05.06.07
How to Cook a Blue Steak
I’ve finally had enough of the internet failing to give me an answer to how to cook a blue steak and have decided to do my own step by step instructions.
First off: What is a Blue Steak?
If you think about the difference between well done and rare, well there is just as much difference between rare and blue. It’s way beyond Very Rare. I’ve seen “blue steak” variously described as: take a cow, rip off any horns, wipe it’s arse, and throw a match on it; or my personal favourite: steak so rare, a good vet could bring it back to life! 
Don’t get me wrong, a blue steak is not Steak Tartare (which is completely raw), it is cooked though of course definitions vary as to what “cooked” means when it comes to a blue steak. When I left home as a teenager, I believed a simple idiom: If it’s not brown, it’s not cooked. So whenever I had steak, I always had it Well Done. So guess what: I hated steak! I rarely (haha) ate it, as it was tough, chewy and tasteless. I couldn’t see why everyone seemed to rate a “good steak”. It all tasted the same to me: like boot leather.
Over the years though, I figured that as half the population hadn’t died by eating rare steak, maybe it didn’t kill you on contact after all! Perhaps people were right that rare steaks were “cooked”. So I looked into it, and here’s what I found.
Here’s my take on it (disclaimer – I know nothing, and the advice here is worth what you paid for it: nothing! If you change your eating habits as a result of this post and die, not my fault, though you may have had a great last meal, lol!): anyway, as I understand it, germs on a piece of steak only grow where they come into contact with air. Therefore, the germs are only ever on the outside surface. This is why you never get even medium burgers, because the mincing process mixes up all the aerated surface bits through out. Burgers have to be well done, to kill the germs in the middle, steak isn’t like this. If you sear the outside surface, you kill the germs.
But eating even medium well done (i.e. a slight hint of pink) was what my mother had taught me was “raw meat” and it made me gag. However I implemented mind over matter and slowly went from well done, to medium well done, to medium, to medium rare, to rare, to very rare and finally to our destination: blue steak. I’ll admit, that simple sentence has taken me 10 years of my life and no small amount of “encouragement” from the missus!
And now: I love steak! Gone are the minutes of endless chewing a hunk of leather that required copious amounts of beer to make palatable enough to wash down. Blue steak is tender, juicy, full of rich flavour and best of all, melts in the mouth. This is a great picture of some blue steak:
See how only the outside is dark brown, followed about a few millimetres of light brown, then the middle is as red and bloody as the day it was born. Yummy! 
But anyway, back to the point of this post: how to cook the perfect blue steak! Here’s how I do it:
- Get the best bit of steak you can: go for fillet steak if you can get it, or sirloin steak, or if you must rump steak.
- However, also try to get the thickest cut possible.
- If you can, leave it out of the fridge for a few hours before cooking. This is to bring the steak up to room temperature, which will help the middle become warm, considering the quick cooking time (2-3 minutes).
- Salt and Pepper the steak to taste, I like a bit of sea salt and a lot of cracked black pepper corns. You can also add some herbs if you like, a sprinkling of rosemary is my favourite.
- Heat some (extra virgin) olive oil in a large frying pan. Set the heat to HIGH, you want it HOT.
- Pop in a small nob of butter, which should bubble immediately.
- Now carefully place your soon to be blue steak in the frying pan. Try to leave it alone, don’t fuss over it. No stirring or prodding, no weighing it down or pressing, the occassional shake of the pan should be all that’s required to alleviate your worries that it might be sticking.
- Make sure the heat is still on high.
- If your steak is thin, after 1 minute, that side will be done so turn it over.
- If your steak is thick, you might be inclined to stretch to 1.5 mins per side.
- After the 2nd side is done, you should ensure that no part of the surface of the steak is still uncooked. If you have a particularly thick steak, it’s possible the sides aren’t cooked, so manipulate the steak to slowly roll it round on its side.
