tsi88kid said:
Wouldn't cooking it medium rare or medium ease your minds a little more if you are worried about E Coli?
The "instant kill" temp for
E. Coli is 158ºF - so cooking a burger to Medium (160ºF) kills any
E. Coli, if present. Cooking to medium rare (145ºF) will not kill any
E. Coli. Since
E. Coli comes from fecal matter in the intestines ... it will only be present in cases of mistakes made in processing - and as long as the solid cuts of meat are not pierced - the bacteria will be confined to the surface of the meat. That is why boiling for 30-60 seconds before grinding will kill the surface bacteria - and make it safe to cook to 145ºF - medium rare. There is also a way to use chlorine or vinegar to do the same thing - I just have not found the time/concentration figures for these methods.
Remember - we're talking about ground/minced meat where the surface of the meat is mixed into the interior - not a steak where the surface will be heated above the "instant kill" point.
StirBlue said:
There is one other thing that you have to take into consideration. Many people make additions to their burger meats like an envelope of dry onion soup mix. ...
This really goes back to what we have said before - 160ºF for "store bought" ground beef - 145ºF if you want to take the time and trouble to "sanatize" the surface and grind your own.
But, you
DID bring up an interesting point ... people who add an egg as a binder to make burgers ... the "instant kill" temp of
salmonella is 165ºF - you can also achieve the same goal by cooking the meat to 160ºF and holding it at that temp for a minute or two. Of course, if you use pasturized eggs you don't have to worry about it - and you can cook a burger to 145ºF without any worry.
The color of the meat, and the color of the juices, is
NOT an indication of the temperature or degree of doneness. Meat, and juices, may retain a pink color even when cooked to 160ºF, especially if the meat contains any sodium nitrites. I'm not going to go look up all the sources - but some dried soup mixes and fresh celery, bell peppers, onions and garlic contain them.