Category Archives: Thermometers

Hamburger Habits: Is Medium Safe?

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I’m a reformed medium-rare hamburger eater. Before I met Doug, I always wanted my hamburgers pink in the middle and frankly had no clue that this was a potentially risky habit. Now that I’ve learned hamburger needs to be cooked to 160 F to be safe, however, I rarely eat hamburger unless Doug cooks it at home. That’s the only way I can assure that the cook is using a meat thermometer and knows how to properly do so.

Tonight, though, I’m in Buffalo, NY and I had dinner with two British friends in a rowdy Irish pub. While I intended to order salad, the pickings were few on the menu and I settled on a cheeseburger with fries. The waitress asked me, “How do you want that cooked.” Somewhat startled and without my food safety arsenal beside me, I said, “Medium.” I hate well-done hamburger because of the texture, but I wanted my burger safe. How could I tell her that?

My burger came and was very medium rare looking … very pink in the middle and done on the outside. I ate it. The whole thing. And it tasted good. And now I’m thinking about my foolish behavior and wondering if I’ll get e. coli. I know that color is a lousy indicator and I know it’s not likely I’ll get sick. But without the thermometer, how can you be sure?

How to properly cook hamburgers

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The best way to make a hamburger is debatable. In my opinion adding Swiss cheese, pickles, onions, and mustard to a burger nearly perfects it. The one other ingredient? Temperature.
Cooking burgers to 160°F is the only sure way to tell that it is fully cooked. Cooking hamburgers to 160°F kills unwanted microorganisms such as E. coli O157:H7, a deadly ingredient. The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 61 deaths a year from E. coli, and thousands more ill. Ground beef was recalled 19 different times in 2007 for E. coli contamination.
E. coli O157:H7 loves hiding in the intestines of animals, such as cows. During slaughter, if workers do not follow safe practices it can get onto the cuts of meat. Steaks can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness because any potential for microorganisms exists only on the surface. However, with ground beef the muscle is mixed up and the organisms are spread throughout the meat.
When cooking, don’t rely on the burger’s appearance to tell if it is done. Many people think a burger that is no longer pink is a done burger. This is not the case as pointed out in many studies (here, here, and here). Sometimes burgers look done well before they hit 160°F.
To measure the temperature of a burger, go out and buy a tip sensitive digital thermometer. Remove the burger from the grill or stove and insert the thermometer into the side of the meat all the way to the center. Wait until the thermometer reads 160°F before serving. Add the toppings of your choice, and enjoy!

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References
Hunt, M.C., O. Sørheim, E. Slinde. Color and Heat Denaturation of Myoglobin Forms in Ground Beef. Journal of Food Science Volume 64 Issue 5 Page 847-851, September 1999.
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2621.1999.tb15925.x?prevSearch=authorsfield%3A%28M.C.+Hunt%29

Ryan, Suzanne M., Mark Seyfert, Melvin C. Hunt, Richard A. Mancini. Influence of Cooking Rate, Endpoint Temperature, Post-cook Hold Time, and Myoglobin Redox State on Internal Color Development of Cooked Ground Beef Patties. Journal of Food Science. Volume 71 Issue 3 Page C216-C221, April 2006
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2621.2006.tb15620.x?prevSearch=authorsfield%3A%28M.C.+Hunt%29

Seyfert, M., R.A. Mancini, M.C. Hunt. Internal Premature Browning in Cooked Ground Beef Patties from High-Oxygen Modified-Atmosphere Packaging. Journal of Food Science. Volume 69 Issue 9 Page C721-C725, December 2004
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2621.2004.tb09923.x?prevSearch=authorsfield%3A%28M.C.+Hunt%29

Mallie’s big burger — did they use a thermometer?

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A Detroit-area restaurant owner said he believes he has broken the world record for ”largest hamburger commercially available.”

After 12 hours of preparation and baking, the 134-pound burger emerged Saturday at Mallie’s Sports Bar and Grill.