And we’re done! Your newly cooked blue steak is ready for eating. The one I had for tea tonight was a nice Zone Diet friendly version, so I had it with a simple side salad and a black pepper sauce made from the liquor left in the frying pan, I simply added some beef stock, some red wine, and a dash of single cream. Zone diet experts will notice that this is probably a bit short on carbs for a properly balanced zone meal, but ask yourself this: where did the wine for the sauce come from, and what do you think happened to the rest of the bottle! 
Azz said,
June 30, 2007 at 6:11 pm
About time somone did this, i always ask for Very, very very very rare, i have mine about 45 seconds per side and its done! yum
Colin McNulty said,
July 1, 2007 at 11:13 am
I have a slight adaptation on the above, if you don’t like it cold in the middle (some people do, some don’t), which is after the cooking above, stick it in the oven on just 100C for 10 minutes to make sure it’s warmed through thoroughly, but not so hot that it turns the insides brown.
Nicky Brown said,
December 3, 2007 at 7:23 pm
I leave my boyfriends under the grill while i grill mine – not actually “under” the grill but under under the grill – hope you’re with me there!
This means that when i cook his blue, as he likes it, it is warm in the middle without compromising the blue part.
Colin McNulty said,
December 4, 2007 at 9:10 am
Thanks Nicky, that’s a good tip. Feel free to post an image of your blue steak up here.
Sherry said,
December 22, 2007 at 9:46 am
I always head it called “blood rare” but it is the best way to eat it. I will take a Ribeye about a inch and a half thick lightly sear both sides wrap in foil with mushrooms and place in a 200F oven for 15 min.
sam nelson said,
January 7, 2008 at 4:38 am
Im a big fan of a correctly done blue steak.
sorry Colin but IMO that pic you posted is a little overdone for me, but thats just me i guess
a few tips/tricks i have learned over the last few years of loving meat.
use an oil that has a high “burn temp” i.e. safflower oil
as you have said, leave the meat out of the fridge covered for a while to bring the temp back up a little to help with making the middle nice.
season with a small amount of fresh cracked pepper and kosher salt and some thin oil
cook in a thick HEAVY HOT!! pan
only turn the meat once and move it as little as possible
after you have cooked it, put it on a warmed plate and cover it with aluminum foil and let it sit for atleast 3 mins… the juices run out then soak back up in
then serve it on another heated plate.
sorry didnt mean to tell you how to do it those are just my ideas/tips.
i love to eat my steak no sauces but with mash potato and add a good size dollip of wholegrain mustard in the mash
Colin McNulty said,
January 7, 2008 at 9:14 am
Hi Sam,
Don’t apologise please. It’s always good to hear someone else’s view point. How about you post up a picture of the way you like it?
Colin
sam nelson said,
January 7, 2008 at 8:46 pm
ok will see what i can do… might go and select a nice cut today and see how it comes out.
fingers crossed pics to follow tomorrow
Sam nelson said,
January 23, 2008 at 2:06 am
Very sorry about the delay,
here is a quick photo of how i like it, i guess its not too far off yours
Colin McNulty said,
January 23, 2008 at 7:30 am
Ooh Sam that’s a lovely steak you have there! Good quality meat too, you can see the fat marbling. How’s the inside, warm or cold?
Sam nelson said,
January 24, 2008 at 2:19 am
the inside was perfect, nice and warm.
the meat was from our local butcher a nice cut of his $45/kg fillet steak
should have taken a photo of the rest of the plate, nice fresh broccoli from the garden, steamed beans and mashed potato (with wholegrain mustard)
was indeed a nice meal
ali said,
May 21, 2008 at 10:50 am
Great info, did one last night in our pbu for a customer, but why I chewed my nails while they ate I don’t know. I did it as you have described and it was surely ok, they paid!!
Colin McNulty said,
May 25, 2008 at 2:15 pm
That’s great ali, thanks for letting me know!
Paul Leslie said,
July 3, 2008 at 6:07 am
Colin,
magnificent – spread the word.
I wholeheartedly agree that one of the easiest ways is to just sear the steak and put it in a very hot oven for 10 minutes (while you fry the onions & garlic).
