>
> You make the argument for grinding your own meat.
>
Grinding your own has some big advantages over store bought ground meats,
but that in itself will not guarantee safety if cooked rare. The center
under cooked (rare) portion of a patty, can only be as germ free as the
uncooked outsides of the piece of meat is before grinding. And when you buy
a piece of meat to be ground, you are again trusting in the butcher/merchant
to handle it properly. Also, such meat is easily contaminated if you are not
careful with it in your kitchen.

All that said, I eat um rare all the time. Also eat lots of oysters, and I
love a good Caesar salad made the original way, with a raw egg. Living on
the wild side eh?

Larry TO