Muddled food definitions.

[EricKei]

Seshat : Since ye asked:

Pork is known for harboring trichonella, and chicken, salmonella -- in both cases, while it is not exactly common, it's more likely than beef to contain dangerous parasites that can make you sick. Proper cooking will, generally speaking, kill off these parasites. Beef can still contain dangerous critters, it's just that it is less likely to contain the really nasty ones such as salmonella. In other words: It's not that undercooked beef is "safe to eat" so much as it is "safER to eat" than undercooked pork, poultry, fish, or lamb.

[CorneliaMarieRocks]

NotAlwaysRight, next time you order eggs, try ordering them over easy. That's how I order mine, as I understand it, over easy is where the yolks are kind of...jellified is the only word I can think of, not gooey but not completely hard either

[EricKei]

Fried egg varieties with pix -- the ones you may want are down around #5 and beyond

http://www.breakfastwithnick.com/201...o-cook-an-egg/

[greek_jester]

For some reason that I've never researched, poultry must be cooked through.

Thanks to intensive farming methods the vast majority (in the UK, at least) of poultry are infected with Salmonella. To kill it meat has to be cooked through.

This is also why pregnant women and anyone with a compromised immune system is told to only eat eggs if they're cooked through and to avoid mayonnaise-based products (mayo is made out of raw eggs).

[raudf]

What I order at restaurants is sometimes different from what I make at home. At home, I like runny yolk, but I prefer my whites cooked. I can do this without the over easy. But at restaurants, it's always over easy. For some reason, doing similar to my way, they always leave the whites runny. Ewww.

My steak is always medium rare at home, but at restaurants, it's likely to be medium, because for some reason, medium rare tends to be rare and medium tends to be medium rare. Of course, I run the risk of medium being more well done, but hey, I can handle that.

Burgers are the only thing that is the same. They have got to be well done. If there is a hint of pink, it gets sent back for further cooking. I don't care if they say it's "Well done," pink means it's not done well. I have refused to eat burgers that aren't well done and demanded refunds when they failed to correct the issue. It only took one case of very mild (I got lucky, some of my family didn't) food poisoning to teach me to respect meat that's been ground up and man-handled like burgers are.

[LoTech]

What I order at restaurants is sometimes different from what I make at home. At home, I like runny yolk, but I prefer my whites cooked. I can do this without the over easy. But at restaurants, it's always over easy. For some reason, doing similar to my way, they always leave the whites runny. Ewww.

I, too love a liquid egg yolk, but can't stand runny egg whites. I have had some success recently with ordering my eggs cooked "Medium". Specifically, "Basted, medium", where the egg is covered after adding water to steam the top side while the bottom fries. Sometimes the yolk is gelled or solid around the edges, but I can live with that in order to avoid whites that are only solid on the surface.

[notalwaysright]

(mayo is made out of raw eggs).

Over here, store bought mayo is made with pasteurized eggs, so it's not as iffy.

Yeah, I need to have my eggs cooked. Nothing runny, or gooey. It's one of the few things which I can't deal with, (texture issues, we've had this discussion before I think) I try not to even watch people eating runny eggs. Over hard should be completely cooked, but I think restaurants are in such a hurry they take it off the grill too soon.

[Kogarashi]

Yeah, I need to have my eggs cooked. Nothing runny, or gooey. It's one of the few things which I can't deal with, (texture issues, we've had this discussion before I think) I try not to even watch people eating runny eggs. Over hard should be completely cooked, but I think restaurants are in such a hurry they take it off the grill too soon.

You and me both. I like my fried eggs over hard too, but I don't want to take chances with the restaurants taking them off the pan when they're still gooey, so I just jump straight to scrambled.

[CoffeeMonkey]

Seshat : Since ye asked:

Pork is known for harboring trichonella

Emphasis mine. While this was true at one point, it no longer is. The parasites were largely a result of hogs being fed kitchen scraps. Now that commercial farming has squeaky clean hog feed, the parasites are no longer much concern. Trichonella dies at 140, which is the basic doneness for pork.

It is safe to treat pork chops, steaks and roasts as you would beef. Mid rare pork is not going to ruin your day like mid rare chicken would, but I still wouldn't recommend it. It's rubbery. RARE pork MIGHT ruin your day, but that also holds true with rare beef, which is served below the USDA's recommendation for safe beef. It is a calculated risk, just like eating eggs with runny yolks, that will be a reasonable amount of risk for most people. Those with compromised immune systems must take more care.

Here is a link to the different temps that are safe for meat cookery. note that the time held at the temperature is relevant to its safety. It is tr

http://elearning.servsafe.com/Conten...quirements.pdf

As far as the doneness of beef steaks, here is the (paraphrased) chart from my text.

Bleu: Raw, cool center. Almost no resistance when poked. 115-120F
Rare: Large, deep red center. Spongy, slight resistance. 125-130F
Mid Rare: Bright red center. Some resistance, slightly springy. 130-140F
Medium: Rosy pink to red center. Slightly firm, springy. 140-150F
Mid Well: Very little pink at the center,almost brown throughout. Firm, springy. 155-165F
Well: No red. Quite firm, springs back quickly. Not recommended. (what the book says)

[Aria]

Thanks to intensive farming methods the vast majority (in the UK, at least) of poultry are infected with Salmonella. To kill it meat has to be cooked through.

This is also why pregnant women and anyone with a compromised immune system is told to only eat eggs if they're cooked through and to avoid mayonnaise-based products (mayo is made out of raw eggs).

One thing to remember, though, is that even the very best free range, pastured poultry will have salmonella. It lives in their digestive track and the butchering will always spread a bit, you can't avoid it. After that, any poor handling can make it grow exponentially. Chicken really always has to be cooked through... duck doesn't though, not if it's the breasts anyway.

Most commercial mayo is pasteurized... but then mixed with crappy soybean oil or canola. I make my own using raw eggs and I've never had a problem.