Steak etiquette: Cut it all up at once, or one piece at a time?

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destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
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The only reason to cut something like in multiple pieces is to cool it down to feed a kid and doing it as a adult is a crime as you are letting it become cold cut up like that and drain extra juices.

Do you use a sippy cup and bib also op? :p

Wait... are you people against sippy cups too? Dammit, they are so damned perfect! No splash, open nozzle for nearly endless bliss... you aren't using one yourself?!

Shit, don't tell me I've lived my whole life wrong in the eyes of the establishment. I'd feel... sad. :(
 
Sep 12, 2004
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I would expect the steak to be cut at high end steakhouses since the intention there is often to share.

spacca-bistecca-fiorentina.jpg
Strip cut across the width?

No high-end steakhouse should ever do that. The grain of a strip runs across the width and should always be sliced along the length. I can understand why they do it...for presentation. But it is wrong.
 

destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
28,799
359
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pick it up and gnaw on it like the man you are.

then spit the fat and throw the bone at the weaker males to show dominance

I've done/do that, but sometimes, I feel like that isn't exactly respectable and a way to show you aren't an animal. I mean, yeah, I'm cool with it, fuck yeah I accept I'm a damn animal, I'm not animalian denier or something. But, this world of uptight assholes frowns upon these things. :\
 

destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
28,799
359
126
Strip cut across the width?

No high-end steakhouse should ever do that. The grain of a strip runs across the width and should always be sliced along the length. I can understand why they do it...for presentation. But it is wrong.

Shit... so I have been living in all the wrong ways, eh?

I can read grain on wood, but I guess I can't on meat. Dammit, someone put me down already! :'(
 

Ns1

No Lifer
Jun 17, 2001
55,420
1,600
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Strip cut across the width?

No high-end steakhouse should ever do that. The grain of a strip runs across the width and should always be sliced along the length. I can understand why they do it...for presentation. But it is wrong.

I can assure you chi spacca does not do that bistecca wrong. And many high end steakhouses (meaning every single one in SoCal) present bistecca that way
 
Sep 12, 2004
16,852
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Shit... so I have been living in all the wrong ways, eh?

I can read grain on wood, but I guess I can't on meat. Dammit, someone put me down already! :'(
The next time you eat a strip teak, test it out. ime, a slice along the length is far more toothsome.
 

destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
28,799
359
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The next time you eat a strip teak, test it out. ime, a slice along the length is far more toothsome.

Is that the only cut that is like that? At least, the only cut which is longer in one direction?

Is there a specific way to cut a filet? Frankly, I've always just dove in. I guess I honestly cannot tell which way the muscle fibers run and, thus, don't know if I've been cutting all my steak wrong.
 
Sep 12, 2004
16,852
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Is that the only cut that is like that? At least, the only cut which is longer in one direction?

Is there a specific way to cut a filet? Frankly, I've always just dove in. I guess I honestly cannot tell which way the muscle fibers run and, thus, don't know if I've been cutting all my steak wrong.
The grain of filets run lengthwise along the tenderloin. You could roll a filet over on its edge and slice it thinly along its side but it won't make any real difference because of the lack of fat.
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
102,407
8,595
126
Strip cut across the width?

No high-end steakhouse should ever do that. The grain of a strip runs across the width and should always be sliced along the length. I can understand why they do it...for presentation. But it is wrong.

that's a porterhouse. porterhouse at high end steakhouses is cooked on the bone, but often removed and sliced like that.
 
Nov 8, 2012
20,842
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I don't know about etiquette, but I would cut it one piece at a time simply to preserve the heat. Cutting them into individual pieces is a way of saying "I FUCKING LOVE my steak to be cold"
 

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,596
20
81
I cut like five pieces or whatever (who's counting?) then dig in as I cut more.

But see, to me it only makes sense, because I also trim any remaining fat and/or gristle from the edges and, since I've already gone that far, may as well just carve out all my slices.

Because as etiquette also suggests, if you are right handed, you hold fork with left hand while cutting, but then transfer fork to right hand to transfer food to mouth.


And, the way I figure it, may as well cut up everything at once, grabbing a bite or two while I do that, so that I may then keep my fork in right hand the whole time and not have to constantly shuffle the utensils.

Thoughts, ATOT?
Semi-ambidextrous FTsemiW. :p
...and, really? Is that another etiquette rule, to pass the utensils back and forth to the "correct" hands? Who comes up with this stuff?



