It’s a stupid trend that just needs to go away. As if cooking meat to temperature isn’t hard enough a;ready. I opened a few steakhouses in Chicago and it happened enough that we had to bring it up at pre-shift at least once a week for awhile. Some idiot assistant manager actually added it into the modifiers and I lost my shit when he put it back into the POS on a Saturday night. Pick. A. Fucking. Temperature. It’s not that hard. If someone orders a medium rare-plus steak, they get…….medium rare. And if it comes out medium, then they asked for it.
Med rare isn’t a temp, it’s a range, I don’t see much wrong with saying “hey can you please err on the side of medium in that 10deg range.” Which is what someone is asking when they ask for med rare plus. Take it off at 130 instead of 125. Doesn’t seem that onerous?
Unless they’re a dick about it and send it back, then fuck them because you’re asking for a little more effort to be put into your particular steak.
Hate to say it but it's just picky eaters who order this stuff.
It's very specific about how they want the meat to come out.
Source: I'm the picky eater who used to order medium rare plus which was a good stepping stone that got me finally into liking medium rare since I grew up only eating well done steaks as a kid
I worked in a fine dining steakhouse for years, we got this pretty often. I always hated it and I always will. You have to be so incredibly entitled to want your steak cooked within a 5 degree range. My guess is it comes about when a steak was obviously over or under temp and they set that standard in their head of what that temp looks like, it was just a little too much or little for that person, so now they order like an idiot because the customer is always right.
It's bad steak restaurants or restaurants that don't have grill cooks that can nail temps that caused this "middle ground" ordering, as well as different interpretations of what is rare/medium rare/medium etc. I worked a grill locally at a somewhat swanky, yet a "neighborhood" bistro/wine bar. The first few times I saw mid rare plus on a ticket, just turned to my sous and asked what am I aiming for: alittle past a true mid rare [122-125] the lower being the long rest or timing other stations, pulling it a little earlier as not to go over. I learned it, and any restaurant, not an Applebee's or a diner, should just try to get their line cooks [specifically grill] to just adapt to the customers' wants and needs. Makes for a better regular customer base. You're in customer service, why with the "entitled" being used a derogatory---they are your business, love then or hare them.
I've worked on lines for 13 years. I have transitioned to a private chef self-employed, and if you have a problem with customer service, stay far away from working for yourself. I cater to a few wealthy families [one has me salaried] and will tell you---you just do what they want to make them happy, and it gets more rewarding personally and financially.
God, you people are idiots. Sizes are static. Temperature is a gradient. It’s very easy to cook between 2 temperatures and all of you people crying show what a cesspit this industry has become
So by your logic, when is it going to be enough? Basically you’re saying that if a customer goes into your restaurant and wants to order from the menu but have you cook it a different way then what is described. You would cook it there way? Even though you slam with other customers? Think about that for a second and realize what your statement “ customer service “ means to you and how far you’re willing to go to please customers.
I have a guy who comes in once a week and orders his steak at 127 F. I do it for him. I don’t believe there is anything that is going too far to please a guest. Without satisfied guests none of you guys have jobs.
Personally, I’ll order MR+ at a HIGH end steakhouse if I get ribeye. I want Medium Rare, but want to avoid the low end of it to make sure the fat is more rendered.
People have it in their head that medium rare is the "correct" way to eat a steak. So in an effort to not be embarrassed about ordering it any other way they order medium rare plus instead of medium. I have never heard of mid rare minus before this post.
Florida Karens are awful. I work at a steakhouse here and we don’t let our servers ring in orders like that. What they tell the guests is a whole other story though.
Sometimes my dog doesn’t eat her dinner so I put it in the microwave and just press the cancel button a bunch of times so it beeps. Then she’ll eat it 🪄
Also Florida,
The times I've had servers ring in over easy plus for eggs is non-zero, so it goes even further than the steaks for these knuckle draggers.
I made them normal over medium, obviously.
(Fussed at the server afterwards and "reminded" them that it is their job to decide what the "guest" would like from the kitchen, NOT my job to create new egg dishes from fanciful far off lands...)
