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Food Snob

wrote:
> Food Snob wrote:
> > Anthony wrote:
> > > There is a constant drumbeat of warnings about food to avoid, for
> > > example raw eggs and oysters, meat which has not been cooked to near
> > > destruction, fish which may contain mercury and so on. Yet the odd
> > > thing is that nowhere have I found a warning against pre-ground meat
> > > although in the stories one reads it often seems to be ecoli infected
> > > hamburger which is being recalled.
> > >
> > > I've looked (not too diligently, I admit) for stats on the subject but
> > > they seem rather thin on the ground and often are agenda driven, for
> > > example linking an increase in genetically modified foods to an
> > > increase in the incidence of food poisoning. But overall the problem
> > > seems to be quite minor, with about 5,000 deaths annually in the US,
> > > compared to about 40,000 road deaths (with presumably an even larger
> > > number of serious injuries).
> > >
> > > So I've decided to maintain the practices of a lifetime and continue to
> > > eat eggs, beef and seafood all the way from raw to well done, but to
> > > continue to cook chicken and pork to the recommended minimum
> > > temperatures. And to be sure to fasten my seat belt.
> >
> > I'm with you on every point except the pork part. You don't have to
> > cook pork to death these days. Now, I don't like it rare, but medium
> > to medium well can be nice. The concern used to be trichinosis, but I
> > don't think that's an issue anymore. I've eaten raw beef 1000+ times,
> > and have never noticed ill effects. I nearly always make eggs lightly
> > basted. The goal is getting the white 100% hard, while leaving the
> > yolk as runny as possible. Using jumbo size eggs helps.
> >
> > --Bryan
>
> The raw egg thing is pretty much overblown too. The United Egg
> Producers estimate that about 1 in 20,000 eggs sold in the US are
> contaminated by salmonella. I haven't done the math, but I think I
> would have to eat an awful lot of eggs to have a likelyhood of
> encountering two such eggs in my lifetime. In any event, it sounds like
> pretty good odds.

I never fear raw egg, but like many, I find unhardened albumens really
icky. My 4 YO does too, and I never coached him in that regard. If
there is any runny white, he rejects the eggs as undercooked, or as he
puts it, "Not done enough."
>
> BTW, I think I cook my eggs the same way. As soon as the white is done,
> I'll flip the egg just to "seal" the top side and serve. Oh...I flip
> 'em hard so the yolk breaks in the pan. And nothing but jumbos. Three
> jumbos and a pork belly is a balanced breakfast.

A low/controlled carber, eh? I agree, but not about breaking the
yolks. The "goal" I mentioned. I'm not great at achieving it,
therefore I'm barely even a good cook, certainly not a great one,
because I so often fail the egg test.
>
> b.

--Bryan