Would we be offending cook if we asked for our meat a bit more cooked?

[Jareds_mommytoo]

Our first cruise last year on HAL that was the only thing I wasn’t crazy about all the meat seemed to be cooked to very rare in the lido or the steaks we asked for to be medium were cooked in the sous vide, so they didn’t have a sear they had a boils meat feel in the mouth. I don’t want to be that annoying passenger. 

[Krazy Kruizers]

I am that annoying passenger.

 

I can not stand to see any red in my meat.  Everything has to be well done.

 

And I always remind our waiter/waitress to make certain that my meat is well cooked -- but don't burn down the ship in doing so.

[zqvol]

to answer your question you will not offend the cook.

 

Getting meat cooked further on the buffet may be a problem though. For your other meals if you order medium and they come out too rare, just start ordering medium well. BTW I would be very surprised if they cooked any steaks in the sous vide, but it would not be the first time I was wrong. The lack of grill marks means they were likely cooked on a flat top instead of a grill.

 

Anyway, don't worry about offending the chefs, they are working for you and you they want you to have food that you enjoy even if it is different than they would eat themselves.

 

We have the opposite problem, our meats are often too well done for our taste even if we order them rare. The only thing that has to be really cooked is chicken.

Edited February 14, 2019 by zqvol

[VMax1700]

DW is the same.  When Lamb is on the menu she insists that it is 'Very Well Done'.  We have had no problems getting it at the temperature that she likes.   (p.s. Very Well Done in DW eyes, is 'burnt to a black crisp' in mine, but that's the way she likes it and that's the way she gets it!)

[avian777]

OP, I don't know where you live, but in the US it is not considered rude to return a meat for additional cooking time.  To avoid this problem, be sure to order your meat cooked to "well" or "medium well".

[avian777]

4 minutes ago, zqvol said:

... The only thing that has to be really cooked is chicken.

 

IMO pork also needs "to be really cooked" to avoid trichinosis.

[POA1]

33 minutes ago, avian777 said:

 

IMO pork also needs "to be really cooked" to avoid trichinosis.

There were only 8 cases in the 5 year period from 2002-2007. I appreciate your position. My mother used to cook pork until it was more or less shoe leather. However, once I was older and began to use a meat thermometer, I realized that pork can be cooked to 160°F, be pink, tender, juicy, and not kill me. 

 

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss6401a1.htm

[OCruisers]

32 minutes ago, zqvol said:

to answer your question you will not offend the cook.

 

Getting meat cooked further on the buffet may be a problem though. For your other meals if you order medium and they come out too rare, just start ordering medium well. BTW I would be very surprised if they cooked any steaks in the sous vide, but it would not be the first time I was wrong. The lack of grill marks means they were likely cooked on a flat top instead of a grill.

 

Anyway, don't worry about offending the chefs, they are working for you and you they want you to have food that you enjoy even if it is different than they would eat themselves.

 

We have the opposite problem, our meats are often too well done for our taste even if we order them rare. The only thing that has to be really cooked is chicken.

 

Same thing with us.  Even in some of the Specialty Restaurants on ships it can be a problem getting it rare enough.  

[drowelf]

1 hour ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

I am that annoying passenger.

 

I can not stand to see any red in my meat.  Everything has to be well done.

 

And I always remind our waiter/waitress to make certain that my meat is well cooked -- but don't burn down the ship in doing so.

At any steak house or in the MDR that about what my DW says. 

 

"Well done, but not burned up. Butterfly it if required, to keep it from being burned."

 

I see folks ask for steak/meats on the Lido to be tossed back on the grill for a few minutes all the time. 

 

I think they don't cook it all the way on the lido, as you can always cook the meat a bit more, but can't uncook it back to a less done state. 

[avian777]

49 minutes ago, POA1 said:

There were only 8 cases in the 5 year period from 2002-2007. I appreciate your position. My mother used to cook pork until it was more or less shoe leather. However, once I was older and began to use a meat thermometer, I realized that pork can be cooked to 160°F, be pink, tender, juicy, and not kill me. 

 

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss6401a1.htm

 

I agree with everything you said ... but then nothing in my Post # 6 said anything about cooking "pork until it was more or less shoe leather", only that it be "really cooked" (as in "not raw" or "rare") and not just cooked until warm on the outside.  Pork cooked to 145 will also "be pink, tender, juicy , and not kill me".