With the availability & reasonable price of Wagyu nowdays, this is an excellent meat to eat blue.
Colin McNulty said,
July 5, 2008 at 4:08 am
What’s Wagyu?
Lol said,
July 11, 2008 at 10:21 am
Interesting reading. I may try this soon.
Do you ever get steak that has come from a well hung carcass? (if you’ll pardon the expression!) Rather than looking bright pink, it tends to look a little brown even though it hasn’t been cooked. From what I have heard, a good butcher will recommend that the meat is hung a lot longer than any of the bright red meat you will see in a supermarket.
Also, how long do you keep a steak hanging around in the fridge before you eat it?
I didn’t know what Wagyu was either:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagyu
Colin McNulty said,
July 13, 2008 at 8:49 am
Well hung steak is great and it should look a dull brown colour and dry to the touch. The bright red stuff you get in most supermarkets is actually abnormal.
The easiest way of telling the quality of meat (in terms of how well it’s been hung) is its water content. Hanging meat makes it lose water through evaporation, that’s why supermarket meat is usually cling film wrapped, to artificially maintain it’s weight through water retention. You buy meat priced by weight right?
You can tell the difference before you even taste the difference by seeing how much water is released into the pan when you fry meat.
Ian said,
July 25, 2008 at 2:31 am
Um, sorry to both of you, but neither of those steaks are blue rare, they are just plain rare. I’m not saying this to pick on you, just to point out that if that’s how you prepare your steaks, then you guys have never actually had a blue rare steak, and are missing out. I don’t have a photo of how I cook my steak, at hand, but check out the photos on this website, they demonstrate what a real blue rare steak looks like. Incidentally Sam, the inside of your steak should be nice and cool – if it’s warm, you’re eating rare.
http://www.thehealthybutcher.com/livetoeat/volume18/LiveToEat-Volume18-ThePerfectSteak.html
Scroll down to the section on “judging doneness”
Hope you enjoy the experience of real blue.
Colin McNulty said,
July 25, 2008 at 9:02 am
Hmmm interesting, here’s the pictures Ian referring too:
I’m not convinced that they’re right and that blue should be cold in the middle. But by those definitions Ian is right, the pics above are not blue steaks. What I can say is that if you ask for “Rare” in any English restaurant, you won’t get a steak that looks like the Rare one in that picture!
Robert Young said,
October 10, 2008 at 3:41 pm
I was just in Florence, Italy and had a steak Forence Style. It turned out to be a BLUE steak. No juices whatsoever, and, oh so tender! I wonder if my ribeye steaks I love,cooked this way, will also be tender? Sometimes they turn out to be more chewy when too rare…but that steak in Florence was the best steak I have ever had! and I love steak! and Prime Rib!
steakmonster said,
November 29, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Man i love a good steak… Once had a Fiorentina steak in Rome, 32Oz of T-bone steak… did not ask how i would like it cooked, came perfect RARE/Blue
if you’re ever in Rome check out “Dal Toscano”
we liked it so much, we visited again, and the second time, call me a fatty, but i had to have second serving of their fillet steak….Mmmmm
Thanks for the Info here on cooking the perfect steak…
Vive la Blue-steak revolution!!!
Steak! - Old Skool Anthemz said,
December 8, 2008 at 6:58 pm
[...] who’s tried it at least medium or medium rare would ever go back to well done. i like mine like How to Cook a Blue Steak flavoured with this Schwartz – Product Detail – Steakhouse Pepper because its absolutely gorgeous [...]
mark said,
December 18, 2008 at 10:22 pm
the way i was taught to do a blue steak was to let the meat come to room temperture heat a griddle pan bit of oil till it smoking 5-10 seconds each side deliscious
sean said,
January 2, 2009 at 1:59 am
actually, you do NOT want to use olive oil when searing steak
the smoking point is too low and causes it to impart a foul taste to a seared steak when the heat is too hot
you want an oil with a high smoking point
mark said,
January 8, 2009 at 6:06 pm
well thats just ur opion i no what i like
Colin McNulty said,
January 8, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Thanks for joining the debate Mark, very useful. lol
Lauren Graves said,
January 18, 2009 at 6:29 pm
I agree with the posters saying that the pics posted aren’t really blue rare. I eat my steak blue rare and it is cold in the middle.
