How should burgers be cooked?

[Patman]

When I went out to Montana's steakhouse for dinner last night, I ordered a burger (their steaks are terrible) and their menu said they recommend the burgers be well done. I always thought the minimum cutoff for burgers was medium. Has this changed in the last few years?

What is truly a safe minimum for burgers? I hate it when there is charred meat on the outside of a burger.

 

[moribundman]

The difference in core temp between a medium and a well-done burger is only 10 degr. F. Do you trust the burger flinger that your burger reached at least 160 degr F? I'd never eat any meat cooked less than well-done. Anyway, prions won't be affected by any normal cooking at all, so you still might catch BSE, even if you get your buger served cremated.

 

[kenw]

A really thin cut (or burger) will go to WD very quickly. It may be that the burger is so thin that any red/pink truly is uncooked.

Always eating well done means you never really teste the steak. Medium is my preferred status, altho it can vary by restaurant. Hot pink center.

 

[Pablo]

Forget about prions.

Remember non-native E. Coli? Jack in the Box ring a bell?

Steak is one thing. Manipulated meat is another, it's the bacteria, Pat, man.

Char causes cancer. But well done for a burger doesn't have to mean char, baby.

 

[Slick17601]

I like to cook mine medium-well just in case.

 

[1 FMF]

wipe its a$$ and bring it to me. Well-done is for sissies.

 

[Larry the Cable Guy]

Steak = Rare

Burgers = Medium Well

 

[moribundman]

quote:

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wipe its a$$ and bring it to me. Well-done is for sissies.

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With the horns on?

 

[PandaBear]

as long as it is not microwaved like McDonald's did.

 

[Cyprs]

I cook hamburger thoroughly, prefer it cooked on bar b que, problem with bar b que is carsesigions (sorry bout spelling), I would prefer taste of more medium but ecoli scares me.

I now mix oregano in burger before grilling, the oregon will according to research reduce cancer causing agents in cooking meat on grill, doesn't hurt flavor either.

Ecoli will give most adults an upset stomach, many adults dont ever realize their discomfort is ecoli in mild cases. To infants it is lethal, ecoli can possibly shut down an infants' organs. We have jug of bleach handy any time handling raw burger, we disinfect area, hands and anything in contact with blood, packaging or burger.

Cyprs

 

[Gurkha]

Start with good beef, freshly butchered best, then char broiled blood dripping rare for me, if char broiling it is a good idea to add some eggs in the meat as well to bind the burger well and also add some capers for taste.

 

[moribundman]

Gurkah, German hamburgers contain all sorts of things American's generally won't consider putting in burger: egg, white bread chucnks soaked in milk, diced onion, carots, parsley, and the burger is rolled in breadcrumbs for a crunchy crust before they're fried. In fact, German hamburgers are like mini meatloaves. I've made my American friends try a German-style hamburgers, and they liked them (liars!) -- but then they go back to their bland, plain meat burgers. Philistines!

Want some German words that all mean hamburger? These are regional terms, so you may have to try out a few until they know what you want:

Bulette, Faschiertes Laibchen,Laberl, Fleischlaberl, Fleischküchle, Hackplätzchen, Hackpuder, Hackbällchen, Hacktätschli, Hamburger, Fleischpflanzerl, Frikadelle. As a Bavarian I call them Fleischpflanzerl.

 

[kenw]

quote:

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Originally posted by moribundman:
Gurkah, German hamburgers contain all sorts of things American's generally won't consider putting in burger: egg, white bread chucnks soaked in milk, diced onion, carots, parsley, and the burger is rolled in breadcrumbs for a crunchy crust before they're fried. In fact, German hamburgers are like mini meatloaves.

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because that IS meatloaf.....

 

[Pablo]

I think I will vomit now. I don't like any meat that's a loaf.....

The best thing about ground beef is meat balls. Alton Brown's recipe works.....but it's 1/3 ground beef, lamb, pork.....

 

[kenw]

amen, bro.... Meat loaf is creatively cleaning out the 'fridge before the stuff walks out under it's own power.

 

[Virtuoso]

Ground beef should be cooked to 165F (well done).

Steaks and such can be "done" (rare) starting at 145F.

 

[Matt_S]

quote:

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Originally posted by Pablo:
The best thing about ground beef is meat balls. Alton Brown's recipe works.....but it's 1/3 ground beef, lamb, pork.....

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Speaking of Alton, his explanation about cooking meat made a lot of sense to me. With a solid piece of meat (i.e. a roast, a steak, etc.), the germs that attach themselves to the meat will tend to stay on the outside, so if you leave the center less-than-well-done, you'll be fine since the outside of the meat will still have gotten up to temperature. With meat that's been ground, the germs on the outside of the meat will be distributed all throughout it, so you have to cook it to well done to make sure it's OK.

Personally, I prefer medium-rare for steaks and medium-well for burgers. When I order a burger that way, it still usually comes out well done, but isn't char-blackended either. If it doesn't come out well, there's only a very small amount of pink, which I'm comfortable with.

 

[moribundman]

Don't forget larval tapeworm cysts in muscle tissue. It's not just about killing bacteria by cooking meat.

 

[Larry the Cable Guy]

Mori,

That's an important piece of my weight loss plan...

 

[moribundman]

Is the tapeworm diet the latest Hollywood trend?