Home ground hamburger

I have done skirt steak once and it was a tasty burger. Kinda over the top though.

Chuck is my favorite to grind, big plus, since you ground it up its great to eat rare.

I got a very small cert angus flat that had been partially trimmed. I think a whole untrimmed brisket would have to much fat for my taste. I used a chuck roast of similar weight so I got about a 50/50 mix.

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Chuck is my favorite to grind, big plus, since you ground it up its great to eat rare.

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NO! Ecoli is a surface bacteria. When you grind a chuck, you're introducing the bacteria on the surface throughout the meat. "If you don't cook ground beef to 165 internal temperature, you're taking your life into your hands, period, no matter whose meat you are using"-a quote from one of the foremost beef experts in the industry. You might get away with this for your whole life without a problem, but you're taking a risk... and not just diarrhea... paraplegia, neurological damage, death.

Buddy,

My facts are very straight. I work for one of the largest producers of beef in the world, and I'll sell about 15 million lbs of fresh beef this year. I get my facts from the best food scientists in the world.

Again, ecoli is a surface bacteria that is killed at temperatures over 165 F. When you put a steak to heat, the bacteria is killed. That's why it's safer to eat a rare steak or roast. When you take that same steak (or chuck roast) and grind it, form it into a patty or meatloaf or whatever, you introduce the bacteria that was on the surface of the steak or chuck roast throughout the burger. If you don't heat the burger completely through to 165, you aren't killing it.

In fact, my company won't sell chucks to restaurant operators if we know specifically they will grind it for burgers.

I didn't say every time you eat rare ground meat, you'll get sick, I'm saying you're taking a risk of getting sick every time. You could do it a thousand times and never get sick, but you are taking a risk and the consequences are potentially catastrophic.

They do serve steak tartar in a lot of fine restaurants, but it's not safe to eat strictly speaking. Ever notice the disclaimer at the bottom of almost any restaurant that serves meat or seafood cooked to order? "there is a risk associated with ...."

Consuming it right away has nothing to do with ecoli. If it's present, it's present. What you're talking about applies to bacteria like Salmonella, where it's not the bacteria that gets you sick, but the toxins it produces, which multiply while meat is in the "danger zone" of 40-140 degrees. Ecoli doesn't work that way. It's the bacteria itself that makes you sick.

Flooding the market with ecoli tainted beef? I think we're rather good at not getting people sick all things considered. Billions of lbs of beef are produced domestically and cases of ecoli outbreaks are pretty rare, and almost always due to product mishandled by the consumer or restaurant (i.e. rare hamburgers) Ecoli is a naturally occuring bacteria, present almost everywhere. People get sick when they eat meat that is undercooked.

Overindustrializition is another topic all together... But unless you're willing to pay $20/lb for ground meat, it's the only way to meet demand. If the world were to go back to so called "sustainable" farming practices universally, 2 BILLION people would have to disapear. You simply can't feed 7 billion people without all the technology that is used today.

I watched food incorporated and it makes some valid points. I would reccomend you youtube Penn and Teller's episode about natural/organic/sustainable food.

I eat raw oysters and rare steaks, but do so aware that I am taking a risk. The same applies to eating rare ground meat. My response to your original post was simply refuting what you said about grinding your own meat being a safe alternative to buying grinds in the store. At least the grinds in the store have gone through a test and hold procedure. I'm just trying to educate. Do what you want, but Ecoli is a bad mother fricker, and to me, rare burgers just ain't worth being a paraplegic. They don't taste that much better than Med Well.