*Super super hot pan, just use canola oil, it’s smoke point is one of the highest. I cook it about 10 seconds per side, I think. Hell, once I was making sirloin kabobs and one of the raw cubes of meat looked so gorgeous, juicy with a fantastic color, so I just sprinkled some salt and pepper on it and popped it in my mouth! Ah.. This was last summer and I’m still alive, who cares.
*I only salt my steak before cooking it. I find that all the cracked black pepper I like on it tends to burn a bit.
I’m going to pick up a filet in a bit and cook it up right, in honor of the Steelers playing tonight. Woo hoo!
chuck said,
January 19, 2009 at 9:05 am
Well mate you got it right . very good . i will come looking on how to when i need it.
but vampires !! hmm
sophie said,
February 3, 2009 at 5:57 pm
i went out for a steak and i carnt find any were which will serve blue steak in newcastle i am gutted on this matter as that is how i love it cooked. does any one know any were i can go out for a steak in newcastle. thank you
Colin McNulty said,
February 3, 2009 at 8:26 pm
It’s often hard to find somewhere that:
A) Has ever heard of a blue steak.
B) Understands that “blue” does not equal “rare”. (I got into an argument with a waitress once, when I ordered a blue steak and then saw her write down rare!!)
C) Can actually cook it.
You need to look for an independent, family run, old fashioned steakhouse.
Polly Pierce said,
March 2, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Regarding your last post I couldn’t agree more. I came across your blog during a search for images of blue steak for my blog. I hope you don’t mind if I copy them and link them back to this blog. Also I will reference you as my source of information.
It is difficult, as you say, to find anyone who knows what a blue steak is and how it differs from rare. In the eventuality of being served a blue steak unintentionally, it can be incredibly difficult to persuade the waitress of the fact that it isn’t rare, but raw! More often than not the replacement is even more likely to break for the door…
Regarding Sam Nelson’s photo of blue steak, I would have to agree with his comment that yours does resemble my preferred rare steak. The chart that you included is great and describes the different types of steak perfectly.
During my recent outing to a local hotel restaurant my steak was served blue, this was obvious before I even cut into it due to the lack of bounce. Rather the surface gave way too easily when touched with the flat of the knife and didn’t bounce back as I would have expected for a rare steak.
Sadly, I don’t have steak for dinner tonight, merely some really nice spicy sausages from Tesco’s which will go nicely with mashed potatoes, swede/rutabaga & carrot and some onion gravy. Funny enough, with sausages they have to be cooked like a well done steak NOT pink!
Colin McNulty said,
March 2, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Hi Polly, thanks for the great comment. Feel free to use the images, you can just link to them if you prefer and a link back is always appreciated, thank you.
I must say I’ve never had a blue steak when ordering a rare one (when I used to order rare that is), usually the cooks (for that is what most are really) err on the side of caution and over cook steak.
Re your rare sausage comment, I was surprised to be watching a cooking program the other day, and notice that they deliberately cooked a rare burger!
matt said,
March 11, 2009 at 9:11 am
Hey colin, this has really opened my eyes up to the world of steak.
Thankyou, this is really interesting. I was also taught that a bit of red in your steak means that it is raw, mainly due to my mum being a vegetarian.
I am trying to currently go down from medium well to medium. I just hope that one day i might find myself at blue rare like yourself haha.
Colin McNulty said,
March 12, 2009 at 11:12 pm
Glad to hear it Matt. You won’t look back!
Elisha said,
April 2, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Hello,
My boyfriend loves his steak, the rarer the better. I would say I would go for the rare option in the chart myself.
