Pittsburgh rare facts for kids

A Pittsburgh rare steak is a special way to cook meat. It means the steak is cooked very quickly at a super high temperature. This makes the outside of the steak look burned or "charred." But the inside stays very rare, almost raw.

People like their steaks cooked this way for different reasons. Some want it more charred, others less. The inside can be more or less rare too. This cooking style is called "Pittsburgh rare" in some parts of the Midwest and East Coast of the United States. In Pittsburgh itself, people often call it black and blue. Another name for a similar style is Chicago-style rare.

How Did "Pittsburgh Rare" Get Its Name?

There are a few fun stories about where the name "Pittsburgh rare" came from. Many of these stories connect to Pittsburgh's history as a big industrial city.

Steel Mill Stories

One popular story says the term started with steelworkers in Pittsburgh. These workers did very hard jobs and needed a lot of energy. They had only 30 minutes for lunch!

The blast furnaces in the mills were incredibly hot, over 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit (about 1,100 degrees Celsius). Workers would quickly cook their steaks by throwing them against the side of these super-hot furnaces. The steak would get seared instantly on the outside but stay raw inside. This quick cooking method gave them a hot meal fast.

Another version of this story says workers would cook steaks on a cooling piece of steel. The steel was still so hot that it would burn the outside of the steak right away. This made it impossible to cook the inside much, keeping it rare.

Restaurant Stories

Another story suggests the name came from a Pittsburgh restaurant. A cook accidentally burned the outside of a steak. To explain it, the cook said it was "Pittsburgh style." This made the mistake sound like a special way of cooking!

Some people even say the original method involved searing the meat with a welding torch. While it's not known if this is true, it adds to the legend of this unique cooking style.

Where Is "Pittsburgh Rare" Used Today?

Today, many restaurant guests use the term "Pittsburgh" to ask for a steak that is extra charred on the outside. They might want it rare inside, or they might want a different level of doneness. The "Pittsburgh" part mainly refers to that very dark, crispy outside.

There's even a restaurant chain in the Minneapolis area called Pittsburgh Blue. It's a steakhouse that focuses on this type of cooking. Their menu explains that the name comes from the steelworker stories. They often call this style "Pittsburgh Blue" or "black and blue." "Black" refers to the charred outside, and "blue" refers to the very rare, almost blue-ish interior of the steak.