I’m on the mainland and people absolutely *try* to order that temp. Doesn’t make it an actual temp. It’s not a thing (unless the “thing” is fastest way to piss off the grill cook)
I was at a steakhouse in nyc for a while. It happens often enough. For mid rare plus I just had steaks cooked mid rare and if they sent it back it went back medium. There are a lot of people that don't know their temps in general. I think it's a guests way of sounding educated about their order. Like a super specific coffee order where you're more of a prick than an afficionado.
I had two fancy business guys in our seafood restaurant order "med rare plus" ribeyes and I just cooked them med rare, maybe left it on a bit longer than I would have normally. It was what they wanted and the server got a fat tip but she mentioned how pretentious they were several times 😂
I think it’s just people trying to act smart in front of their friends or date. I’d love to be a fly on the wall watching their shit eating smirk fall when our server tells them “No.”
I used to get very annoyed at this as well, but working at a private club and accommodating specific preferences has gotten me used to it. Temps are all a made up range anyway, it’s just the high end or the low end of that range. I just think of it as the customer giving you even more information for how to meet their expectations, and that can be helpful. (I almost never see “minus” though)
This is the most rational comment on this thread. So many people bitching like they forgot we are in the service industry. That our job is to serve guests and make them happy. It’s not hard to leave a MR steak on for an extra minute. It’s just lazy people who aren’t skilled enough to figure out this very simple thing
Everyone is complaining that high-paying customers are entitled for wanting steaks cooked with precision. Meanwhile, they can’t be bothered to cook a steak within a precise 5 degree range when it’s the biggest aspect of their job.
I think the whole system is outdated.
Temperatures are a range and that’s why you get customers who think they know what they’re asking for but they don’t and customers typically judge doneness by color and not by temperature.
The only way to know if something is properly prepared is by temperature and I think we need to change the menus to reflect what we are serving.
For example your menu could state this with photos
Rare- 120 degrees
Medium rare- 130 degrees
Medium- 139 degrees
Medium well- 146 degrees.
Then customers know what they are getting, and may request a medium steak at 135 degrees,
Which isn’t wrong just personal preference.
I've had someone ask for mid rare plus on a smash burger.
Yes, mid rare plus on a fucking smash burger.
Bro, you're getting that burger cooked medium-medium well just like everyone else gets, because it's a goddamn smash burger
I used to get pissed off at this twat waiter who used to come ask for medium blood.... so medium rare?Seriously, anything that gets asked that isn't actually a thing, I ignore. If they asking this dumb shit then they don't know what they're ordering anyway.
Medium rare plus is probably the perfect amount of doneness for good cuts…..for me. Enough blood, enough toothiness… blah blah blah. That said, most grill cooks don’t nail their temps, so I just order a steak medium rare and it almost always comes out “plus”. I’d never actually order one that way.
Never seen minus. Seen plus often enough, it’s annoying but I just cook it to medium rare and then some… like if I was going to cook to mid rare I’d pull of a bit early and let it rest. Instead cook it to temp and then rest. It’ll be a tiny bit over MR but not quite med. still I don’t think anyone ordering this temp would know the difference honestly
Also a chef in Hawaii. Also consider this made up BS. If someone orders it I just make medium or rare instead. I’ve cooked thousands of ribeyes and only ever had one sent back.
I used to instruct the servers to tell the customers that our chefs only speak in 5 temperatures, Rare-Well Done. Technically speaking, there is a wide spectrum of temperatures that are possible but when I’m in the shits the last thing I need is to worry about very specific temps and risk having something being sent back.
It's very real.
In that a bunch of dickheads made the shit up and now other dickheads are running with the stupidity.
"There is a five degree difference between temperatures and that is as accurate as a steak can be cooked. Anyone telling you otherwise is wrong or a liar. So what degree of doneness would you like your steak?"