 

Edited February 14, 2019 by avian777

[HokiePoq]

I'm with you OP.   I generally order medium well and it turns out okay.....if anything overdone.   Travel friends order rare and I try not to look.   There is a story DH still tells about me when we were first married.   My mother cooked both poultry and pork well done and I took the class on food safety in college.   Mother in law always served fried chicken raw (in my opinion of course) in the middle.   I said "No, thank you" multiple times and she persisted.   Finally DH said "She doesn't like your chicken because it's not done in the middle!"   I was really embarrassed but.....she did cook it better after that, lol. 

Edited February 14, 2019 by HokiePoq

[BruceMuzz]

3 hours ago, avian777 said:

 

IMO pork also needs "to be really cooked" to avoid trichinosis.

If you do a bit of research, you will discover that nearly every pork producer in America - and virtually every cruise ship on earth - freeze pork meat according to USPH standards (-20 Celsius minimum for 7 days or longer) which kills trichinosis and other dangerous parasites.

[Crew News]

3 hours ago, zqvol said:

....................We have the opposite problem, our meats are often too well done for our taste even if we order them rare. .........

 

After my DW sent back a steak twice to the PG kitchen, the chef came to the table to get her exact cooking instruction, "quick sear on each side".  The chef told us to order "blue" steaks and every "trained" chef will give you a quick sear on each side for a true rare steak.

[whogo]

A number of years ago the USDA lowered the temperature recommendation for pork from 160°F to 140°F with three minutes rest. Took me a while to accept a little pink in my pork. I too have seen the lido cooks toss meat on the grill to satisfy diners.

[Mr. Boston]

4 hours ago, POA1 said:

There were only 8 cases in the 5 year period from 2002-2007. I appreciate your position. My mother used to cook pork until it was more or less shoe leather. However, once I was older and began to use a meat thermometer, I realized that pork can be cooked to 160°F, be pink, tender, juicy, and not kill me. 

 

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss6401a1.htm

 

 

Here here!

 

[cruising cockroach]

3 hours ago, whogo said:

A number of years ago the USDA lowered the temperature recommendation for pork from 160°F to 140°F with three minutes rest. Took me a while to accept a little pink in my pork. I too have seen the lido cooks toss meat on the grill to satisfy diners.

 

I usually roast my (cheap) pork to about 5F lower than that.  It's so lean these days you get shoe leather if cooked above that.

[cruising cockroach]

My wife and I were at a steak house in rural France (seems the concept is catching on among the French as are hamburgers) a few years ago.  The board or menu had something (translated by me into English) along the lines of 

medium-rare - o.k.

medium - possible

well-done  - never or impossible

 

The French like their beef sagnant (|bloody") a.k.a. rare. 

[Langoustine]

7 hours ago, avian777 said:

 

IMO pork also needs "to be really cooked" to avoid trichinosis.

That's a thing of the past. These days, you can eat very pink pork without any worries.

[iancal]

Who cares if the cook is offended?

 

his/her job is to prepare your meal to your taste.  It it is not....send it back.  If no one send a bad meal back to the kitchen they will not get the hint that something is amiss.

 

We are long past those days of not sending poorly prepared, nondescript, or tasteless food that we have paid for straight baclto the kitchen.  That includes cruise line food.  

 

I sent a steak back on Celebrity.  Cooked just fine but tough as an old boot.  The  M.D. came over and mumbled something.  I told him that he was welcome to chew on it but that I had no intention of doing so. It was replaced.  DW did the same with some sort of mystery fish on HAL that was not even close to the menu description.  Supposed to be sole.  We were not certain if it was catfish, sunfish, or goldfish.

Edited February 15, 2019 by iancal

[avian777]

14 hours ago, BruceMuzz said:

If you do a bit of research, you will discover that nearly every pork producer in America - and virtually every cruise ship on earth - freeze pork meat according to USPH standards (-20 Celsius minimum for 7 days or longer) which kills trichinosis and other dangerous parasites.

 

Thanks for the helpful information.  However, I do not purchase pork (for cooking at home) from a cruise ship company.  Likewise, I do not know if the pork I purchase from my local butcher  has been frozen according to USPH standards.   As such, I will continue to cook my pork to at least 145 F.

BTW, trichinosis is the disease resulting from Trichinella spiralis infestation and NOT the parasite that causes it.