Medium-Rare Burgers In The Age Of E. Coli

TIME:

Rarely has anything so small done so much to ruin so many hamburgers as E. coli bacteria has. It's not just the actual burgers they infect, it's the response they provoke, which ruins so many innocent, untainted ones.

Read the whole story: TIME

Comments

[Megandale]

12:40 PM on 06/13/2011

I will continue to eat my burgers rare!

[OMEGA MAN]

11:50 AM on 06/12/2011

Factory race to the bottom. My local store grinds the meat on site and sells it for the same or less.

[seehowtheyrun]

12:42 PM on 06/10/2011

So instead of regulating meat packing properly we should just irradiate beef? I don't think so.

[mothergrace]

05:07 PM on 06/09/2011

I will take the time to grind my own meat at home, thank you very much and I only rinse the meat thoroughly while wiping with my hands. I do not dip in boiling water.

I can make the meat as rare as I like or even eat it raw.

I haven't eaten a burger in a restaurant for some time because of the new rules. I tried ordering one in Canada a few years ago but they had the same rules, so no.

And I will never get irradiated anything.

[yappnmutt]

01:58 PM on 06/09/2011

the best burger in the world is cooked in a salamander medium rare so the first bite saturates the sandwich with all that juicy bloody goodness. since that is no longer available i haven't eaten burgers in restaurants since the new rules.

the chance of being sickened by an ecoli tainted burger in a restaurant is less than being run over in the parking lot so i wish the industry will come to it's senses and/or some insurance company offers ecoli insurance.

[SwampeastMike]

01:25 PM on 06/09/2011

My family and I have been eating medium-rare burgers cooked at home for decades from all sorts of suppliers (even if my favorite is from a small slaughter house about 20 miles away). Perhaps we have cast-iron guts, but no sickness. Most of us even enjoy the pleasure of a bit of raw ground beef patted very thin with salt and pepper.

What none of us like however, are the overcooked, tasteless things from restaurants.

We essentially live in a sea of bacteria, many of which are potentially harmful. The good thing is that the overwhelming majority of us have good immune systems--likely in part because of the time we spent as infants and toddlers putting anything and everything into our mouths...

These overblown scares regarding e. coli are yet another reason I rarely eat out and when I do, frequently comment that FAR better food, at a FAR lower prices, is prepared with my uncovered hands and sampled with the same spoon used to stir in my very own kitchen!

[InYourWorld]

06:23 PM on 06/09/2011

I hear that!

[raker]

08:38 AM on 06/09/2011

The correct response to e.coli is not cooking hamburgers until they are unpalatable, it is to regulate the holy hell out of the meat production industry to make our food supply safe once again. E.coli is not intrinsically a component of hamburger; it gets there because our meat production industry's long chain of bad practices contaminates the meat—with e.coli, contaminant that would not even exist if not for factory farming.

[redbud9]

08:04 AM on 06/09/2011

I don't eat burgers often, but when I do, I want it medium rare. If it has to be med well or well, I'll pass on the burger. Too bad that I have to risk my health to get a hamburger the way I want it.

[fishnetdiver]

07:26 AM on 06/09/2011

never could stomach raw or half-cooked ground meat even if it's fresh ground in front of me or by my own hand. just not into the texture.
BUT
you slap a sweet cut of prime on my plate it can bleed all it wants!

[hemiram]

03:41 AM on 06/09/2011

The E.Coli popping up all the time makes me really happy that I don't like any pink in my burgers or steak for that matter. To me, rare meat has little taste. I've only eaten rare meat about a dozen times in the last 50+ years, and two of those times, I got extremely sick. Some of the worst pain I have ever had.

[Michael Mann]

12:52 AM on 06/09/2011

Irradiated food could just about eliminate any chance of E. coli as food can be irradiated after it is packaged, as long as the seal isn't broken, no live E.coli could be introduced.

[Michael Mann]

12:48 AM on 06/09/2011

Irradiated ground beef can be eaten rare with safety.

[stape45]

10:18 PM on 06/08/2011

Who was the genuis who decided that "fully-cooked" meant "overcooked"? If they don't know the difference, then they have a thing or two to learn about cooking.

[CR46]

09:54 PM on 06/08/2011

Grind your own meat at home. An old fashioned metal grinder is all you need. :)

[Parkite]

01:54 PM on 06/09/2011

There are meat grinding attachments for kitchen aid mixers, real easy to clean, just toss in the dishwasher. OR you can chop/grind meat in a food processor. No expensive equipment to buy separately. OR just buy grass fed, without corn finishing, ground beef.

[colonelsun68]

07:36 PM on 06/08/2011

I happen to love medium rare burgers. But, just to be safe, I think it would be prudent to wash down each bite with a swig of fine bourbon--thereby eradicating any residual nasties!