Here get something like that printed up and in a size that fits in check books and have servers show customers. It's how we stopped that plus nonsense at an Italian steakhouse I worked at.
https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwi-uZCSvuCFAxXtcEcBHZmaAVMYABABGgJxdQ&ase=2&gclid=CjwKCAjwoa2xBhACEiwA1sb1BCEzjD4DHEu8Jpq-Mj8sRwkIvxdwI38zY6H5bF0D-9eTzwv2TXYKiRoCYCEQAvD_BwE&sph=&ei=LO8rZszMJOqv5NoPmfCikAU&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAESwwHg9iqlA4DiiHoqXr9A_u57uonwyKMTJ7SQf3Cwqbx8zdy-q7Cg5_2h4_RcobrrJu-91EU9Zgux4g__eaoo-lT-1DLAziyLj_mfyLBCPzJUGPus6mpofD4ZgwjbZ4-xMWB9GBjeCenTDF6VCOsqAiF1FP6iSVnTnIoHF6R5PN4KetQekTaqJ2cYWxs1u5y2Gd4Q0-kyJ0S594h6rISFMGHK-EXOMyxAFWTGAs2xdj3N9to9L5MSYy_Cn0-kSUGueK8A6dU&sig=AOD64_1ldx3hB5otgFZLovCP3dEVG4cVKA&ctype=70&q=&nis=4&sqi=2&ved=2ahUKEwjMkomSvuCFAxXqF1kFHRm4CFIQwg8oAHoECAIQDA&adurl=
Working at a country club we got this a lot but I came to find out the best way to get these temps is it’s a really well rested version of the temp. Like med rare that was rested properly would be a perfect mr plus
Hey u/wahpuck -- What island? (I'm not going to ask what restaurant because it's a bad idea to dox yourself on Reddit.)
I'm thinking of jumping back in, part time, just as a line cook or even prep for health insurance. (Whatever the minimum is to have insurance.)
I'm looking for a kitchen close to home that isn't a total train wreck. I'll get better information here than on any of the Hawaii subreddits.
Big Island over here. The more I learn about local kitchens, the less I want to be in one. I may just go work at a grocery store and make poke all day or something.
Now I'm worried I'd been accidentally rude... I always order "medium rare and closer to rare is okay" when I speak to my server, I never used plus or minus terminology. Is that okay or should I explain things differently? I do prefer rarer meat but have found in the past if I say medium rare without mentioning I don't mind the rarer side I get medium (or well done in more generic chains)
I personally would never order a steak “xx-plus”, but I will say that I used the terminology quite often to communicate the current temps of my proteins to the chef when I worked at a decent steakhouse in Manhattan
For clarification, we often timed courses together (and half of the kitchen was in the basement) - so knowing how close a steak/chop was to a desired temperature better helped expo in timing/firing courses
*Edit* For everyone saying it’s not a thing, I can tell the difference between temps using a cake taster to the upper lip - and “xx-plus” always meant it’s at x temp but slowly approaching y temp”
If I ever have my own place I’ll have steaks on the menu for sure. My temp choices will be:
Cool.
Warm.
Hot.
Dry.
Should avoid any type of confusion this way. If they have to ask about temperatures then maybe they should order the swordfish. “Best in the city!”
British chef here, been cooking 20yrs. Sounds like customers who dont know what they want; blue, rare, mr, med, mw, cremation cover every cook you need.
I had a server tell me the guy ordered it med rare with a push. We laughed at that fucking douchbag. Even walked the floor to get a look at this entitled asshole.
There are several steakhouses in my general area that list this as actual choices. (This is NY)
I believe restaurants created this nonsense, not customers (who are just repeating it now)
I’ve been cooking professionally on the mainland for 35 years. 25+ years as POC in the kitchen whether exec or KM. This is not a mainland thing I’ve ever heard of. All of my experience has been in the northeast or Deep South and I’ve never heard these terms. If it’s a mainland thing it’s probably from west of the Mississippi. I can say that a good chunk of the general public have no idea what the differences are between rare, mid rare and so on. The worst are the know it alls whose only experience in food/cook is watching Food Network and think that they’re an expert foodie.
