Woman goes to wedding. Then she sees what the caterers passed off as steak

Most people who have attended a wedding know better than to expect a Michelin-star meal at the reception. But when steak is on the menu, there's still a certain standard most people expect it to meet.

One woman who attended a winery wedding questioned what caterers actually served her after getting a glimpse of a heap of meat on a plate.

In a TikTok, Laura Krist (@laurakrist2210) zooms in on a plate piled high with thick, irregularly cut chunks of meat.

The beef, surrounded by wine glasses and candles, appears cooked through. It has a dullish brown exterior and a mostly uniform pale pinkish-brown interior. The pieces look haphazardly stacked with no sauce or garnishes in sight.

The creator then pans to another guest, who looks from the plate into the camera with a bewildered face, echoing Krist's video captions: “#overdone, #steak.” Her video has gotten more than 8,000 views.

‘Do You Know What Dehydrator They Used?'

The TikTok contains no dialogue, allowing the #meatplate to speak for itself. The beef's appearance suggests it was cooked way beyond the guests' desired doneness. But it is difficult to determine how the catering company prepared it.

“That's not well done, that's congratulations,” joked one commenter under Krist's video. She replied, “For sure! Congratulations to the chef for throwing this steak's celebration of life.”

“I'm making jerky … Do you know what dehydrator they used?” a second commenter asked. The creator quipped, “I think they just went with boiling.”

A third commenter offered a theory: “That was leftover from a previous event. Shame on that venue. They took money from the hosts assuming fresh food would be served. I have seen this before.”

Why Does the Steak Look Like That?

The texture and appearance of a steak depend on the cut of beef and cooking temperature and length, which change the meat on a chemical level. According to Tasting Table, the proteins in meat undergo “denaturing,” meaning they “unravel and change shape” when heated. 

When a person cooks a cut of beef for too long, “the proteins shrink even further until nearly all the moisture within them is gone.”

The publication uses the metaphor of “wringing out a sponge.” All the fat and moisture disappear, leaving you with a hunk of dry steak.

Cooking steak for large parties such as weddings presents a problem because caterers can't cook the meat in advance. Keeping cooked beef warm for long periods of time makes it more likely to overcook and dry out.

A steak's color can give some clues as to how thoroughly it's been cooked. But the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service notes that “color and texture indicators are not reliable” signals of internal temperature or whether food has been safely cooked. 

When it comes to beef, the USDA recommends a minimum internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit for ground beef and 145 degrees Fahrenheit for raw beef steaks and roasts, followed by a three-minute rest.

So beef doesn't have to be uniformly brown to be considered safe to eat.

The steak in Krist's video certainly looks cooked beyond medium-rare, but actually determining how done it is would require a food thermometer. 

@laurakrist2210

Subplot reached out to Krist via TikTok message.

The post Woman goes to wedding. Then she sees what the caterers passed off as steak appeared first on Subplot News.