The biggest mistake everyone makes when eating steak, according to Andrew Zimmern

Andrew Zimmern, the host of "Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern" on the Travel Channel, is spending his new season traveling around the US searching for interesting foods to try. He has a special way to serve an American barbecue staple: steak. Following is a transcript of the video.

The big mistake people make is eating their grilled beef hot.

I prefer room temperature or cool. When the meat rests and starts to get cool, all of that fat goes back into the muscles and becomes much more tender.

If you were coming to my house for dinner tonight and you said, “Please grill me steak.” I would grill the steak and take it off the grill about 45 minutes before we eat it. And I would let it rest, and it would ultimately be at room temperature. And I think it has its best beef flavor that way, when some of those fats are actually in the muscles themselves.

Sometimes I will cook my grilled steak black and blue and eat it the next day. I’ll actually put it back in the fridge, and then I let it come to room temperature. I cut out the tenderloin. I cut out the strip loin. I slice them really thin, spread them out. A little bit of sea salt. A little bit of olive oil. Serve it with some lemon and a big arugula salad. I’d rather eat steak that way almost more than any other way.

When I go into a steakhouse and order a steak, I’ll order the cut of my choice, and I’ll order it black and blue. And I’ll ask them to bring it with my first course and I’ll just let it sit there.

I know, I’m such a food nerd. How? I mean I’m horrible. I’m just — I am just horrible.

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