With regard to the Newcastle question – I’m not there exactly, a little further south in Darlington but there is a small restaurant called Oven. They are a little pricey but will serve your steak blue if you ask for it.
I think that blue can be “warm in the middle” this is what you get when you let it rise to room temperature. I can cook a steak that is the same as the blue pic but warm, it’s just what happens when you don’t cook it straight from the fridge (in my opinion).
Thanks for the tips, just wanted to gauge everyone elses opinion, just bought some fillet that looks pretty tasty, from ASDA of all places. 28 day aged. d-lish, it is Friday tomorrow after all! Happy weekend x
Naomi said,
April 6, 2009 at 6:47 am
Just a quick note – If you get someone who knows how to cook a Well Done Steak – it is not tough and chewy. They charge quite a bit, though for people like me who cant stand the pink yet, you can get a lovely inch-thick bit of steak and when cooked properly, cuts with a butter knife…. not chewy or tough….. try it! It doesnt lose the flavour – just a totally different one to blue. If you’ve had a well done steak that was tough chewy and flavourless – it wasnt cooked. right. sometimes cooks will ruin a well done steak just to get you to order the way they want you to next time.
Colin McNulty said,
April 6, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Ok Naomi, I’ll bite (haha). How do you cook a Well Done steak “properly” and be able to cut it with a butter knife?
John Roan said,
April 16, 2009 at 1:42 am
Right now, I wish I hadn’t found this page. It’s 2am here and I’ve had a few ciders so I can’t even drive to a 24hr tesco and get a mediocre bit of meat. This page has to be the definition of teasing. However, come the afternoon when I’m fit to drive to the butchers, I’m quite sure I’ll be loving the many tips I’ve found here and I’ll suddenly be glad I found this page!
Thanks to all!
I’m one of the slowly converted variety. I started out around medium-well as a child and worked my way down the scale. I think I first tried blue about 2 years ago when I would have been around 23. Never looked back. Just a shame that as someone pointed out in an earlier post, that in England, it’s hard to eat out and get blue. They almost always serve rare and sometimes medium-rare, and try to pass it off as acceptable. Whenever I send meals back I just get given “looks” like I’m being unreasonable for expecting my food cooked the way I asked it to be. Sadly, I’ve grown so used to it now I’ve kind of given up and just accept it rare and sometimes even medium-rare. I guess it’s too much to ask for a chef to spend less time preparing my food. Must be so much harder for them!
Homerjay said,
April 16, 2009 at 7:48 pm
This is my way….
Get your old,large,seasoned,thick based frying pan and cremate it till its smoking.Hold your sea salted rump steak which has not been trimmed on its edge so the fat bubbles off the rind for a couple of minutes.Flop it over and cook for one minute each side.Turn the gas off and cover with foil for as long as it takes you to find a plate,knife,fork and good old english mustard.Serve and enjoy steak heaven!!!
Colin McNulty said,
April 16, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Hmmmm stop it, it’s making me think of steak!
I keep thinking of doing a video of how to cook a blue steak, perhaps if I ever get round to buying myself that FlipVideo HD that’s just come out. If anyone has any video footage, let me know and I’ll post it up here.
Jim Van Vleck said,
May 2, 2009 at 7:30 pm
You know folks, for me, I want a crusty fat burned cracked peppered garlic salted exterior and warm red interior. I only grill steaks. Wouldn’t go near a stove with a good steak. My coals are about an inch from the grill which makes for flare ups sometimes and i just let them rip. When i take my steak off the grill it is a black pepper burned rare piece of heaven for carnivores….
in my humble opinion, of course. Burned fat, to me, is a delicacy. When I am at the butcher the first thing out of my mouth is “Don’t trim the fat.” I always get a a knowing smile from any butcher worth his salt when i make that request.
I want to thank you all for confirming my belief that to not love rare steak is to say “No” to life.
John said,
May 5, 2009 at 12:08 am
Great article. I have not reached the blue level yet but getting there.
