My Wife Says That Eating Rare Steaks Is Bad For You - I Enjoy Them . . who's right?

Question

I bbq several times a week & enjoy my steaks med-rare & cook my wifes to well done... she is always saying that I shouldn't eat my steaks 'raw' due to health concerns & the fact that it doesnt get the meat up to a hot enough temperature in order to kill any virus or any other bugs that might be in the steak... Just wondering what everyone else thinks.

Answer 1

Medium rare will kill the bacteria, so you neednt worry about that. She is correct that well done meat is better for you than med rare. The difference is the fat. Well done meat has less fat and cholesterol than rare, (Thats why well done is dry and rare is "juicy".

Answer 2

Raw steaks do carry health concerns due to bacteria like E. coli, which is probably what your wife is warning you about. If you cook your steaks properly, however, you can lower that risk. The Texas Beef Council recommends cooking your medium rare steak to an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit (160 degrees for medium, and 170 degrees for well done). I have a digital instant-read thermometer that I use to help me out with determining when I can take steaks off the grill. Remember to insert the thermometer probe into the thickest part of the meat, away from the bone, fat, etc. Since you BBQ so frequently, you might want to look into a digital fork thermometer - its a two-pronged BBQ fork similar to one you probably already use, but it has meat thermometer probes in the prongs. Very handy for the avid BBQ'er.

Answer 3

The problem with ground meat in general is that it must be cooked to well done because of all the virus concerns. However, you state your question is about STEAK and not GROUND MEAT, I will side with you 100%. I always try to cook my STEAKS RARE at home on the grill and order them out RARE too. Keep your meat refrigerated until ready for cooking and I would feel safe eating it your way.

Answer 4

Bacteria is generally a 'surface' issue. It doesn't bore it's way into the meat when you are talking about beef.
That's why ground beef is sketchy about bacteria...much more surface area to breed bacteria.

When you are talking about steaks, you can simply sear each side and kill off anything that's on there. The inside can be virtually raw and you would still have eliminated virtually all of the bacteria in your meat.
To be totally safe, get an instant read meat thermometer. Measure the temp at the thickest point in your steak. If it's 140F or above, you're golden. Relax.

Overcooking your meat (like your wife seems to be 'enjoy') destroys most of the flavor.

Answer 5

There is a very modest increase in the risk of illness due to germs or viruses that may survive the cooking process if you eat rare or medium-rare beef. The risk is really quite low, but not non-existant. In the USA, inspection by the FDA is quite thorough, and most beef producers are very conscientious about the quality of the product they sell. You should be okay eating your beef rare or medium.
There is, of course, bovine spongiform encephalitis - so-called "mad cow disease". That's caused, we're pretty sure, by a rogue protein called a prion - and it is not killed or destroyed through cooking. We're very, very much aware of the danger, and as has been widely reported in the popular press, we are doing everything possible to keep bse-tainted beef out of your supermarket. If it is present, nothing you can do will reduce your risk of contracting the human form of bse - except not to eat beef! And I don't think many of us are willing to go that far just yet! Say, gimme a little A-1 Bold steak sauce on the one yer grillin' for me!

Answer 6

it is ok to eat your steak med-rare if it is not a chopped steak, if it is a chopped steak you should cook it all the way. This is because as it is chopping it the bacteria will then get inside the steak as were a normal steak is only cut on the out side which is where you will cook off the bacteria.

Answer 7

A steak cooked over medium is overcooked

it all depends on the quality of the meat.

Anything you buy at the supermarket should be fine to cook rare

The steaks, for instance at Outback Steakhouse, my friend sometimes eats tar tar - raw

Answer 8

as long as you store your meat well and don't let it sit out and get warm before you cook it there is nothing wrong with medium rare steaks. I actually saw a news story that said that cooking any beef well done can possibly cause cancer especially if there is areas on the steak that are blackened from over cooking it.

Answer 9

You do raise your risk of getting foodborne illness when you eat a steak anything other than well done. However, your risk is less when eating steak than ground beef because the bacteria is most likely only on the outside of the steak. You should always eat ground meat well done.

Answer 10

I am 65 years young and have been eating rare steak forever. I have heard the hype about e-coli, and checked that out. It affects children only. If our food has to be bacteria free to eat, than we are all in trouble. If you can eat it and can tolerate it, keep eating it. Foods like breads, and processed foods have ten times the health risk of beef. It is a Vegan myth that meat is anything other than good food.

Answer 11

Just the outside of your steak will be vunerable to bacteria, the inside can be rare safely. Hamburger meat and sausage links and patties are some exceptions, because they are ground up, they need to be cooked well done, 155 degrees f. to be safe.