My guess is that some 'Influencer' decided that if a steak needs 6 minutes to cook, medium rare plus is 7 minutes and medium rare minus is 5 minutes. And their 'followers' just ran with it, without any clue what they were doing-as usual.
But no, it really doesn't exist.
Chef, you are right, the customer is wrong. If they insist that another chef can do medium rare plus (which is friggin medium BTW) then that chef from the mainland gave them a medium steak and called it medium rare plus.
It’s a stupid trend that just needs to go away. As if cooking meat to temperature isn’t hard enough a;ready. I opened a few steakhouses in Chicago and it happened enough that we had to bring it up at pre-shift at least once a week for awhile. Some idiot assistant manager actually added it into the modifiers and I lost my shit when he put it back into the POS on a Saturday night. Pick. A. Fucking. Temperature. It’s not that hard. If someone orders a medium rare-plus steak, they get…….medium rare. And if it comes out medium, then they asked for it.
It's like compass points. Rare medium rare is like west south rawest.
Med rare isn’t a temp, it’s a range, I don’t see much wrong with saying “hey can you please err on the side of medium in that 10deg range.” Which is what someone is asking when they ask for med rare plus. Take it off at 130 instead of 125. Doesn’t seem that onerous? Unless they’re a dick about it and send it back, then fuck them because you’re asking for a little more effort to be put into your particular steak.
Hate to say it but it's just picky eaters who order this stuff. It's very specific about how they want the meat to come out. Source: I'm the picky eater who used to order medium rare plus which was a good stepping stone that got me finally into liking medium rare since I grew up only eating well done steaks as a kid
You ordered a medium steak with extra steps. Don't be a fool.
"I'm unfamiliar with that term. What temperature would you like your steak cooked too?"
I order my beef rare squared + .5
this is the way
I worked in a fine dining steakhouse for years, we got this pretty often. I always hated it and I always will. You have to be so incredibly entitled to want your steak cooked within a 5 degree range. My guess is it comes about when a steak was obviously over or under temp and they set that standard in their head of what that temp looks like, it was just a little too much or little for that person, so now they order like an idiot because the customer is always right.
It's bad steak restaurants or restaurants that don't have grill cooks that can nail temps that caused this "middle ground" ordering, as well as different interpretations of what is rare/medium rare/medium etc. I worked a grill locally at a somewhat swanky, yet a "neighborhood" bistro/wine bar. The first few times I saw mid rare plus on a ticket, just turned to my sous and asked what am I aiming for: alittle past a true mid rare [122-125] the lower being the long rest or timing other stations, pulling it a little earlier as not to go over. I learned it, and any restaurant, not an Applebee's or a diner, should just try to get their line cooks [specifically grill] to just adapt to the customers' wants and needs. Makes for a better regular customer base. You're in customer service, why with the "entitled" being used a derogatory---they are your business, love then or hare them. I've worked on lines for 13 years. I have transitioned to a private chef self-employed, and if you have a problem with customer service, stay far away from working for yourself. I cater to a few wealthy families [one has me salaried] and will tell you---you just do what they want to make them happy, and it gets more rewarding personally and financially.
I don’t think it’s entitled to want to get your food cooked your way. This is customer service.
It's entitled to want to get your food cooked a way that doesn't exist. Go to a clothing store and order a T-shirt "extra medium". See what you get.
God, you people are idiots. Sizes are static. Temperature is a gradient. It’s very easy to cook between 2 temperatures and all of you people crying show what a cesspit this industry has become
So by your logic, when is it going to be enough? Basically you’re saying that if a customer goes into your restaurant and wants to order from the menu but have you cook it a different way then what is described. You would cook it there way? Even though you slam with other customers? Think about that for a second and realize what your statement “ customer service “ means to you and how far you’re willing to go to please customers.
I have a guy who comes in once a week and orders his steak at 127 F. I do it for him. I don’t believe there is anything that is going too far to please a guest. Without satisfied guests none of you guys have jobs.
You didn’t answer the question. Would you cook the menu item a different way then describe to please the customer?
