I like a really good hamburger. At more and more places I order them they are asking how done I want it. Has something changed in hamburger safety that I missed. I was under the impression that a medium rare burger was unsafe. I well remember the terrible things that happened to Jack in the Box customers several years ago. Isn’t a burger patty with a pink middle still considered unsafe?
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Not always. I've had meat from the store hitting 165 and still have some pink to them.
Also, and I doubt they are doing this, but if you pasteurize the roast by dipping in boiling water and then grind it, technically you don't need the 155 for 17 seconds minimum. -
I looked into this and it varies state by state. Here in IN they still ask how you want your burger. My response is always the same with cook it all the way through. When I visited NC last, they had a state law that said ground meat had to be cooked to the appropriate temp and customers do not have a choice.
So yeah, maybe people ought to be made more aware of the dangers of undercooked ground beef/pork.
BComment
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Oooooh mama. I had a LOOOOONG text conversation with a friend the other day where I explained to him the whole bacterial thing and how it affects meat, etc.
Yes, ground beef, or ANY ground meat, or any meat treated with a jaccard, IS most definitely contaminated on the inside with many many bacteria. However, if kept COLD until used, and used within a reasonable timeframe, the safety is pretty good. When you warm that meat up, the bacteria 'wake up' and start reproducing, trying to reach that magic number they need to build up to make people sick.
E.coli strains, btw, can make people sick at much much much lower numbers than some other bacteria. Just so you know.
If the burger and the meat it was made with were ground in good, sanitary conditions, and the ground meat was kept very cold AND it isn't too old (bacteria will STILL grow, even below 40ºF, just much much slower), then you're probably ok. You CAN actually eat RAW ground beef - but you're taking your chances, of course.
Steak, it's not a big deal, searing kills anything on the outside, and the inside doesn't really have bacteria in it (unless someone hit it with a jaccard).
So yes, you can get a medium or medium rare burger, but just realize you are trusting your life to the competency and conscientiousness of every single person in the chain who has handled that meat.
Enjoy!
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The whole jacard blade tenderizing thing is why I stopped buying steaks at Costco, back when I still had a Costco membership. I know we had many discussions about it on the Pit back then, and someone here had a tour and conversation with Costco on the topic, and saw how they cleaned their blade tenderizer. I still don't like the idea though.
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I don't trust any hamburger that's not medium-well to well. I don't like to see pink in the middle. A slight (and I mean slight) hint of pink? Ok, I'll probably eat it. If I order a big thick burger, if they don't cut it in half for you, I cut it. I want to see inside, thank you very much.
And no, I don't think hamburger (or any ground meat for that matter) safety has changed. Customers are just dumb if they order it that way, and I'm pretty sure Wendy the waitress (or Walter the waiter) has no clue either, which is why they ask in the first place.Comment
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Guarantee you Wendy and Walter these days have little to no clue. These folks can't even make change using a calculator. They depend entirely on the computer to do it for them - and they hope no one pays with cash, because they can't physically count it out, even if the computer tells them how much.
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Most of the "burger meat" is suspect at most of the Chainfrise community. Culver's, Five Guys and Habit being an exception according to a recent study I saw. Even the store bought stuff is highly suspect with Costco being another exception, Sam's was not in this test but Walmart, Kroger and other stupid markets were in the mix. Unless I'm gettin it from my butcher and grinding it myself I'm havin it cooked thru and thru.Comment
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Growing up, when making hamburgers, my mom would give me some raw meat balled up, sprinkled with salt. It was great. We always had rare to medium rare burgers at home. Were we just lucky, ignorant of the health issues or has meat changed over the years? Last time I had raw meat was some Bison Tartare in Wyoming last July.Comment
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Some places here in NC will cook it to order. I used to get medium rare but switched to medium over the years. It still has a hint of pink to it and plenty juicy. A dry burger is definitely not something I want to eat.Comment
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I pretty much go with medium-well on a burger if asked, due to the entire food safety thing with ground meat.Comment
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Chain smoking, vaping, driving home after several drinks, motorcycling w/o helmets-- most humans simply do not care about health risks as long as they can do what they wish at any moment. So a juicier cheeseburger is low on the "nope, better safe than sorry" list for many. As Jerry Seinfeld once said, "Dry clean only" is the only warning anyone respects.Comment
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I grind my own beef/venison blend in bulk and divide and freeze it until I need it. I feel comfortable with medium to medium well burgers that I make with it. I control sanitation, grinding, vacuum packing, cleaning, etc.
I will not do pink in the middle of burgers in restaurants or with store bought ground meat.Comment
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I never buy ground beef. I see ground beef recalls at least three times a year. So I always grind my own beef at home. When I buy a hamburger from the local chains, it is always well done. I know I am still rolling the dice with hamburgers made outside the home, but I don't eat that many (maybe twice a month). So I'll take my chances.
Because we all know, or should know, that there is food poisoning and food infection. A well done burger can still get you sick through infection.Comment
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I sous vide our burgers at home, at 145°, leaving them in the water bath until they are pasteurized. Then I sear them off. They're always delicious and juicy, and have a good texture. I first started sous viding/pasteurizing them at 140°, but the texture of the burger was pretty raw, a real turnoff for the family. They stopped complaining when I started sous viding them at 145° instead.
Last night I got a double smashburger from a local restaurant. One burger was fine, the other had some pink, which is the first I've seen pink in burger meat at that restaurant in years. To me, it all comes down to who's flipping that burger, how safe the bite is.
KathrynComment
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I understand that we've been lucky over the years. I like my burger true medium, and my wife likes medium rare. I've also eaten my share of tiger/cannibal/whatever sandwiches over the years. I would rather have something else than eat a well-done burger. I am liking the sous vide idea fzxdoc mentioned above.Comment
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