Chicken and pork should be eaten well-done, so is medium-rare steak safe?

Review expert: Wang Xuejiang, professor at Capital Medical University

We know that when cooking meat, it is best to cook it thoroughly to sterilize it and avoid parasites. But why can steak be cooked to medium rare or even medium rare? Is it safe to eat medium rare steak?

Undercooked chicken may contain germs

During the slaughtering process, live chickens may come into contact with feces, slaughterhouse wastewater, and odors, which may cause the presence of some pathogens in fresh chicken, posing a potential threat to human health.

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Studies have shown that pathogens such as Campylobacter and Salmonella can survive in chicken. Whether it is a whole chicken or chicken filling, the surface must be heated to 76 degrees Celsius to kill the pathogens.

Therefore, never eat undercooked chicken. Not only that, other poultry meat (goose, duck) must be cooked at a temperature of at least 76 degrees Celsius.

Undercooked pork may contain parasites

Pigs are omnivorous animals, and pork often contains a large number of pathogenic bacteria and parasites.

Have you heard of tapeworms? This parasite comes from pork. So when cooking pork, make sure it is cooked thoroughly.

In addition, in terms of taste, if raw pork is not deodorized with seasonings, onions, ginger, garlic, etc., the meat will have a peculiar fishy smell, so it is also difficult to eat raw pork.

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However, raw pork is not completely inedible. People in some places in Yunnan have the habit of eating raw pork. The "raw skin" in Yunnan is raw pork. But there is a great risk of parasite infection, so it is recommended not to try it easily. You can try Xuanwei's raw ham, because ham needs to be pickled and air-dried, and these two production methods make it impossible for parasites to survive on pork.

Is it safe to eat rare steak?

Basically safe and risks are controllable.

Cows feed on grass, and their diet is relatively simple. Therefore, compared with meat from other omnivorous animals, beef is cleaner and less likely to be infected with parasites.

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Beef may carry cysticercus of Taenia saginata. After eating this contaminated beef, the human body may be infected with Taenia saginata, causing digestive tract diseases. Closed breeding, manure treatment control and slaughter quarantine in modern dairy animal husbandry can effectively prevent Taenia saginata contamination. At the same time, the cysticercus of Taenia saginata is not frost-resistant and will be killed during frozen transportation.

So, will there be a problem with germs?

Raw meat may contain a variety of pathogens, the most famous of which is the well-known E. coli. E. coli does not exist in the muscles of animals, but actually lives in the digestive tract of animals. Of course, the family of pathogens in the digestive system is very large, and there are other pathogens, such as Salmonella.

Under normal circumstances, the intestines of cattle contain these bacteria, but we eat beef, not organs. As long as the beef is properly handled and stored before consumption and is relatively fresh, there will be no problem of infection with these bacteria.

However, beef mince may be different. When beef is blended into stuffing, most of the bacteria in the intestines will be mixed with the exposed muscles. And both E. coli and Salmonella are relatively heat-resistant, so experts recommend that a high temperature of 70 degrees Celsius is required during cooking to kill these bacteria.

What is the difference between different degrees of doneness of steak?

Compared with chicken and pork, beef tastes firmer because its meat is denser. Beef is rich in fiber, and medium-rare cooking can retain the tender taste of beef, which is more delicious than well-done.

To ensure the unique tenderness of steak, steak is usually divided into three levels: rare, medium, well-done and well-done according to the degree of doneness.

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Medium-rare steak: Only the upper and lower layers of the cross section are gray-brown, the rest of the body is basically raw, slightly elastic, with a lot of bright red blood, and the internal temperature is about 55-58℃.

Medium-rare steak: There is about 50% raw meat in the center of the cross section. The meat color is light gray mixed with light brown, with a little blood. The gravy is light red, relatively clear, and elastic. The internal temperature is about 60-63℃.

Medium-rare steak: The cross-section is mainly light gray-brown, with a small piece of raw meat in the center. There is little blood in the meat, the gravy is light white, it is hard and elastic, and the internal temperature is about 66-68℃.

Well-done steak: brown inside, colorless and transparent juice, dark skin, high hardness and low elasticity, the center temperature of the steak is about 70℃.