I used to be a well done steak man until about 15 years ago when I went to a steak restaurant and when I asked for a well done steak they refused. After a bit of discussion I said ‘just do it as well done as you can then’. Looking at pictures above it came delivered half way between the medium and medium rare (medium medium rare :0) . Well I at the end of the meal I had to tell the waiter that was the best steak I had ever had, and in fact the first I had enjoyed. My life was changed. To make it better the owner came over and told me he was so happy that I was now starting to appreciate what a good steak was really like that my steak was on him.
This was in Harare, Zimbabwe of all places.
rob said,
May 13, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Hi guys,
Love steak, this is how i cook it. I buy Welsh (best beef here in the UK) sirloin from local butchers, as thick as i can.
I leave it out over night ready to cook the next day, i also give it a sprinkle of black pepper and salt. I heat the pan up for 20mins, it’s got to be so hot you can’t hold your hand above it. I then spread oil over the streak on both sides, i dont put the oil in the pan. I place the steak in the very hot pan, turning it over after one min, then give it a minute on that side then seal the edges.
Whilst cooking i will heat a plate in the over, after cooking the steak i leave it to settle on the plate for about 5-7mins. The result is a rare (for blue cook for 30secs each side) steak of the highest order!
Rob – Wales, UK – husband of a vegeterian!
Colin McNulty said,
May 13, 2009 at 8:21 pm
> I then spread oil over the streak on both sides, i dont put the oil in the pan.
Oooh that’s an interesting twist, I may have to try that one!
Sam said,
May 25, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Great, great read! I’m in Iraq right now and as I’m sure you can imagine, a good steak is nowhere to be found. They do serve “ribeyes”, a term used very loosely, every Sunday in the chow hall but they’re boiled and have the texture of canned tuna. To the poster who said he only grills his steak: I couldn’t agree more! The one thing I’m looking forward to more than anything else is eating a steak grilled by my dad and washing it down with some cognac and a nice cigar.
Nice blog Colin, the steak post gave me something to think about!
P.S. I’m starting Cross Fit tomorrow.
Colin McNulty said,
May 25, 2009 at 7:59 pm
> I’m starting Cross Fit tomorrow.
Hi Sam, well you’ll do well with Crossfit on a good steak inside you that’s for sure. Take care out there won’t you?
Nick said,
July 23, 2009 at 3:47 pm
I recently stayed in the Europa Hotel in Belfast which is expensive and well renowned. I had a blue steak in the restaraunt there and it was appalling.. it honestly looked barely medium. Not a hint or red in it at all. The next night we went to a wee pub/restaraunt called The Basement just beside City Hall and the blue steak was fantastic. Best steak I’ve ever had. Thoroughly recommend it if anyone if they’re in Belfast. It’s the first proper blue steak I’ve ever had. No juices flowing at all and beautiful tender meat.
Mary said,
August 15, 2009 at 7:16 am
Thank you Colin for your very useful tips. I am trying it out tonight. Fingers crossed!
Colin McNulty said,
August 15, 2009 at 8:57 am
That’s great Mary. Take a photo and post it up when you’re done!
Super Jamie said,
August 31, 2009 at 10:30 am
Great post here Colin, you seem to have successfully gathered all the blue steak lovers on the net in one place
I like mine a tad rarer than your picture, but that’s definitely a very nice cut. Kitchen-cooking on a pan never works too well for me, electrics only ever get hot enough for a good rare. A gas stove may be different. Interesting tip about using Canola Oil above tho, I’ll try that!
I like a nice hot BBQ with an inch-thick piece of good butcher steak, done 30 seconds a side. Oh, it just melts when you press it against the roof of your mouth. No spices or condiments, I live for that fresh meat taste.
It’s so hard to find a restaurant that does a decent blue steak, most of my blue meals have been cooked by a friend who is an ex-chef. Although a place called The Moon in Perth, Western Australia definitely gets a good wrap from me!
Colin McNulty said,
August 31, 2009 at 8:24 pm
Hehe, it does look like that doesn’t it Jamie. I’d rather hope there was more than the 20-30 or so that have posted though.
