"Jean B." wrote:
>
> Omelet wrote:
> > In article >,
> > "brooklyn1" > wrote:
> >
> >>> mind you he taught me the eating pleasure of a blue steak.
> >> The interior of mammal muscle is sterile, with proper food handling there is
> >> no reason a steak can't be eaten dead raw... it's ground meat that requires
> >> more vigilence... if you grind your own meat you can eat raw burgers.
> >
> > Absolutely, totally and completely agree!!!
> > This is pure science.
>
> I disagree to some extent. If you get a cut of meat, the exterior
> could be contaminated. Thus, if you grind your own meat, you
> could have some of that contamination in it. Steaks, yes. Cook
> the exterior (assuming you haven't pricked, beaten, etc. the
> meat), and the interior would be fine. Of course, then I start
> thinking of prions, but...

Two flaws in your theory...

1. Yes, the exterior could have contamination, which is why you
carefully trim a small amount off the exterior first before changing
cutting boards and knives if you're going to do a raw or nearly raw
preparation.

2. The exterior may be contaminated, but that contamination is at a
pretty low level and when you're grinding meat to immediately cook it is
irrelevant since it will not get any time to multiply to dangerous
levels on all that new surface area, unlike store ground meat which sits
ground and uncooked for hours-days.

The less of time for all the newly exposed surfaces to oxidize when you
grind meat fresh and cook it immediately is responsible in large part
for the much better taste.