How do you cut your steak?

[Kent Wang]

When eating a steak, do you cut off a piece, eat it and repeat or do you cut off many pieces and then eat? The latter seems more time-efficient as you perform the same task repeatedly, especially if you do not wield your utensils in the Continental style. However, this method also allows the sliced pieces of steak to cool and leak juices.

I much prefer the former method for the above reasons. I also hold my knife Continental style.

[TongoRad]

Continental style as well.

I start in the center and work outwards, operating under the theory that if you're not going to finish that steak you might as well eat the best and juciest part. Funny thing is that's never really been an issue with me...

There have been exceptions, particularly at home if my wife and I are sharing a single steak. Under those circumstances I've served the steak sliced and fanned out on a plate, but I do give it a fairly long resting period first.

[mikeycook]

I go for the former as well for the exact reason you stated about the latter. I have no consistent position on the continental method, except that, being right-handed, I do not switch the folk back to my right hand unless I want to eat the meat with some potato or veg. If it's just sauce or nothing I continue to use the left hand. Sorry, Miss Manners.

[eJulia]

My mom always taught me that cutting multiple pieces (more than just one or two) was bad manners - only small children had their whole meal cut up at once.... wonder where she got that from?

Now that I've abandoned the knife/fork switch habit, it's easier and just as efficient to cut bite by bite. Even if I want to add a bite of side or sauce, I don't switch, I use the knife to push desired item onto the "back" of the fork atop the piece of protein.

[Jambalyle]

Sorry, Miss Manners. 

←

Interesting. I was taught it was rude or ill-mannered to cut multiple pieces or all of your steak at once (or anything else for that matter). I am definitely a cut as you go type of steak eater.

-Lyle

PS: I have never met a steak I couldn't finish!

[ChefCrash]

For thirteen years my ex drove me nuts eating her meat 'zig zag' style. It really irritated me to watch her switch hands umpteen times during a meal while she pompously nagged about how her way was the right way. No, I wasn't sophisticated, I had no training, It just made sense to use both hands. Start in the center of a steak, 1/8 inch slice at a time.

[annanstee]

My mum would have banished me from the table had I cut my whole steak up at any age after about five. She is English, so we learned continental style- easy for steak, hard for peas.

If one really can't be bothered to cut as one goes, because one eats in the American style, one can always apply the knife in the kitchen, a la hanger or flank steak.

[wesza]

My son on his 16th Birthday announced to everyone that he had decided that from then on, the only way he was going to eat Steak was:

Slice his Steak (NY Strip) after trimming into "Julianne Slices" then Broil under High Heat until Rare, allow to stand and set, reserving all juices.

He then hollowed out a crusty sesame seeded Sicilian Loaf of Bread, removing all the soft insides, split it into 2 half's, then poured all the juices into each half and:

Filled up each half with his slices of Beef that he enjoyed without requiring any, knifes or forks.

Hes now much older, still does it his way and it's really delicious and sets the right mood for gluttony. He's not always able to get the bread but any type of loaf would work. I have even gotten to enjoy it cold on picnics or when going fishing.

Even works with some Horseradish, Mustard or whatever and yes it's tastier then sliced Meat or Roast Beef.

Irwin

[fatmat]

with a knife

[rooftop1000]

Lets see...cut off the fat and reserve, cut 2 pieces, switch fork to right hand, scoop up onions onto fork, stab some meat, eat and repeat until there is nothing left. Then delicately nibble the crispy bits of fat and gnaw on the bone. Now when there is really nothing left call the dog in.

She got a bad diagnosis today so she got the bones and fat.

tracey

[purplewiz]

Knife in right, fork in left, cut a piece (or two, depending on shape of steak - sometimes it doesn't make sense to just cut one), switch fork and knife between hands, eat piece(s), repeat.

I know, Continental style is more efficient, but this is how I was brought up, it's neat, non-offensive, feels natural for me, and had the side benefit of slowing me down in my younger years when I had the bad habit of hoovering up my food before I could taste it.

Marcia.

[jo-mel]

Cut bit by bit.