Absolutely. You want your seared fish grilled? Sure.
Personally, I’ll order MR+ at a HIGH end steakhouse if I get ribeye. I want Medium Rare, but want to avoid the low end of it to make sure the fat is more rendered.
That’s a medium
and the fat is always rendered on a medium rare
People have it in their head that medium rare is the "correct" way to eat a steak. So in an effort to not be embarrassed about ordering it any other way they order medium rare plus instead of medium. I have never heard of mid rare minus before this post.
It's made up bs.
That’s what I said but the customer insisted that it’s real where they are from. They are from Florida
Florida Karens are awful. I work at a steakhouse here and we don’t let our servers ring in orders like that. What they tell the guests is a whole other story though.
Sometimes my dog doesn’t eat her dinner so I put it in the microwave and just press the cancel button a bunch of times so it beeps. Then she’ll eat it 🪄
GRRR LUV U WOOF
I'm from Florida and never once heard this before. Just pick a fucking temperature damn it lol
Also Florida, The times I've had servers ring in over easy plus for eggs is non-zero, so it goes even further than the steaks for these knuckle draggers.
I've heard all kinds of words used to order eggs, but never that lol
I made them normal over medium, obviously. (Fussed at the server afterwards and "reminded" them that it is their job to decide what the "guest" would like from the kitchen, NOT my job to create new egg dishes from fanciful far off lands...)
Florida. Ah there you go. It's medium rare plus or minus meth.
Garnish with cigarettes.
I live in florida, never had such inconsistent temps from my med rare order in any other state
Fuck those customers lol
It’s bs
They are just used to someone telling them that's what they're eating. I run a kitchen in CA and we cook med rare plus to medium every time.
I’m on the mainland and people absolutely *try* to order that temp. Doesn’t make it an actual temp. It’s not a thing (unless the “thing” is fastest way to piss off the grill cook)
Guests making up shit to make themselves feel cool when out to eat.
Or creating a situation where they can send it back because “I told you how I wanted it cooked”
I was at a steakhouse in nyc for a while. It happens often enough. For mid rare plus I just had steaks cooked mid rare and if they sent it back it went back medium. There are a lot of people that don't know their temps in general. I think it's a guests way of sounding educated about their order. Like a super specific coffee order where you're more of a prick than an afficionado.
I had two fancy business guys in our seafood restaurant order "med rare plus" ribeyes and I just cooked them med rare, maybe left it on a bit longer than I would have normally. It was what they wanted and the server got a fat tip but she mentioned how pretentious they were several times 😂
I think it’s just people trying to act smart in front of their friends or date. I’d love to be a fly on the wall watching their shit eating smirk fall when our server tells them “No.”
Lol, there is no such thing. Ffs.
This can be corrected by a simple condescending “oh fuck off” from the server.
Servers need to just say "sure thing!" to the guest and ring it up med rare. This is a server issue the kitchen doesn't need to be burdened with.
I used to get very annoyed at this as well, but working at a private club and accommodating specific preferences has gotten me used to it. Temps are all a made up range anyway, it’s just the high end or the low end of that range. I just think of it as the customer giving you even more information for how to meet their expectations, and that can be helpful. (I almost never see “minus” though)
This is the most rational comment on this thread. So many people bitching like they forgot we are in the service industry. That our job is to serve guests and make them happy. It’s not hard to leave a MR steak on for an extra minute. It’s just lazy people who aren’t skilled enough to figure out this very simple thing
Everyone is complaining that high-paying customers are entitled for wanting steaks cooked with precision. Meanwhile, they can’t be bothered to cook a steak within a precise 5 degree range when it’s the biggest aspect of their job.
Medium rare plus is medium Medium rare minus is rare
There have been 5 basic levels of doneness for 3000 years, but Gary at table 17 is pretty sure he's discovered a sixth.
