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A meat thermometer is an easy way to tell if your food has reached a temperature that will make it safe to eat. Undercooked meat may contain bacteria. |
Summer's here, and all over the land grills are emerging from sheds and garages.
They'll be used to cook a variety of foods, but most backyard grilling involves some sort of meat. That's even more true these days, with so many folks following low-carb diets. And hamburgers, America's No. 1 favorite on the grill, celebrate their [probable] 100th birthday this year.
But, wait.
It was only six months ago that stories of mad cow disease being discovered in the United States hit the news. And remember the e. coli outbreak from chain-store hamburgers?
Maybe you better stick to tofu-burgers after all.
Not so, said Kevin Hade, vice president for sales and marketing at Ukrop's. He pointed to the Ukrop's Own Beef program, begun nearly a decade ago, that holds ranchers and processors to higher standards than those required by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"We can trace a piece of meat from the time the animal is born until it's in the package," Hade said. "We know how it's been handled."
The government has been issuing reams of reports since January, assuring consumers that even greater care is being taken to ensure a safe meat supply.
Janet Tenney, a dietitian with the consumer affairs office of Giant Food, said her company takes every precaution to find reputable suppliers and meets rigorous sanitation and refrigeration standards in its stores.
She said consumers are more likely to fall ill because the meat was mishandled after it left the store.
She invoked the mantra--clean, separate, chill, cook--as posted on the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service Web site. Simply stated, this means hands and utensils need to be washed in hot, soapy water, raw meat and poultry need to be kept separate from ready-to-eat items, food needs to be cooked to the proper temperature (use a thermometer) and perishables should be stored in the refrigerator.
As far as hamburgers are concerned, Tenney recommended using a T-stick thermometer. The T-stick is a disposable, one-time-use thermometer that is set for 160 degrees, the temperature at which e. coli bacteria expire.
For more hints on hamburgers, the cooking and safety of, see the Virginia Beef Industry Council's Ground Beef Basics .
Once you've memorized that, grab a package of ground beef and light up the grill. And don't just settle for a charred hockey puck in a spongy bun. Be creative. In honor of the hamburger centennial, Sutter Home has upped the grand prize for its annual Build a Better Burger contest to $50,000. This year's contest is limited to ground beef recipes. See build abetterburger.com for details.
The 100th burger birthday idea is based on the presence of Fletcher Davis at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. Davis, who ran a lunch counter in Athens, Texas, sold ground beef patties served between two slices of bread to the fair crowd.
There are rival claimants to the title of hamburger inventor--Louis Lassen of New Haven, Conn., gets credit from some, while Charles Nagreen of Seymour, Wis., has his supporters. There was even another vendor at the St. Louis fair--one Frank Meches of Ohio--with a similar sandwich.
The name supposedly comes from the port city of Hamburg, Germany. Broiled chopped beef was apparently a staple there, and the sailors took their taste for the dish with them on their voyages. By the early 1800s food vendors in New York City harbor "offered steak cooked in the Hamburg style," according to a Sutter Home Winery press release.
After the St. Louis fair, hamburgers spread far and wide. America's first fast-food chain, White Castle, selling 5-cent hamburgers, opened in 1921.
Bob's Big Boy double-decker debuted in 1937, the same year the McDonald brothers opened a drive-in.
Backyard cookouts became popular in the late '40s
The McDonalds granted franchise rights to Ray Kroc in 1954, the same year the first Burger King opened. Kroc bought out the McDonald brothers in 1961, and Dave Thomas opened the first Wendy's in 1969.
And people are still grilling hamburgers in their back yards. So try some of these.
To reach LUCIA ANDERSON: 540/374-5405 landerson@freelancestar.com