Mike said,
September 16, 2009 at 10:24 am
Hi Colin, I was always told that salting a steak before cooking would make it tough, now im going to have to go to my butchers get me a steak and try it your way tonight. I’ll let you know.
I’m glad I found this blog
Colin McNulty said,
September 16, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Hi Mike, it’s purely a taste thing. I don’t use nearly as much salt as the TV chefs do, and to be honest, I try not to use salt on or in much of anything any more. I can see how salting and leaving for a day could make a steak tough, as it sucks all the moisture out, but for a couple of minutes, I doubt it. Anyway, do report back you findings!
jonna jonson said,
September 23, 2009 at 1:30 am
u guyz are all krazy tha only way to eat stake is to atleast have it cooked personnaly i lik my steak well donewen it is actually cookd all tah way through
Colin McNulty said,
September 23, 2009 at 5:17 am
Jonna, you are where I was 15 years ago: mistakenly believing that “cooked” = “brown”. Look up to cook in a dictionary, and you simply get: “to prepare food by the use of heat”. By that definition, all the photo’s you see here are of cooked steak.
jonna jonson said,
September 23, 2009 at 11:42 pm
get yor head out of tha clouds or u might as well just eat a cows arse no kooking
jonna jonson said,
September 23, 2009 at 11:42 pm
one question do u eat everything raw
Simeon said,
September 24, 2009 at 11:24 pm
It’s a very familiar tale, but I too started out in the well done school. I think it is, indeed, a waste of a truly glorious piece of meat.
I was converted about 9 years ago, when I went to a steakhouse and ordered a meal which comprised of two 12oz steaks, and decided to try one of the steaks medium, to see what all the fuss was about. From that very moment I was a changed man.
There is simply no other way to have steak than blue/very rare. I dont often use any seasoning at all, as I love the pure taste of the meat, although creamy peppercorn sauce is always difficult to resist if I’m in a good country pub!
One thing I’ve always wondered – is it actually healthier to eat a steak blue compared to well done? Would it not be easier to digest, as the fibres arent as tough? Hmmmm….
Does anyone else love the aroma of a fresh raw cut of steak…I simply LOVE the smell of the meat just before cooking…mmmmmmmmmm….Had a lovely steak this evening, might just have to have another this weekend!
Colin McNulty said,
September 25, 2009 at 8:02 pm
Lol, great post Simeon. That’s a good question about what is easier to digest? Sadly I expect that “heating excessively” breaks down the fibres more, even if it does dry the meat out, remove the taste and make it physically tougher to eat.
jonna jonson said,
September 30, 2009 at 11:43 pm
u guyz i went to a steak house ordered a rare steak and i almost puked all over how do u eat that
Colin McNulty said,
October 2, 2009 at 9:13 am
If you normally eat well done Jonna, then moving straight to rare is too much too soon. Ultimately it’s simply mind over matter. Your mind has told you that it’s raw and bad, you have to retrain your mind to not be constrained by your upbringing. Start with medium / well done, then medium, then medium / rare, etc etc. It took me 10 years to go from well done to blue.
derek H said,
October 22, 2009 at 2:22 am
hi im a chef in a hotel in scotland and for the many years ive been working ive never had the pleasure of selling a blue steak!! im sick of ruining good quality meat by “cremating” it for the people who want it well done, why even have a steak if you dont want the flavour?? it bewilders me.
Colin McNulty said,
October 22, 2009 at 9:59 am
Hi Derek. That’s a sad story. Where is your hotel? I may be visiting Scotland shortly and would love to give you the chance of selling me a blue steak! I’d be interested in your opinion on how exactly to cook it too, if you’re willing?
Henry F said,
November 25, 2009 at 1:59 pm
I love blue
It took me a little less than a year to go from rare to blue as a friend intro’d me and I had to pick up the balls to try it. I gotta say, blue is beautiful, the juices, the way it melts in the mouth, the disgusted looks from your friends – absolutely worth it.
