"I remember something, somewhere, someplace saying that chicken and
pork had
to be heated to a certain temperature to kill the various "germs",
because
there are diseases that chicken and pigs carry that humans can catch,
but
that with beef, that is not the case (except BSE, I suppose). I've
eaten
some pretty rare meat in the past. What is the limit? I'm not
interested in
eating raw meat, but then again, I thought raw eggs were gross until I
tried
them. "
All meat, beef included, can carry serious health risks if eaten
raw. With beef, surely you've heard of people serioulsy ill, deaths
and recalls from E Coli? Now, considering how much meat is eaten and
how few people get ill, the risk is extremely low. But, it's still
there. There is a wide range of factors here to consider. For
example, understanding how meat gets contaminated is important. E
Coli is present in the intestinal tracts of cattle. So, anything that
happens in processing where that contamination makes it's way into the
meat is the problem. For that reason, if you're going to eat meat
rare or raw, it's much safer to do so with a steak than if it;s ground
beef. With a steak, any contamination is going to be on the outside
and will be destroyed with even minimal cooking. And if you prepare
raw beef, you can use slices taken from inside, with minimal outside
surface. Ground beef, on the other hand, provides a path for E Coli
to be inside a burger, where if it's not cooked thoroughly, like in
the center, it can survive. For that reason, the current
recommendation for burger safety is to cook them until well done.
Now, does that mean you have to do it? Or should do it? That
depends on you. If your a healthy adult, the risk is so low that I
would not deny myself a med burger, which is how I like them. On the
other hand, if you're elderly, a young child, have other serious
medical problems, immune system problems, etc, then it's a different
story.
Pretty much the same with other foods. A small percentage of eggs
carry salmonella inside the egg. No amount of safe handling, washing,
etc is going to get rid of it. Here in NJ, about 15 years ago, the
stupid politicians actually passed a law requiring eggs served in
restaurants to be fully cooked. It created such a backlash, that it
was repealed.
And as far as E Coli, people have been killed from that eating
everything from apples to spinach.
Some simple things to reduce risk:
Use only plastic type cutting boards for meat, chicken, etc. Wood can
harbor bacteria and is harder to clean.
Wash your hands after handling meat. Only use paper towels to wipe
off your contaminated hands before washing. When handling meat, keep
at a minimum anything else you touch before you can wash and then wash
what you've touched. For example, if using a knife and touching
meat, then wash then don't be touching everything else and wash the
knife when u wash your hands.
Keep food a min of time in the danger zone where bacteria grow,
40-140F
"On another note, is it possible to cook beef in the microwave? (Newly
single
guy here, so.... sorry if this is a dumb question.) "
Possible? Yes. But given what it tastes like (think boiled), it's
not something I would do.
