Hamburgers – When is It OK to Cook a Burger Medium?

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When does it seem to be OK to eat burgers cooked medium and sometimes not?

I live in the UK and for many years it has been well-instructed that you cook your burger through to ensure that any surface bacteria has been ground-in is killed. I have noticed that this has changed a lot recently and I have eaten in lots of burger restaurants who cook their burgers medium and never have any issues. In fact some of them are 5-star rated by hundreds of people online and you can never find a single review mentioning food poisoning. It's also a good point to mention that I also know loads of people who eat medium burgers without issue.

I know that in the rest of Europe they mostly eat medium-cooked burgers and have many French friends who admit to considering our roots of "over-cooking" burgers to be a bit weird and I kind of see the sense in that considering how much nicer a medium burger tastes.

I mentioned before that I know loads of people who eat burgers cooked-medium but I don't know anyone who cooks them medium at home and personally I'm too scared to-do-so.

Am I missing a crucial part of the grounding/cooking process, or is it just not as bigger issue as people once thought?

P.s. This feels like the sort of question that has already been asked so please do let me know if that's the case but I couldn't find it.

Best Answer

You're right with your assumption that surface bacteria should to be killed and by the process of grinding meat the surfaces bateria mixes into the interior. BUT:
There is also steak tartare which is basically minced beef consumed raw. The trick is to get the meat from a trustworthy source, store it at low temperatures, process it in an environment which is as clean as possible und to do it fast. It's not perfectly safe like eating completely cooked meat. You have to weight up the risk of getting food-poisoned and the better food. A compromise suggested by John Dyer in terms of making steak tartare:

If you are really nervous, a trick I have heard of is to start with a really thick piece of beef. Then sear it on both sides in a hot pan. At this point the outside would be deemed safe and the interior is typically safe so you cut away the cooked parts. Then proceed to make the steak tartare with the still raw inside part. As a bonus those nice browned parts from the outside are a treat for the chef.

Since you are searing the whole thing anyway and the taste of the products after the Maillard-reaction is desirable you can sear the beef first, then mince the meat including the seared parts and then proceed as usual. No need to cut the brown parts.

For further reading: How safe is steak tartare?

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