The only problem I see is in this, if you are out and getting a blue steak – make sure its from somewhere reputable – a) the steak might be crap and make u sick b) they would need to know what blue is.. the amount of times ive went to a place, asked for blue and got rare or medium rare is insurmountable.
Bryon G said,
November 27, 2009 at 3:24 pm
I have been eating blue steaks for more years than I care to remember
I disagree with a couple of the post above – a blue steak should be warm in the middle. My son is a head chef and when asked he said he does it by placing the steak on a rack above the cooking pan to let it warm through before searing both sides of the steak.
I think the most important part is to have properly matured steak ( see last paragraph )
I went out for a meal on Wed, had an 18oz T-Bone steak – when asked how I wanted it I replied – Still with a pulse
I used to say ” still able to give milk” but that never went down too well – I want the arteries still to spurt when the knife goes in.
I went to a very select restaurant on Islay a number of years ago and had a fillet steak that was absolutely gorgeous called a drunken bullock and I wanted it blue.
It was served to perfection and I commented to the owner how great it was to ask for a blue steak and actually get one – he replied yes it is down to our butcher who hangs the meat until the maggots are running out of it – Exit the wife looking for somewhere to puke
Colin McNulty said,
November 27, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Great post Bryon, thanks. I agree that I like my steak warm in the middle, not too sure about the maggots though!!
Bill said,
December 28, 2009 at 3:50 am
I am so happy to have run across this page….most people I eat with think I’m nuts.
I learned about the term Blue steak in Germany many years ago. Most resturants there would serve a rump steak, at least 1″ thick, hot grilled for about 45 seconds to a minute on each side, then covered with a garlic herb butter, and left room temp. or cooler inside.
I have since been preparing my own the same way and my 18 year old son refuses to eat his any other way. If its plank steak you prefer, I recommend trying the broiler. But since the plank steak is a much thinner cut, season your steak, and set in the freezer for about 1-2 hours prior to preparing. When your ready, place your semi-frozen steak on the broiler pan and broil…keep your eye on it, it only takes about 2-3 minutes start to finish. Freezing the steak prior to preparing slowed the inner cooking time, which will give you a beautifully prepared blue plank steak.
Thanks again for making americans more aware of BLUE STEAKS…I just hope resturants are reading this!!!!!!!!
Asian Andy said,
January 14, 2010 at 8:18 am
Greetings fellow steak lovers! As my name implies I am from Asia where quality meat comes at a very high price. Meat handling by butchers here is of main consideration so people tend to shy away from blue steak (a very sad truth). =( I was born a steak lover so who cares about the price hehe. I learned cooking steak over the years by having someone criticize my steak cooking skills. Seeing my brother having a chunk of beef for a chewing gum challenged me to aim for the perfect steak.
I have tasted and eaten beef from raw (like what lions eat, roar!) to charred beyond recognition. I would say the more uncooked or undercooked it is the better the taste. This is just my opinion.
And yes.. I hate your site because it is making me think of steak which I can’t have right now. hehe
This site is great! I have learned so many things and got so many ideas from all of you. If only we could change the world…through one blue steak at a time…
Peace! Keep steakin!
Aaron said,
February 1, 2010 at 3:44 am
I myself do not cook Blue Rare Steak… on purpose that is. I am a grill man not a pan man. Some may disagree, but well to each their own. Everytime I have cooked steak I pull off and let rest these great seared charbroiled steaks. I cut them open and its totally rare on the inside. Everyone gets mad and says they are not done. So I ruin an apparently great steak for family and friends. When I am able I will post a perfectly GRILLED Blue Rare Steak.
Dutts said,
February 19, 2010 at 10:24 am
i love blue steaks and am struggleing to find out how to cook them, i have tried many of the ways mentioned here with no real joy i think i will try hanging the meat longer, but i have to mention the photos and coments. none of the pictures look blue to me when i have had a good blue steak (usually abroad) it is a deep purple and it melts in your mouth not chewie at all. sorry about the grammer