The ”Absolutely Ridiculous Burger,” made with beef, bacon and cheese, was delivered on a 50-pound bun, sells for $350, and orders require 24 hours’ notice. Flipping the burger required three men using two steel sheets.

That’s all nice, but did they use a thermometer to acquire data for doneness? Regardless of the size, stick it in.

Use a meat thermometer

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Marc Bouchard of Hudson, the executive chef at Stellina Restaurant in Watertown, Mass., writes in The Nashua Telegraph that people may hesitate at handling raw chicken and tend to overcook it.

Bouchard blames it on the media, "with its glorified tales of salmonella we’ve been scared into thinking that illness, disease and toxins lurk in every package."

There’s nothing glorious about salmonella.

Bouchard says always keep a box of disposable latex or plastic gloves in the kitchen. Put them on whenever you handle any raw meats or fish. And immediately sterilize your cutting board and knife with a commercial disinfectant or a solution of diluted chlorine bleach before going on to any other task.

OK.

Bouchard also says the answer to the problem of overcooking is to use the sear-and-bake method of cooking.

"In 15 minutes, we had perfectly cooked chicken, with the meat cooked through but still tender and juicy. The same cooking technique could be applied to cuts of pork, beef, turkey or even fish."

Wrong. The only way to tell if meat like chicken is properly cooked is to use a tip-sensitive digital thermometer. And it will make you a better executive chef cause you won’t overcook meat.

Stick it in.

What temperature would you like your lamb chops?

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This is a first; instead of me asking at a restaurant what medium-rare means — temperature-wise — the waitress tonight asked Amy after she ordered lamb chops, "What temperature would you like those at?"

I immediately jumped in, blowing my food safety cover, and asked, "You actually have thermometers back in the kitchen?"

She said, "Yes."

I’ve been a food safety geek for coming up on 15 years. No one has ever asked me what temperature I wanted my food.

I couldn’t believe it.

The occasion was Angelique’s birthday, so Amy and I, along with Bob, decided to take our friend to the newest Manhattan (Kansas) eatery, della Voce.

When ordering, the waitress told us the meat on the menu was hormone and antibiotic free. Uh-oh, I thought, another over-priced food porn joint. Not interested.

But, the food was good and the atmosphere was great for a leisurely 2.5 hour meal. Stick it in.

How to check if a turkey is cooked: “piping hot” is not sufficient

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The Brits apparently don’t like data when it comes to cooking hamburgers, and now, turkey.

Same with the Irish.

 For the home cook, the data is the tip-sensitive digital thermometer, and a recording of 160F for hamburgers, 165F for poultry.

For the U.K.’s Food Standards Agency, it’s, "check it’s piping hot all the way through."

I have no idea what that means.

When I hear piping hot, I think of Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins.

Seriously, the best the taxpayer-funded FSA can come up with is:

So make sure your turkey is cooked properly:
    * check it’s piping hot all the way through
    * cut into the thickest part to check that none of the meat is pink
    * if juices run out, they should be clear.

Wow.

One of the great things about the barfblog software provided by food safety dude Bill Marler is that we can see what people are searching for. Since Thanksgiving, people are repeatedly searching for, "Where to place a thermometer in a turkey."

So, not only are they using a thermometer, they want to know how to do it properly.

Don’t ask the U.K.’s  Food Standards Agency.

Or Ireland’s safefood, which yesterday said it’s safe to cook stuffing inside the turkey and,

"remember, always make sure your cooked turkey is piping hot all the way through, with no pink meat, and all the juices run clear."

But here are some tips. And some pics from our Thanksgiving turkey.

Food safety guru Pete Snyder says,

If you have stuffed the turkey, you must cook the stuffed bird until the stuffing is above 150F. This assures a 10,000,000-to-1 kill of Salmonella. At this point, the breast will probably be 165F, which is very safe, and the thigh will be about 185F, which is necessary to make this muscle tissue soft.

