Is it safe to cook & eat hamburgers med.rare?

[Delaware Smoker]

I was watching the Food Network,they had three people making the best burgers in the world.After the judges tried a hamburger,they said that they prefer a med.rare burger.I agree.But is it safe to eat one cook this way?
Bill

[DATsBBQ]

Its ground beef, not pork or chicken. No worse than a med rare steak or steak tartar. Granted, every time meat is handled there is a chance of contamination. That said, if you grind your own and keep it out of the danger zone you should be safe enough.

[tex_toby]

The difference in steak vs hamburger is that the outside surface is the only thing exposed on a steak, and it is what is cooked therefore killing off any nasties. With hamburger, the inside could have contamination, and if not brought to temp, it's not so safe. Like Dats said, grind your own and properly handle it and it will be fine. I won't eat a hamburger that is not cooked all the way through unless I ground the meat myself.

tex

[NewBQ]

I'm with Tex_toby

While I have never ground my own beef, I always cook hamburgers all the way through!

(just my preference).

[JamesB]

As stated above, it's all about surface exposer for all those nasties to cling on to... I grind my own meat, but still prefer my burgers up to at least medium. Now steak I like med. rare.

[OSD]

They say for safety that ground beef, pork, and lamb should be cooked to a minimum of 160° internal temp. and ground chicken & turkey should be 165° internal temp.

I like mine cooked medium rare. And I agree with everyone about grinding your own meat is the best thing to do.

[ChileFarmer]

We grind our own meat so I would eat it rare. I don't but I would. I just like med. done but juicy burger. CF

[Delaware Smoker]

Thanks for the replies guys.I don't grind my own meat.I did add 1lb of ground lamb & ground mild Italian sausage,to 4lbs of ground meat.Took the burgers to 165,man they were jucy.
Bill

[mgwerks]

I agree that because of the huge difference in surface area, ground beef is a greater risk for carrying baddies as compared o whole meat cuts. That being said, having a grinder and making your own almost completely mitigates the issue. If I have to eat a burger any more cooked than medium, I won't eat it. Many restaurants will not cook to less than medium rare for fear of lawsuits. I just won't eat where they won't cook what I want.

[flame suit on]
People who cook red meat until it's brown really don't like red meat, in my opinion. It's worth rolling your own from your grinder.
I like my burgers pinkish red in the middle, and they're just fine that way as they have usually just come right out of my grinder!
[/flame suit on]

[Surfinsapo]

You can eat hamburger raw. Chicken NO NO NO...