Hamburgers medium or rare?

[croyde]

Just a quick question for any foodie experts out there.

A few times, including lunchtime today, I have been asked at various restaurants, how would I like my burger cooked.

I normally say well done but today I said medium which resulted in a moist burger with an uncooked mince inner.

Wasn't too bad, a few bits were rather rubbery but is this not bad? I thought mince had to be cooked properly.

Cheers.

[calibrax]

Depends how recently it was minced. If it's freshly done, then it's fine to have it uncooked or rare... after all, look at steak tartare. But if it's been mince for a while before cooking, then that's a whole lot of surface area for bacteria to gather.

[johnnywgk]

Had a lamb burger at Spittafields (sp) a few years ago, and the guy said
"how would you like that, rare?"

i said yes and it was one of the best burgers i've ever had.

[Plotloss]

Burgers always well. Always.

Beef, dense meat, bacteria on the outside. Mince it, bacteria all mixed up, don't cook it properly and bacteria now in your intestines.

I have no requirement to repeat the 'all exits, no waiting' episode through choice.

[croyde]

Plotloss said:

Burgers always well. Always.

Beef, dense meat, bacteria on the outside. Mince it, bacteria all mixed up, don't cook it properly and bacteria now in your intestines.

I have no requirement to repeat the 'all exits, no waiting' episode through choice.

That's what I thought.

I was once asked by a young waiter how would I like my chicken cooked?

[Mobile Chicane]

Depends.

If home-minced and from a decent piece of beef, I'd have no hesitation about eating a burger rare.

Anywhere else - no chance.

Edited by Mobile Chicane on Friday 18th June 00:07

[taldo]

Mobile Chicane said:

Depends.

If home-minced and from a decent piece of beef, I'd have no hesitation about eating a burger rare.

Anywhere else - no chance.

this.

[Mobile Chicane]

taldo said:

Mobile Chicane said:

Depends.

If home-minced and from a decent piece of beef, I'd have no hesitation about eating a burger rare.

Anywhere else - no chance.

this.

Gah! You were too quick for me. Preparing burger mince for yourself, do you sear the beef on the outside first or not?

[loltolhurst]

ecoli lives on the outside of beef which means a rare cooked steak is fine but a minced up burger is not.

[Mobile Chicane]

loltolhurst said:

ecoli lives on the outside of beef which means a rare cooked steak is fine but a minced up burger is not.

So why not sear the meat (any meat) then mince it?

Browning meat is where the flavour is.

[loltolhurst]

Mobile Chicane said:

loltolhurst said:

ecoli lives on the outside of beef which means a rare cooked steak is fine but a minced up burger is not.

So why not sear the meat (any meat) then mince it?

Browning meat is where the flavour is.

yep thats fine but i doubt the restaurants in the op's question do it

[taldo]

searing the beef before mincing would improve the flavour of the finished burger IMO.

[Mobile Chicane]

loltolhurst said:

Mobile Chicane said:

loltolhurst said:

ecoli lives on the outside of beef which means a rare cooked steak is fine but a minced up burger is not.

So why not sear the meat (any meat) then mince it?

Browning meat is where the flavour is.

yep thats fine but i doubt the restaurants in the op's question do it

More fool them.

I have an idea, which is to get a blowtorch on cheap steak to brown / de-bug the outside and then mince it for burgers.

I shall report back.

[loltolhurst]

isnt a lot of the taste of burgers the fat so would a steak be the best thing unless u chopped up some fat with it?

[bazking69]

If the last two 'restaurants' I have eaten a burger at are anything to go by, the options are either cremated or cremated, or alternatively microwaved and still cold in the middle...

How hard can putting together a half decent burger be I ask?

[Lemmonie]

bazking69 said:

How hard can putting together a half decent burger be I ask?

On a visit to the Maccy Dees drive through on one occasion I was the reciepient of a cheese burger minus a bottom bun.

How can someone not know a burger is supplied between TWO pieces of bread?!

[taldo]

bazking69 said:

If the last two 'restaurants' I have eaten a burger at are anything to go by, the options are either cremated or cremated, or alternatively microwaved and still cold in the middle...

How hard can putting together a half decent burger be I ask?

i managed at work this weekend, it wasnt hard.

toasted seeded bun from our local baker
burger relish
1/2 pound burger (steak mince) seasoned with thyme, salt pepper, touch of paprika.
emmenthal cheese
very crispy streaky bacon
rather nice lettuce from less than a mile down the road
gherkin slices
slice of a wonderfully ripe beef tomato, also sourced from a grower less than a mile away.
touch of mayo
top of toasted bun.

i took a picture on my phone but it was poor at best. despite being only a burger, i was rather proud of this creation and it sold very well over the weekend.

all aspects of it were of very good quality, and the finished product tasted divine.

how some places manage to bugger up a burger is beyond me.

[Mobile Chicane]

taldo said:

how some places manage to bugger up a burger is beyond me.

I managed it.

The steak I used was too lean. The taste was okay - ish but the burgers didn't have the richness you get from meat with a bit of fat on it.

The irony being that living in Surrey, it is nigh on impossible to find beef with fat or gristle!

My nearest source for this is Borough Market - at Borough Market prices.

[escargot]

I first tried a rare burger in London (Bluebird club, kings road). It was stunning.

Since then, provided the provenance of the meat is assured, I don't have any hesitation with cooking it rare.

[Kermit power]

Mobile Chicane said:

taldo said:

how some places manage to bugger up a burger is beyond me.

I managed it.

The steak I used was too lean. The taste was okay - ish but the burgers didn't have the richness you get from meat with a bit of fat on it.

The irony being that living in Surrey, it is nigh on impossible to find beef with fat or gristle!

My nearest source for this is Borough Market - at Borough Market prices.

Have you tried Kenneth Eve on West Ewell High Street? They don't usually struggle to come up with whatever I'm after. Worst case scenario they might have to order it in?