Sara Moulton on ABC’s Good Morning America says:

The thermometer goes into the thickest part of the thigh and should not touch the bone.

The U.S. National Turkey Federation says to insert the thermometer 2 1/2 inches in the deepest portion of the turkey breast or into the inner thigh near the breast. Make sure the thermometer does not touch a bone. When inserting the thermometer in the turkey breast, insert it from the side. The thermometer is easier to read and more accurate than when inserted from the top.

And the U.S. Department of Agriculture says for whole turkeys, place the thermometer in the thickest part of the inner thigh. Once the thigh has reached 165 °F, check the wing and the thickest part of the breast to ensure the turkey has reached a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F throughout the product.

The Brits are right to say that people shouldn’t wash their turkeys before cooking them — a cross contamination nightmare — but why they refuse to advocate tip-sensitive digital thermometers is baffling. And risky.

And these are happy people not barfing because I used a tip-sensitive digital meat thermometer, and didn’t rely on "piping hot."

Science fair: Using photos to check when a burger is done

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In a more systematic approach to a visually-safe burger, three teenagers in Pennsylvania have taken an Annie Leibowitz-like approach to fast food cooking by comparing safe temperatures and photographs.  The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that:

Above a stove, the girls mounted a camera that took a picture every 30 seconds. They measured how much each burger shrank during cooking, and recorded the size when it reached the proper temperature. Aided by computer software designed to measure geometric shapes, they calculated the percentage of shrinkage for various brands of frozen patties. And then they tested the finding by injecting raw burgers with E. coli.

The principal investigator, Naomi Collipp, suggested that "It pretty much worked every time."

Interesting idea, but seems like it’s drastically more complicated than having thermometers everywhere. I do like the thinking-outside-of-the-box nature of the project though — thermometers might not get used in every kitchen and maybe a grill-mounted camera snapping pictures burgers leads to safer food. Would be interesting to see how fat content impacts their findings.

Food science cafe

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We had our first, monthly, Food Science Café, last night, and while numbers were small, I still believe that, if you build it, they will come.

As long as it’s useful.

Adrianna Deweese of the Kansas State Collegian wrote that Douglas Powell, scientific director of the International Food Safety Network at K-State, said the purpose of the monthly discussions is to talk about food safety and science in a different setting than a classroom.

Powell showed his meat thermometer to those in attendance, and said it is important to get a digital, instant-read, tip-sensitive meat thermometer, which costs about $12.

"Lots of people use it for whole birds or roasts, but I think it’s more important actually for the burgers and the ground beef," Powell said. "Ten years ago I would have never used one, but now I feel naked when I don’t – I feel vulnerable."

When he is asked at a restaurant how he would like his hamburger cooked, Powell said he responds he would like it "160," meaning he would like it cooked to 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

Food color often is a poor indicator of when it is properly cooked, Powell said. K-State food-safety research has found about 25 percent of tested hamburgers turned brown before they reached a safe temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit, he said.

"We’re always just trying to find one way to put information out and take information in," he said. "We’re just always trying to find new ways to get it out there so we have fewer sick people."

The network also has several blogs at www.donteatpoop.k-state.edu and
barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu. Powell also wore a T-shirt Monday night that said "ne mangez pas de caca," which is French for "Don’t eat poop."

"It’s had more effect than anything else," Powell said of the message.

Angela Dodd, senior in food science, was quoted as saying Food Science Café discussions are

"a great way for students to become aware of what’s going on in the media about food safety. Food pertains to everybody, and it’s a part of everybody’s life."

I didn’t really like the long table set-up. Next month, we’re probably going to do it in the on-campus bowling alley. Only place to get a beer at K-State.

