hamburger patties??

[Deleted]

pssssttt.... that IS cooked to death for somebody like me ;D Seriously, though, there are levels of pink, raw is still sorta, well, transparent for lack of a better word. I don't like that either. And I love grilled food...
Now what your father eats... yeah, shoe leather would probably be the best term!
I've had steaks that I've overcooked just a little for my taste, and to me it loses a lot of the taste, that's not 'cooked to death' either, it's the way you describe it.
ahh, well, to each their own and makes the world go 'round, right?

[skeetsaraidertoo]

Something else that is good in burgers is to get the French Onion dip mix or the Hidden Valley Ranch Dip Mix. The dry dips in little pouches, and mix it in with the beef. It's pretty good.

As for how rare, I like it medium rare to medium.

[qhaddict]

t-leigh, we need to get together and grill... we can enjoy our pink steaks and the art of a well-grilled piece of meat! LOL

[Deleted]

Sounds deelish!

[Mary Ann]

Mmm, rare steak! I like it rare enough that a good vet could revive it.

[tleigh nli]

So.... are there cooking grills at the gathering site?

[chippie]

Ground beef should always be cooked well done to kill any bacteria or a thermometer used to check the temperature . Whole meats are safer to eat rare.

From Food Safety (http://www.foodsafety.gov/~dms/fsebac.html)

Cook: Cook to proper temperatures

Food safety experts agree that foods are properly cooked when they are heated for a long enough time and at a high enough temperature to kill the harmful bacteria that cause food borne illness. The best way to Fight BACTERIA is to:

* Use a clean thermometer, which measures the internal temperature of cooked foods, to make sure meat, poultry, casseroles and other foods are cooked all the way through.
* Cook roasts and steaks to at least 145°F. Whole poultry should be cooked to 165°F† for doneness.
* Cook ground beef, where bacteria can spread during processing, to at least 160°F. Information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) link eating undercooked, pink ground beef with a higher risk of illness. If a thermometer is not available, do not eat ground beef that is still pink inside.
* Cook eggs until the yolk and white are firm. Don't use recipes in which eggs remain raw or only partially cooked.

[Mary Ann]

Cynthia, you're right. But while I'm aware of those caveats, I still prefer my meat very rare, and if I know of my source I've been known to eat steak tartare sometimes. (I grind it myself, thankyouverymuch. ) I still go out to breakfast and eat my eggs over easy, and in 53 years have never been sick from it. I suppose there's a real chance that it could happen, but so far the odds of getting sick are less than the odds of getting a meal I'd consider overcooked.

JMHO.

[chippie]

Mary Ann, I was referring to ground meats. The reason being surface bacteria is mixed throughout the meat and if it does not get hot enough, the bacteria are not killed and a person can get sick. Whether you grind it yourself or buy it store bought doesn't make that much difference. You don't know how the meat was handled before you got it.

If you reread my post, I said that whole meats are safer. They are safer because the bacteria on the outside is killed when cooked.

Do you remember the massive recalls of ground beef in the last couple of years?

Anyhoo about eggs. Salmonella is the main concern about undercooked eggs. The chances of getting it from a commercial egg are slim. However if you have free range chickens there is always a possibility.

Of course it is your choice how you want to eat your meat. All I did was post safe food handling practices. I was not criticizing you so you didn't need to take it personally.

ETA: Our 4-H club does the concession stand for several horse events yearly. We have to meet the same health standards as a restaurant to get a permit to sell.

[ride4fun]

Luckily I think rare hamburger is gross. Steak should still be nicely pink but my burgers are cooked. Not too much of a burger fan for the last couple decades though. I'll get a good-times burger once in a while. (they are a smallish chain and can buy natural beef) If I'm cooking ground meat I usually crumble it to use in spaghetti sauce or something. I also cant stand runny eggs, was NOT an egg fan growing up. Now I eat a fair # of eggs weekly but its always scrambled/omelety with lots of added flavoring - I still don't like the actual egg flavor .

Dorothy for super lean meat like yours you may want to add moistened oatmeal or bread crumbs as well as going heavy with seasoning. Fat enhances flavors so very lean foods need extra seasoning in general; and need to be prepared or cooked to maximize moistness.

[Mary Ann]

Cynthia, I didn't take it personally at all! And you're right about whole cuts. Since salmonella is also a bacteria, I just assumed you were including that in your caveat.

I get my ground beef from a butcher shop close to Heather's house, and they do an outstanding job. I'm not a fan of most supermarket meats, but this place is something altogether different. One of the big problems with hamburger in many places is that something previous other than beef has been in the grinder. This place does such a tremendous volume for both their storefront and the restaurant trade that I don't consider it much of a risk. Plus, they're so exacting in their procedures I don't worry even a little bit about cooking their ground beef rare.

And me, if I had ground beef as lean as what Dorothy suggested I'd probably add some chopped bacon. As R4F stated, much of the rich flavor is in the fat. I'd rather have prime chuck ground and make it a very small portion because I'm really a nut about rich beefy flavor. But unlike R4F, I like it good and rare. We'll just leave your beast on the burner a little while longer, Theresa!

[Newfygirl]

I like my steak moo-ing too!

[snaffle]

Steak rare?

me too!! me too!! and it is especially great tasting if you cook it over wood!!

eggs over easy??

me too!! me too!!
I have had eggs over easy from store bought.. restaurant eggs...and from my free range chickens..
love those deep yeller yolks from manure pickun' chickens!!

[Deleted]

Mmmm, yes, me too! We've got an organic egg place that sells small batches to our grocer, those eggs are better, I swear they are. And I love my runny yolks too (just gotta make sure none of the white is runny too.

[AmberC]

I do like eggs with a runny yolk. But yeah, not a runny white! That's nasty! I usually leave the white, really. The only way I eat the white on an over-easy egg is cut up and mixed in with hash browns!