Stick it in to tell if a hamburger is safe - with a thermometer; color and poking and pieces of metal are unreliable

Posted: September 28th, 2009 - 2:33pm by Doug Powell

Sorenne did not sleep last night.

There was seemingly nothing to console her, and I was up much of the night.

But I’m getting some payback now as she enters the third hour of her nap, and decided a homemade hamburger with grilled corn and salad would make a decent lunch for myself. Coupled with the season premier of Californication on the recorderer, I was set.

Except I didn’t have Californication because I can’t tape it until tonight because Amy just had to watch and tape the season premier of The Amazing Race in case she missed a minute of the zzzzzzzzzzzz action.

And then I got this how-to-cook-a-hamburger advice by the geniuses at epicurious, forwarded by my friend Mike.

James Oliver Cury reveals his burger snobbery by suggesting those in search of a medium-rare burger – whatever that is – avoid “low-end” eateries because high-end eateries use higher quality beef and “preparation methods are superior: clean, safe, reliable.”

Guess he’s never heard of The Fat Duck.

In a linked story about burgers, the poke test for doneness is promoted:

“Medium-rare is softly yielding, medium is semifirm, well-done is firm."

 Another says he prefers the visual approach, judging by the juices:

"When they start to come out of the top of the burger, it's medium. When the juices that have oozed out of the top get cooked (stop looking red and become a bit more clear), it's medium-well."

A tip-sensitive thermometer is the only accurate way to determine whether a hamburger has been safely cooked to 160F.

Sorenne woke up before I could finish this, so I changed the TV in the background to something more child-friendly than, No Country For Old Men – Goodfellas was on AMC -- and safely fed her some leftovers.
 

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Categories: Food Safety Policy, Thermometers
Tags: Amazing Race, Californication, Epicurious, Hamburger, Temperature

Comments

huckle says:

Yo Doug, got a question for you. Last evening May 28 I went to a family get together at my uncle's house for memorial day, my aunt who was visiting from out of town was cooking the burgers and dogs. The charcoal grill was ready for her to start cooking at 5:30. I went out to the grill with her to hold the raw meat tray, and she told me that she isn't used to cooking on a charcoal grill, normally uses gas. But anyway the grill was too hot, and she thought the burgers were getting overdone, she used the ol' tried and true smash it with spatula and check the color of the juices trick. I said I would go ask my uncle if he had a meat thermometer, he said HELL NO! I will be getting all of my family a meat thermometer for Christmas if it's not too late. But, anyway my grandma thinks the smash it check is adequate also, "it has worked all these years and no one has gotten sick." My burger seemed far more than adequately done, shrunk to half it's original size and very dry. But anyway to get to the point I think I remember reading an article on barfblog about how the juices in a burger can still be red or not clear after the burger has reached the safe temp of 160F. I need a refresher on the info in the article so I can explain to people, especially my family how to properly cook a burger.

Posted on May 29th, 2011 - 11:30am

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