Cooking For Engineers

sirpaul484 · Joined: 18 Jul 2006 Posts: 19

Greetings.

When I was young, I ate some tainted meat and was ill for over a week. Ever since then, I have had a morbid fear of eating undercooked meat, and I refuse to eat anything that is less than well done. Problem is, said fear also crosses over into my cooking, and many times people complained about me overcooking their meats, and telling me that it is really weird and gross for me to enjoy well done meat, comparing it to eating shoe leather.

How do I get off of my fear of undercooked meat? I do not like having to consciously remind myself to take the meat out early, else people might complain, and I also do not wish to get weird looks any more when I order my meat well done. Thanks!

GaryProtein · Joined: 26 Oct 2005 Posts: 535

Most bacteria from meat comes from the surface from handling. Ground meat is most dangerous to eat raw unless you grind it yourself and know what has gone through the grinder and that you have cleaned it well between uses. (I bet as a kid, you ate a tainted hamburger, where the preceding meat in the grinder was possibly pork, more problematic in the past than now, not a filet mignon.) The interior of healthy slaughtered meat (muscle) is sterile. Unless the meat has been stored without refrigeration, it should be fine, even served "black and blue"-ultra rare with a "second degree burn" on the surface.

If you have eaten only well done meat, you don't know what you have been missing!

sirpaul484 · Joined: 18 Jul 2006 Posts: 19

yeah. it was a hamburger I ate that made me ill. The advice you gave me is a little helpful, and I will try to eat some rare-ish meat sometime soon.. Even if it is just medium-well, I will try to take a few bites.

DrBiggles · Joined: 12 May 2005 Posts: 356 Location: Richmond, CA

sirpaul484 · Joined: 18 Jul 2006 Posts: 19

well, back then I was rather young, and I was quite picky back then. My burgers only had meat, a dab of sauce, and cheese on them.. Plus, my father was the kind of person who liked to cook meat VERY rare, as in putting the meat on the grill for about 5 seconds, flipping it, waiting for a few seconds, and serving it. I mean, the center was still cold most of the time. I guess that could be another reason for my fear of undercooked meat. When it's raw, ground beef tastes HORRIBLE in my opinion. As for the other advice, that might work as well.. I will look into it the next time I go to a semi-nice place that makes steak.

DrBiggles · Joined: 12 May 2005 Posts: 356 Location: Richmond, CA

sirpaul484 · Joined: 18 Jul 2006 Posts: 19

Well, a lot of things my father did were not really orthodox, like his eating eggshells right after cracking the eggs, and things like that. It taught me quite a bit of what not to do when it comes to cooking.

The burgers he made were made from very questionable quality meats. Typically store brand stuff that is discounted due to it's age. Not good quality whatsoever. Needless to say, I dread having to come over to his place because of the age of the ingredients in the food he serves. In all honesty, I'm surprised I didn't come down with food poisoning every time he cooked.

DrBiggles · Joined: 12 May 2005 Posts: 356 Location: Richmond, CA

sirpaul484 · Joined: 18 Jul 2006 Posts: 19

Actually, I'm up in Sacramento. Not too far from it. I'm not 100% sure if I can go anytime, but perhaps.

And yes, I was dealt a bad hand. I can't imagine how my mother lived with him for 16 years..

sirpaul484 · Joined: 18 Jul 2006 Posts: 19

I just tried cooking some meat (a large-ish roast) to medium today and I have to say, I do not understand what is so great about cooking it to less done levels.

I found the flavor to be quite different (I'm not sure whether it is in a good way, or a bad way), and the texture to be far less chewy, and more soft. Needless to say, I like my meat to be very chewy and springy when I chew it, that way the flavor lasts longer.

..maybe I'm just weird, who knows?

SirSpice · Joined: 04 Dec 2006 Posts: 95

Personally, I wouldn't go below medium or medium rare. I like the flavor and texture that meat gets from cooking.

Javaman · Joined: 09 Mar 2007 Posts: 4

GaryProtein · Joined: 26 Oct 2005 Posts: 535

You could always save the more cooked end of the standing rib roast beef for yourself. That's what I do. I love rare to medium rare rib-eye steaks, but if it is in a standing rib roast, I'll take the end every time. That's where the carefully developed crust and all seasoning is!

DrBiggles · Joined: 12 May 2005 Posts: 356 Location: Richmond, CA

sirpaul484 · Joined: 18 Jul 2006 Posts: 19

hmm.. good ideas. I guess one of my biggest problems is when I go to a steakhouse and order my steak medium-well, while my friends and family order theirs medium-rare, and they are all finished and waiting for the check, while I'm still waiting for mine to finish.. Oh well..