I recently asked for a well done steak at a restaurant, while my friend asked
for a medium rare. When waiter came back with two steaks, he used 「火をよく入れた方」
to let us know which one is well done. So essentially it was used as "the one
cooked longer".

I then tried to re-use this expression at the other restaurant in the same
situation, with the only difference that now I was supposed to tell waiter
what kind of steak I'm expecting (so that he could give me the right one out
of two he brought). And he didn't get what I meant.

I later asked my Japanese colleague about this expression and he claimed that
it is not a standard thing to use 火を入れる in such context. However, searching on
the Internet gives me following examples, which reassures me that waiter from
the first restaurant was not wrong:

  * 「肉にはどのように火を入れるのがいいのか？」
  * 「それはさておき、サシの多い和牛肉は、ある程度、火を入れた方がおいしいです。」

Could it be that this expression when used in context of frying meat is a
professional slang of some sort? Any advice would be appreciated.
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2014-03-02T13:17:49.153
14693
2014-03-05T13:13:18.140
2014-03-03T04:53:24.210
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question
word-choice usage nuances
Is it common to use 火を入れる when referring to a degree to which meat or any steak should be cooked?
「肉の焼き加減」is more appropriate. I am an IT engineer, we use 「火を入れる」when you boot
up servers(machines)
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2014-03-02T13:28:00.190
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2014-03-02T13:28:00.190
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answer
I think よく火を入れた[方]{ほう} / 火をよく入れた方 is understandable... but if they don't
understand it probably you could try:

> よく[焼]{や}いてある方  
>  よく焼いた方  
>  よく焼けてる方 etc.

to say "The one cooked longer (is mine)" as a response to "Which is yours?"
(Normally, you don't use the phrase よく火を入れる when ordering steaks/meat dishes.
I think you're more likely to see/hear it in cookbooks or cooking TV shows.)
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2014-03-03T06:16:41.807
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2014-03-05T13:13:18.140
2014-03-05T13:13:18.140
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answer