I'm a lefty, so I don't have to go thru all that awful switching! DH is a righty, but he eats with his left hand ------ so I don't have to watch that awful switching either.

But --- he cuts his mashed potatoes with his knife and fork and that drives me up the wall!

[akebono]

bit by bit

cut width dependent on the cut 'o' steak...

for instance...

filet... long and thin slices

ny strip, rib eye, etc... more cube like

no switchee handee...

only on this site

can one delve

so deeply

on a topic like this.

-m

[Fat Guy]

When you've got something like a big steak, which requires dozens of cuts to eat, the ridiculousness of the fork-switching method is particularly evident. If, however, you're committed to this method I believe it's considered to be within the bounds of good table manners to cut three pieces at a time.

My procedure -- using the example of a New York strip, since each type of steak requires slightly different technique -- is to begin by cutting across the steak about 2/3 of the way up (in other words, bisecting it through the middle of the most substantial part). Then I take about a 1/4" slice off the shorter, wider piece and lay that slice on its face. Almost always, at this point, I will salt the slice -- thick steaks just can't be salted sufficiently from the outside, so you've got to apply a little extra salt once you have the inside exposed. Then, depending on how much if any fat there is on the outside edges of the steak, I may trim the slice a bit.

Now I have before me a really nice piece of beef: properly sliced, salted, trimmed and ready to be eaten. I cut off a piece, eat and repeat. Then I do another slice, and another, until I've exhausted that part of the steak, and then I might start in on the longer, thinner half, but will almost always save it. While I am a person of great appetite, I find eating a really big steak to be monotonous. And I enjoy cold steak so much the next day that I'm disappointed if I don't have leftovers.

[annecros]

No hand switches for me. Hubby converted me, yet I am still unable to eat my fried chicken with a knife and fork, but it is an amazing thing to watch.

Porterhouse, start on the filet side, cutting the filet off of the bone, then cut a thin strip, add mushroom or potato to fork, shovel, guzzle a bit of wine, repeat until the filet is history.

Strip side, I am starting to get full now, I will usually carve a quarter at a time off the bone until I am full. Usually leaving a half to three quarters of the strip on the bone, to go into a baggie and into the fridge to be seared in the morning with my scrambled eggs and leftover mushrooms. Maybe if there was some potato left over it will go in too. Lots of worchestershire and pepper.

Those are the super saltly, whole, "vat" style mushrooms by the way - that have been steeping in their garlicy, winey, buttery brine for the afternoon. Not a little wimpy pile of sliced and sauted things.

We did this last week. Yummy.

[cdh]

I know, Continental style is more efficient, but this is how I was brought up, it's neat, non-offensive, feels natural for me, and had the side benefit of slowing me down in my younger years when I had the bad habit of hoovering up my food before I could taste it.

Marcia.

←

Are there really people in the world who would take offense at somebody not switching fork holding hands? If so, those people really need to get over themselves and focus their energies on more meaninful problems in the world.

As to steak, I'm all about the slice by slice method. No sense in pre cutting unless I wanted to fan it out for some kind of fancy presentation... which I usually don't.

[purplewiz]

Are there really people in the world who would take offense at somebody not switching fork holding hands?  If so, those people really need to get over themselves and focus their energies on more meaninful problems in the world.

←

Sadly, yes. I've overheard some not particularly polite remarks about other diners who were eating Continental style. A friend of mine who lives outside the US has commented before that he's heard others sniggering about someone eating American style. I guess rude people are all over.

And I completely agree - there are so many more real problems to worry about. Like how the steak is cooked, if it's seasoned properly, and what sides it comes with .

Marcia.

Edited January 29, 2006 by purplewiz (log)

[cdh]

Well, I guess hundreds of years of medieval superstition about the evil nature of the left hand would make some old-time thinkers cringe to see people put food into their mouth with their left hand.... "feeding the devil" or some such... Maybe people who were beaten in school for writing left handed... reportedly a common thing in the early 20th century and before.

I'd figured we'd gotten past it. Maybe not.