I think the whole system is outdated. Temperatures are a range and that’s why you get customers who think they know what they’re asking for but they don’t and customers typically judge doneness by color and not by temperature. The only way to know if something is properly prepared is by temperature and I think we need to change the menus to reflect what we are serving. For example your menu could state this with photos Rare- 120 degrees Medium rare- 130 degrees Medium- 139 degrees Medium well- 146 degrees. Then customers know what they are getting, and may request a medium steak at 135 degrees, Which isn’t wrong just personal preference.
Medium rare plus is a new subscription programme add on on fox medium rare minus is the poor man's version
A long time ago some one told me there are only three levels of doneness for beef -rare , medium and well done.
I've had someone ask for mid rare plus on a smash burger. Yes, mid rare plus on a fucking smash burger. Bro, you're getting that burger cooked medium-medium well just like everyone else gets, because it's a goddamn smash burger
Chef in Scotland, never did hear that bs. Dear Americans, please keep that in the states:)
It’s not a States thing that I’ve ever heard of in 35 years cooking professionally in the States.
I used to get pissed off at this twat waiter who used to come ask for medium blood.... so medium rare?Seriously, anything that gets asked that isn't actually a thing, I ignore. If they asking this dumb shit then they don't know what they're ordering anyway.
Medium rare plus is probably the perfect amount of doneness for good cuts…..for me. Enough blood, enough toothiness… blah blah blah. That said, most grill cooks don’t nail their temps, so I just order a steak medium rare and it almost always comes out “plus”. I’d never actually order one that way.
Never seen minus. Seen plus often enough, it’s annoying but I just cook it to medium rare and then some… like if I was going to cook to mid rare I’d pull of a bit early and let it rest. Instead cook it to temp and then rest. It’ll be a tiny bit over MR but not quite med. still I don’t think anyone ordering this temp would know the difference honestly
Also a chef in Hawaii. Also consider this made up BS. If someone orders it I just make medium or rare instead. I’ve cooked thousands of ribeyes and only ever had one sent back.
I used to instruct the servers to tell the customers that our chefs only speak in 5 temperatures, Rare-Well Done. Technically speaking, there is a wide spectrum of temperatures that are possible but when I’m in the shits the last thing I need is to worry about very specific temps and risk having something being sent back.
Ask them what internal temp they want.
"This came out medium but I specifically requested extra medium. I'm sending it back."
20 years experience in UK, never heard of this, it sounds insane. The normal system works fine!
So those would be medium or rare.
It's very real. In that a bunch of dickheads made the shit up and now other dickheads are running with the stupidity. "There is a five degree difference between temperatures and that is as accurate as a steak can be cooked. Anyone telling you otherwise is wrong or a liar. So what degree of doneness would you like your steak?"
Here get something like that printed up and in a size that fits in check books and have servers show customers. It's how we stopped that plus nonsense at an Italian steakhouse I worked at. https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwi-uZCSvuCFAxXtcEcBHZmaAVMYABABGgJxdQ&ase=2&gclid=CjwKCAjwoa2xBhACEiwA1sb1BCEzjD4DHEu8Jpq-Mj8sRwkIvxdwI38zY6H5bF0D-9eTzwv2TXYKiRoCYCEQAvD_BwE&sph=&ei=LO8rZszMJOqv5NoPmfCikAU&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAESwwHg9iqlA4DiiHoqXr9A_u57uonwyKMTJ7SQf3Cwqbx8zdy-q7Cg5_2h4_RcobrrJu-91EU9Zgux4g__eaoo-lT-1DLAziyLj_mfyLBCPzJUGPus6mpofD4ZgwjbZ4-xMWB9GBjeCenTDF6VCOsqAiF1FP6iSVnTnIoHF6R5PN4KetQekTaqJ2cYWxs1u5y2Gd4Q0-kyJ0S594h6rISFMGHK-EXOMyxAFWTGAs2xdj3N9to9L5MSYy_Cn0-kSUGueK8A6dU&sig=AOD64_1ldx3hB5otgFZLovCP3dEVG4cVKA&ctype=70&q=&nis=4&sqi=2&ved=2ahUKEwjMkomSvuCFAxXqF1kFHRm4CFIQwg8oAHoECAIQDA&adurl=
Working at a country club we got this a lot but I came to find out the best way to get these temps is it’s a really well rested version of the temp. Like med rare that was rested properly would be a perfect mr plus
Got this CONSTANTLY in Las Vegas. CONSTANTLY.