Cooking a frozen pot pie in a microwave

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This is a ConAgra Banquet turkey pot pie Amy and I purchased the evening of Oct. 9, 2007 and kept in the freezer. It had the P-9 code on the side — the ones implicated in the Salmonella outbreak —  and on sale, 2-for-$1.

This is me in our kitchen on Monday Oct. 8, preparing Thanksgiving (Canadian) chicken for guests. Note the white microwave in the back left corner.

This is our GE Turntable microwave oven cooking the turkey pot pie at 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 10, 2007. I have no idea what the wattage is.

The front of the pot pie package includes statements such as:

Ready in 4 minutes; microwavable
And
KEEP FROZEN
COOK THOROUGHLY

The microwave cooking instructions on the back state:
For food safety and quality, follow these cooking directions:
Microwave Oven
(fine print: Ovens vary; cooking time may need to be adjusted.)
1. Place tray on microwave-safe plate; slit top crust.
I could not slit the top crust. It was frozen solid.
2. Microwave on High.
(Med. OR High Wattage Microwave 4 mins.
Low Wattage Microwave 6 mins).

This is the turkey pot pie after 4 minutes on high in the microwave. I was able to slit the crust. The temperature stabilized around 48 F. I must have a low wattage microwave.


The is the turkey pot pie after 6 minutes on high in the microwave. Near the surface, the temperature registers at 204 F (left). However, the temperature lowered as I moved the probe to the center. Temperature approximately 127 F (right).

The microwave cooking instructions also state:

3. Let Stand 3 minutes. Carefully remove as Product will be hot.

After 3 standing for 3 minutes the interior of the pot pie reaches 148 F. The recommended safe end-point temperature for poultry is 165 F.

This is the pot pie after 6 minutes in the microwave on high, standing for 3 minutes, followed by an additional 2 minutes in the microwave on high; 194 F.

I eat the pot pie.

This is completely anecdotal and in no way representative. However, as my research colleague Randy Phebus just posted on barfblog.com:

"Why any food product containing raw ingredients of any kind (actually, in this case the chicken cubes were fully cooked, but the veggies and dough were not) would have microwaving as a primary preparation procedure, particularly when starting from a completely frozen state. Microwave heating of this type of product would no doubt be variable, and particularly when you look at all the different types of microwave ovens out there. Perhaps the message that we should be spreading is that microwaves should only be used to heat pre-cooked products. Then, we also need to address the almost universal ambiguity in prep instructions on food packages.  What do consumers really understand, or better what do they not understand, about these written label instructions?  One other important bit…are the label instructions always properly validated for their food safety effectiveness in the first place?"

It’s undercooked… or is it?

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Almost two weeks ago Top Chef’s cheftestant Sara M. was sent home after two consecutive undercooked dishes. Admittedly, her halibut in the Quickfire challenge was raw in the middle, but she didn’t agree that she served raw chicken at the French Culinary Institute. She told the judges, “I sliced the chicken myself, and I checked every single one,” and to her colleagues she insisted, “That chicken was not $#%-in raw, cause I cut every single one.” Still, Judge Gail Simmons said her chicken was pink, and as the night went on, her chicken became raw in the retelling.

Does the chicken in this picture look cooked to you? Color is a lousy indicator of the doneness of chicken. The pictured chicken comes from Pete Snyder, meat thermometer guru, and has been cooked to the required 165 F. Sara would have had a stronger case, had her flavors not been off, by using a meat thermometer and having hard evidence to back up her dish. Cutting the chicken and visually checking the internal temperature is not a proven food safety method.

Just yesterday the National Pork Board reportedly began their case for lowering the recommended cooking temperatures for pork from the currently approved 160F. Board member Steve Larsen said, "We’ve conducted an initial retail study and risk assessment, and the science of safety is definitely there to support the lowering." How would you know your pork is a few degrees off from optimal taste and safe cooking temperature just by looking at it? Ask pork superstar cheftestant Howie. He won once with perfectly cooked lamb chops that were verified with a thermometer.