The only reason to cut something like in multiple pieces is to cool it down to feed a kid and doing it as a adult is a crime as you are letting it become cold cut up like that and drain extra juices.
It's just fascinating though how big a deal it is.
Like if you walk into a bar and say that you like warm beer, some people in there might feel compelled to punch you a few times.

Or a reaction like the twitching at the start of this scene:
"No! No, no, not 6! I said 7! Nobody's coming up with 6! Who works out in 6 minutes? You won't even get your heart goin, not even a mouse on a wheel.
7's the key number here. Think about it. 7-Elevens. 7 dwarves. 7, man, that's the number. 7 chipmunks twirlin' on a branch, eatin' lots of sunflowers on my uncle's ranch."


(Heck, my grandmother was left-handed, and teachers would whack her hand with a ruler if she wrote left-handed. Just another example of a "No! I said 7!" type of reaction.)



Do you use a sippy cup and bib also op? :p
....



No.


I'm almost certain of it.





...unless you're offering.
:sneaky:
 
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Ancalagon44

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2010
3,274
202
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And never finish every last bit of food. Like the few small pieces of salad or whatever. You know, the pieces left that are stuck to the bowl. Keep your other hand on your lap. So my left hand is on my lap as I'm right handed. A lot of other things to consider.

I've heard this one before regarding tea, but I refuse to follow it. It seems wasteful to purposefully leave a bit of food or tea behind. Drink or eat as much as you want to.

However, eating too quickly can be seen as rude, which I kind of agree with.

Regarding steak, either let the restaurant slice it into pieces for you, or cut off one piece at a time yourself. That being said, if someone cut up their own steak into little pieces before eating, I wouldn't think it was rude, just odd.
 

BarkingGhostar

Diamond Member
Nov 20, 2009
8,410
1,617
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It would seem to me you would cut off a one piece at a time. Being in ROTC, we had formal etiquette training and this seems prudent.

Cutting all your steak at once seems to imply your a damn animal or something. LOL

And never finish every last bit of food. Like the few small pieces of salad or whatever. You know, the pieces left that are stuck to the bowl. Keep your other hand on your lap. So my left hand is on my lap as I'm right handed. A lot of other things to consider.
Are you one of those types that refuses to accept that humans are animals in the animal kingdom?
 

sandorski

No Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
70,862
6,396
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I wouldn't object to someone doing it that way, but it is so out of the ordinary I'm going to notice. I might even say something about it.
 
Feb 4, 2009
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No its childish to do that for almost any food except maybe a salad that has big leaves in it or maybe some kind of noodles that are mixed and extremely long.
 

Ns1

No Lifer
Jun 17, 2001
55,420
1,600
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ITT: people who only eat steak at home and claim jumper
 

Pacfanweb

Lifer
Jan 2, 2000
13,158
59
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Unless you're six years old, one piece at a time.

This.

You cut a piece, you eat it. Then you cut another piece. This goes for any food, not just steak.

Only kids cut it all up at once, or have it done for them.

Plus, with a steak you don't want the juices to run out of it and the meat start to dry out, which would happen more quickly if you cut it up.
 

EliteRetard

Diamond Member
Mar 6, 2006
6,490
1,022
136
I've never had a good steak. Seriously.

I've had a good hamburger, great beef ribs, and some really good carne asada...hell even some really good meatloaf. Yet of all the fancy restaurants I have been taken to, not one has ever been able to produce anything above mediocre steak. I have never had the money to buy good steaks to experiment with, and no cooking surface or equipment to try it myself.
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,741
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It's your food, do whatever the fuck you want to it.

Some people care too much what the others think of them.
 

waggy

No Lifer
Dec 14, 2000
68,143
10
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It's your food, do whatever the fuck you want to it.

Some people care too much what the others think of them.

/this

also if people are giving you shit about how you eat then you don't need to eat with them.

really WTF?
 

3chordcharlie

Diamond Member
Mar 30, 2004
9,859
1
81
I've never had a good steak. Seriously.

I've had a good hamburger, great beef ribs, and some really good carne asada...hell even some really good meatloaf. Yet of all the fancy restaurants I have been taken to, not one has ever been able to produce anything above mediocre steak. I have never had the money to buy good steaks to experiment with, and no cooking surface or equipment to try it myself.
You can get a good Striploin steak for $5 on sale. Even in Canada.

You can definitely get a good rare or medium-rare with a cast iron frying pan, or even just the broiler in your oven. A decent grill will work too.

If you are in the habit of ordering medium-well or well-done, this probably explains why you do not like steak, so try this: sear and cook to medium rare by whatever method, then microwave 30-90 seconds (depending how well done you want it to look, and your specific microwave). I am aware that this is blasphemous advice.