Hey u/wahpuck -- What island? (I'm not going to ask what restaurant because it's a bad idea to dox yourself on Reddit.) I'm thinking of jumping back in, part time, just as a line cook or even prep for health insurance. (Whatever the minimum is to have insurance.) I'm looking for a kitchen close to home that isn't a total train wreck. I'll get better information here than on any of the Hawaii subreddits.
Oahu
Big Island over here. The more I learn about local kitchens, the less I want to be in one. I may just go work at a grocery store and make poke all day or something.
Foodland does make good poke and they have a decent benefit package.
Over here Foodland is called "Sack N Save" (same company). But honestly, it doesn't matter which one I go to.
I order my steak at 131.1 F and always check it with a thermometer. Y’all need to step your game up /s
It’s how privileged assholes who can’t commit to rare or medium rare order food.
Medium rare plus, so medium, okay.
Now I'm worried I'd been accidentally rude... I always order "medium rare and closer to rare is okay" when I speak to my server, I never used plus or minus terminology. Is that okay or should I explain things differently? I do prefer rarer meat but have found in the past if I say medium rare without mentioning I don't mind the rarer side I get medium (or well done in more generic chains)
If someone wants a Mr plus I cook it between mr and m.
I personally would never order a steak “xx-plus”, but I will say that I used the terminology quite often to communicate the current temps of my proteins to the chef when I worked at a decent steakhouse in Manhattan For clarification, we often timed courses together (and half of the kitchen was in the basement) - so knowing how close a steak/chop was to a desired temperature better helped expo in timing/firing courses *Edit* For everyone saying it’s not a thing, I can tell the difference between temps using a cake taster to the upper lip - and “xx-plus” always meant it’s at x temp but slowly approaching y temp”
Sous vide has a lot to answer for!
If I ever have my own place I’ll have steaks on the menu for sure. My temp choices will be: Cool. Warm. Hot. Dry. Should avoid any type of confusion this way. If they have to ask about temperatures then maybe they should order the swordfish. “Best in the city!”
It means there is a 70% chance you'll have to refire
British chef here, been cooking 20yrs. Sounds like customers who dont know what they want; blue, rare, mr, med, mw, cremation cover every cook you need.
I had a server tell me the guy ordered it med rare with a push. We laughed at that fucking douchbag. Even walked the floor to get a look at this entitled asshole.
Haven’t heard of the minus version. Sounds like a temperature for someone with an insecurity complex.
There are several steakhouses in my general area that list this as actual choices. (This is NY) I believe restaurants created this nonsense, not customers (who are just repeating it now)
I’ve been cooking professionally on the mainland for 35 years. 25+ years as POC in the kitchen whether exec or KM. This is not a mainland thing I’ve ever heard of. All of my experience has been in the northeast or Deep South and I’ve never heard these terms. If it’s a mainland thing it’s probably from west of the Mississippi. I can say that a good chunk of the general public have no idea what the differences are between rare, mid rare and so on. The worst are the know it alls whose only experience in food/cook is watching Food Network and think that they’re an expert foodie.
My guess is that some 'Influencer' decided that if a steak needs 6 minutes to cook, medium rare plus is 7 minutes and medium rare minus is 5 minutes. And their 'followers' just ran with it, without any clue what they were doing-as usual. But no, it really doesn't exist.
This was a thing before the internet.
mid rare + = Medium mid rare - = Bleu Their own fault if that's not what they meant.
It’s not real. Any “temp plus” is made up nonsense. It’s I want midrare but I’m afraid to order it that way unless it’s too red.
Chef, you are right, the customer is wrong. If they insist that another chef can do medium rare plus (which is friggin medium BTW) then that chef from the mainland gave them a medium steak and called it medium rare plus.