy, juicy and tender!

I just spent a year and a half working in North Carolina, where every restaurant insisted that there is some kind of state law that prohibits them from serving a hamburger any less cooked than medium WELL! I could never find any proof of it, but every single restaurant told me the same thing. Now that's got to be cultural! (The only exception is if the establishment fresh grinds the meat to order).

I either cooked juicy burgers at home or drove to South Carolina if I had a craving.
 
I grind my own meats so my hamburgers I like just a bit cooked on the inside, many would here would call raw. I never could handle a hamburger from any other source as they are to me like eating asphalt.
 
when i eat out i order rare rare..then i will get it medium rare..lol

at home i prefer mine from rare to medium rare... the more you cook a steak the more it turns into shoe leather..lol

Mrs.Bam's family prefer their steaks medium to well done to burnt..... i quit buying her the good cuts of steak if i was going to have to overcook it for her...she now is a medium rare kinda girl..

when i am cooking say a pork loin or tenderloin... it cooks to 140-145ish... then is pulled and residual heat will take it from there
 
I am told that pigs are now fed Antibiotics thus trichinosis is not an issue. I ride the train with two chefs who like their pork rare


Since introducing dw to good meat it has been getting pinker.
 
Adillo303 said:
I am told that pigs are now fed Antibiotics thus trichinosis is not an issue. I ride the train with two chefs who like their pork rare


Since introducing dw to good meat it has been getting pinker.
Click to expand...

Actually antibiotics doesn't stop trichinosis in pigs it is the fact they stopped feeding pigs in this country raw meats in the feed which was common till about 1930. Since that time the cases have dropped consistently and now mostly come from wild game such as dear and bear meats.
 
I used to like to marinad pork for couple of days and than eat it raw, but I suppose it's not really raw after seating in marinad for 2-3 days, is it?
 
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