Andy wrote:
>
> brooklyn1 said...
>
> >>> Yes, one of the many advantages of grinding your own hamburg fresh and
> >>> grilling it immediately is that you can cook it quite rare with good
> >>> safety.
> >>
> >>
> > When you grind beef yourself you can cook it to whatever level of
> > doneness you like or you don't need to cook it at all, you can eat it
> > raw. All beef someone else grinds needs to be cooked well done.
>
> I'd suggest that is fairly untrue. The bacteria that collects on the
> surface will get ground into the meat. You CAN cook the same steak to rare
> since the outside bacteria will be killed off.

The bacteria on the outside is not the main issue, it is the
multiplication of that bacteria once the meat is ground and then sits.
When ground and then immediately cooked and consumed the bacteria
doesn't have time to multiply.

Additionally when grinding for a raw or near raw preparation, one
normally trims off the exterior of the piece of meat to be ground, being
careful to not contaminate the inner portion, before switching knives
and cutting boards for the final cut down to grindable pieces.