Y’all… there are elements of truth to many of posts so far. But nobody has 100% nailed it
@TedKennedy and @Bad Hombre are both pretty darn close though
With meat it’s all about freshness, quality, and handling during processing. Handling during processing being key….
You can take 2 beefs in the same processing facility but… beef #1: the kill got botched and it took 3 shots to down it, the guts accidentally got punctured, the newbie got trained to skin that day so you had accidental deep cuts and hair transfer everywhere, the cool room was full that day and the door was opened a lot leading to undesirable higher temps and a slower carcass cool down, it was summer so flies getting into the kill room are a struggle, etc….
Vs beef #2 : it was the 1st one in on a slow day. It was winter. The veteran was working that day. It died fast 1st knock. It was bled while heart still beat. It was gutted cleanly no punctures, skinning was clean no hair/manure transferred, it was chilled quickly, etc….
Obviously the meat from beef #2 is much safer to eat closer raw, rare steak, pink burgers, whatever… speaking of burgers; if it’s super fresh beef like beef #2 listed, then you fresh grind it from a whole chuck roast in your home grinder, on a burger like that absolutely have it pink or even red in the middle…….. vs:: if it’s reduced special imported beef from Walmart I’d go minimum 160 degrees/brown throughout for sure.
With meat it’s all circumstantial. So many variables at play. Fresh good lean pork is completely safe served pink in the middle at 140-145 degrees. Fresh ground beef burgers are safe red in middle (by fresh ground I mean fresh as in you literally just ground it from a large fresh meat chunk immediately before forming patties) but if it’s store bought ground I’d still recommend 160+ in middle.
I worked in a meat processing facility for a bit and butchery is a hobby of mine
@TedKennedy and @Bad Hombre are both pretty darn close though
With meat it’s all about freshness, quality, and handling during processing. Handling during processing being key….
You can take 2 beefs in the same processing facility but… beef #1: the kill got botched and it took 3 shots to down it, the guts accidentally got punctured, the newbie got trained to skin that day so you had accidental deep cuts and hair transfer everywhere, the cool room was full that day and the door was opened a lot leading to undesirable higher temps and a slower carcass cool down, it was summer so flies getting into the kill room are a struggle, etc….
Vs beef #2 : it was the 1st one in on a slow day. It was winter. The veteran was working that day. It died fast 1st knock. It was bled while heart still beat. It was gutted cleanly no punctures, skinning was clean no hair/manure transferred, it was chilled quickly, etc….
Obviously the meat from beef #2 is much safer to eat closer raw, rare steak, pink burgers, whatever… speaking of burgers; if it’s super fresh beef like beef #2 listed, then you fresh grind it from a whole chuck roast in your home grinder, on a burger like that absolutely have it pink or even red in the middle…….. vs:: if it’s reduced special imported beef from Walmart I’d go minimum 160 degrees/brown throughout for sure.
With meat it’s all circumstantial. So many variables at play. Fresh good lean pork is completely safe served pink in the middle at 140-145 degrees. Fresh ground beef burgers are safe red in middle (by fresh ground I mean fresh as in you literally just ground it from a large fresh meat chunk immediately before forming patties) but if it’s store bought ground I’d still recommend 160+ in middle.
I worked in a meat processing facility for a bit and butchery is a hobby of mine