I do find the "American"* switchy technique funny looking... but lots of things are funny looking... doesn't mean I have to be offended by them.

* I'm about as American as it is possible to be without having any Native American blood... my people have been here since Manhattan was worth $17 in wampum, and not even my most ancient 19th Century born relatives ever did the fork switchy thing.

Edited January 29, 2006 by cdh (log)

[Grub]

The Continental and "Zig Zag" method both have their advantages as well as limitations, and I really see no reason to favor one over the other -- much less condemning one way of eating as uncivilized or crude.

That being said, I like to cut my steak in very large but relatively thin slices, which I then place on my face and yell, "I am not an animal!" and stumble around the room, pretending to have a clubfoot.

Oh hang on, that's chicken. My bad.

What?

[jamiemaw]

After grilling deep cut sirloins (start hot, finish medium, begin with fat side down) , which run about 1.75 kilos (or about 3 pounds at 3 inches thick), after letting them rest for 10 to 15 minutes, I slice the mini-roasts for my guests and salt with Maldon flakes, by far the best salt I've found for beef steaks. The only other condiment allowed at table (besides pepper) is very hot horseradish. This is our favourite cut and a couple of steaks of this size can go quite a long way, and fairly economically.

[Abra]

I aim for halfway between well-mannered and heathen. I don't eat Continental-style because I am the most monodextrous person I know. I really can't do anything precise with my left hand, so I like the knife in my right. But switching both all the time would drive me mad, hence my compromise. American gripped, I cut 3-4 bites, set my knife down on the edge of my plate, and switch my fork. It's undoubtedly childish, inconvenient, and ill-mannered, but it works fine for me.

Bottom line: I don't give a big rat sandwich about sniggering furriners. I just want to eat comfortably, without making too much mess, and not offend anyone who is actually at the table with me.

[Kent Wang]

I see that this thread has digressed into the discussion of Continental style versus zig-zag. Not my original intention, but I am pleasantly surprised.

Interestingly enough, after some careful reading I've discovered that I employ the reverse Continental style. Correct me if I'm wrong, in Continental style one wields the knife in the dominant hand. So this requires one to switch hands in order to use the fork to eat other foods, e.g. mashed potatoes. This is too much switching for me. I always wield the fork in my dominant hand and use the knife in my off-hand, hence reverse Continental.

[petite tête de chou]

How I cut and eat my steak is different when I'm eating alone or with others. In relatively polite company, I cut the meat in half and eat from the center first, cutting each bite one at a time, fork in left/knife in right paw. But, if I'm alone and watching my favorite old movie, I eat the steak with my fingers, dipping each pre-cut piece into a little pool of melted butter, salt and Lea and Perrins. Of course, the crispy, fatty edges are the best! I'll tease my tastebuds a bit by nibbling the edges first, while the meat is still hot then save them for last.

[Grub]

...

Correct me if I'm wrong, in Continental style one wields the knife in the dominant hand. So this requires one to switch hands in order to use the fork to eat other foods, e.g. mashed potatoes. This is too much switching for me.

...

←

I don't think you switch with the Continental style. If you did, there'd be no point to it at all -- it would essentially be the same as the zig-zag method, except left-handed... Right?

Now that I think about it, with the zig-zag method, if you're holding the fork in the dominant hand most of the time, what is the reason for switching it around in order to put the food in your mouth?

(I've always used the continental method, but I'm a tad confused on it. My entire family were left-handed, and used the continental method, left-handed -- so I did the same. At some point in my teens, I realized this, and switched to a right-handed method. There are still things I can only do left-handed at the table (and other things like shooting pool or bow and arrow), like peeling a hot potato. Not ambidexterous, just uh, confused.)

[prasantrin]

If I'm alone, or dining at home with close family members, I'll cut several pieces (or the whole thing, depending on how big it is) at once, and hold my fork in my right hand. If I'm in public, or dining with non-family members, I'll cut one piece at a time, and hold my fork in my left hand.

When I'm alone I'll also stuff powdered doughnuts in my mouth so I get powdered sugar all over my face, and lick my fingers, but that's a whole other thread...