Foods

I just ate some microwaved beef that was pinkish in the center. I thought, since it's not chicken, it will be okay - will it?

I believe undercooked meat is always an eat at your own risk type of thing.  If it was properly thawed and cooled you should be fine.  Basically as long as it wasnt sitting out at room temp for over an hour I think you should be okay.

 

I saw a show where this kid almost died because he ate some raw hamburger meat that had been contaminated with e.coli...

On the other hand, there is nothing so delicious (to an omni/carnivore) as a perfectly cooked, medium-rare ribeye/prime rib/tenderloin/etc.  Rare roast beef is awesome.

I agree that hamburger should be cooked to an internal temperature of 155F -- but it may still be pinkish in the middle -- most cuts of steak are actually more tender when cooked to no more than Medium (overdone for me).

Microwaving meat is not always the best way to cook it as it can created hot spots and leave cold spots.

But, in answer to your question (my I was roundabout in getting there...), you should be fine.

Whole cuts of beef are fine when pink in the middle.  Usually whatever bacteria are on the surface of the meat is killed after the surface reaches a certain temperature while cooking, but that bacteria is only found on the surface of the meat.

The reason ground beef needs to be fully cooked is because whole cuts of meat are ground up so all that bacteria that could be on the surface of those cuts are now all ground together throughout the meat.  If the internal temperature of the ground beef doesn't reach a high enough temperature to kill the bacteria, you can get sick.

Two words.... Steak Tartare!

Thanks for your replies!

And coach & shandy thank you for explaining about internal temperature and ground beef vs whole cuts - now I'll have something to go by in the future (I'm  not used to eating red meat, as you can tell from my post).

And I know microwaving isn't the best method, but I microwave almost everything since I normally only feed myself.

I only eat red raw meat (well rare when cooked) is when the meat is free-ranged because it has less of a chance of having e-coli and other contaminations! I personally LOVE raw meat (tar tar anyone?) and I even used to eat raw hamburger that was grain finished when I was a little girl, gross right? ha ha! But I at least cook it a little bit now and all the red meat I eat is free ranged (as I just mentioned earlier) so I really do not feel guilty at all! :) 

If you can find free ranged meat... GO FOR IT!

giasbash, the likelihood of beef being infected with e-coli has a whole lot more to do with butchering and processing that it does with free-range vs. feed-lot.  it's about the meat coming in contact with feces.  so unless you know who's butchering and packaging your meat and have been to see the facilities, you're probably deluding yourself that it's any safer than your regular off-the-shelf steak.

that said, rare for me.

Get your self a George Foreman, or similar device.  I have the smallest one and everything comes out great, including fat free potato slices.   If it's not done enough for you, put it back on for a minute or two as it cooks fast.  I got my GF at a thrift store for $5.00.  I too only cook for myself, so this is easy to use and simple clean up.  Plus, it makes great grilled cheese sandwiches and really doesn't take up much counter space and can be stored sideways so it takes less room than a toaster.