I’ve been MR all my life and converted DH from WD (his mother notoriously overcooked EVERYTHING). I’m always amused whenever a waiter asks me to cut into the steak to check - the lighting is usually so dim there’s no way I could ever tell the difference between shades of pink/red.
^Plus, once it is cut into, if you put it back on the grill, all the juices would leach out anyway. Best to get it right the first time, which in the day of instant read and infrared thermometers, shouldn’t be hard for a well managed kitchen (assuming the customer knows what they really want when ordering ).
MR or rare for me (tenderloin or rib eye) and blue rare for dh (any thick steak is fine with him as long as it’s just been waved over the fire.)
I agree with Fireflyscout about trying to see the color of the inside of a steak in most restaurants - I just trust the chef to get it right on the rare occasion that I eat steak out. Dh got a very nice grill for his 60th birthday and is happy to have steaks at home every weekend.
I rarely eat steak, but when I do, it is medium well.
Medium rare. Ribeyes. Medium for hamburgers… I love charred beef fat - the burnt ends of steaks. So good. I scavenge these bits from other’s plates
I thought I liked rare to medium rare until I bought a sous vide immersion circulator. Now, I am a medium to medium rare and the rest of the family gets theirs exactly the way they want it: one rare, one medium, one medium well. It has changed how I cook…love it! No more over (or under) cooked protein.
I’m a fan of medium–that way I can tolerate it when it’s MR or MedWell. I like a bit of pink but don’t like the texture or taste of raw meat from any animal.
MR edging on the rarer side NY strip or flank steak, medium for burgers. I haven’t eaten filet in years, I’ve always preferred the more flavorful sirloin (and prime rib I find gross), but when I did I used to love Tournedos Rossini (tournedos topped with a slice of pate de foie gras and madeira sauce, sometimes on a crouton or a bed of artichoke hearts but I prefer it without) and Beef Wellington. I like filet rare but cooked, if you know what I mean. Nothing blue.
I think of MR as nicely blackened/seared outside, red or dark pink but inside. I think of Medium as brown extending further in, lighter pink in the middle.