I am a very keen cook, but always tend to over cook meat as I am always worried I wont cook it enough – this includes steaks, gammon, sausages, pork, chicken the lot really…
My main question is (a chefs response would be ace) can you actually under cook a steak that can give you food poisoning, I know people can eat it blue, rare, medium etc so assume if it can be ate blue then its fine, but thought I would get advice – I hate spoiling food because its overcooked and dry than just nice and tasty!!!
I don’t get also when it says the temp determines whether your steak is rare, medium etc – example: Very Rare 45°C, Medium Rare 55°C, Well Done 65C – 70°C – is this the heat of the pan or the temp of the steak when checked with a thermometer?
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
no, the french eat steak uncooked, the name of the dish escapes me right now though.
i love it still bleeding, tastes so good. mmmmmmmmmmmm
No, so long as it’s fresh. Steak Tartar is raw.
as long as it’s good quality you can even eat it raw.
mine take about 30 seconds each side in a pan.
yum
No, steak tartare is raw steak that is seasoned and is often served as an appetizer. Personally, I prefer my steak blue – just throw it on, count to 3 turn and enjoy! The temp refers to the center of the meatiest portion of the cut as taken with a meat thermometer.
Your temperatures are in reference to sticking the meat thermometer in the center of the piece of meat. Meat thermomemeters can be left in the meat in the oven, broiler or skillet.
Yes, you can not even get the meat to warm red center! I do not want mine cold red center! Any meat cooked past medium is cremated according to me.
I have been a ranch cook for 50 years and counting! I have also owned a bakery where we did the seasonal community meats.
It’s steak tartare – ground raw steak served with a raw egg and capers and I think fresh chopped onion.
With a good steak from a reputable butcher/store the chance for food poisoning from rare steak would be -rare.
Although you are unlikely to get food poisoning from uncooked steak it can happen if the meat has been contaminated by contact with uncooked chicken or some other contaminated food. My advice is to ensure that you do not allow poultry and other meats to come into contact. Also, avoid contaminated by ensuring all meat is covered and you wash your hands after handling.
It is possible to get “food poisoning” from undercooked steak as the temperature is not always high enough to kill all bacteria. It is also possible to become infested with tapeworms from raw or undercooked steak as tapeworms lay their eggs in meat and unless the meat is cooked at a high enough temperature the eggs are not killed. They are then digested with the meat and hatch in your intestines, where they can grow up to 24 foot in length. It is very important to check meat over before you cook it, so you can continue enjoying steak but keep yourself healthy.
Yes you can undercook steak, some cuts require long slow cooking.
You can eat it in any state from raw to incinerated, but personally, I don’t think much of steak that is served so “rare” that it looks as though a good vet would have it back on its feet in a couple of days ! !
Surprisingly, I found “The interior of solid pieces of meat like steaks and chops don’t contain dangerous bacteria, so they can be cooked medium rare.”
The ‘temp’ reading is taken with a meat thermometer from the center of the steak.
Buy a meat thermometer. Put the thermometer into the middle of the steak and read the temp. Make sure u don’t poke the thermometer all the way through the steak or u’ll be reading the grill/pan temp instead of the actual meat. U cannot undercook steak unless u serve it raw. Most people prefer their steak medium-rare to medium. Those who prefer it well-done, are the ones who have just ruined a good piece of meat. Well-done steaks can become tight(instead of melt-in-ur-mouth good) and can become dry. When u grill ur steak, do not pierce it with a fork, instead, turn it with tongs. Peircing the steak will cause the juices to run out. Once u put it on the grill-leave it! Turn it only when it gives from the grill-u shouldn’t have to force/scrape ur steak off the grill in order to turn it/flip it.
Allow steak to rest (”tent” tinfoil over steak) and leave it on the counter for 5 min. this allows the molecules (aka:juice) to redistribute throughout the meat. This way, when u cut the meat, u don’t lose all of the juices.
The temp is of the steak and yes, you can stomach problems if the meat isn’t cooked all the way
Bacteria cannot penetrate steak, it will be on or very near the surface. So if you’re worried about it, as long as you sear the outside, the inside can be raw without danger.
Steak tartare, carne cruda or carpaccio are just three widely served dishes that are from totally raw, uncured beef. As long as the beef has been properly handled and refrigerated, there is no danger. The thing about harmful bacteria is that your body will generally dispatch of them well if there are not too many of them. So by slicing beef extremely thinly, even if there’s something nasty there, it will not be on most of the meat, just on the very edge, which keeps the numbers down to a meaningless count. But if you serve raw meat, you want to cut and serve it or refrigerate it right away. It’s not a great idea to leave it around on a buffet.
You can eat it raw, so probably not. Carpaccio de boeuf and steak tartare are both raw.
In the UK, yes. In France, no.
Ask for a steak bleu and if you’re lucky they’ll take a frozen steak and give it a quick glance at the grill.
I like a steak tartar now and again, but then I know it’s going to be raw.
An ‘undercooked’ steak won’t give you food poisoning.
Push the steak with your finger, if it still ‘gives’, it’s probably OK. If it doesn’t ‘give’ you just wasted a whole lot of money!
ok make sure your pork, sausage chicken and mince beef is always cooked well done, as for beef (as long as the surface got sealed is fine, E-coli is on the surface of beef)and lamb its up to the way you like it but most people think its a crime to over cook this,
as for the temp of the steak its the heat from the thermometer.