How to make hamburger rocks

[Marianne]

This might be a little off-topic, but your hamburger rocks reminded me of something I read about once. If you've ever read any of the Earth's Children series by Jean Auel, she mentions "travel cakes" that they made for going on hunting trips. It's basically dehydrated meat, berries, and animal fat formed into cakes. They are supposed to be a high-energy food, but are light weight and easy to carry if you are traveling. I thought this would be useful as an emergency food if need be:

http://www.grandpappy.info/rpemmica.htm

That's pretty interesting! And this made me wonder about bacteria being destroyed when cooking hamburger rocks or anything, really, from grocery store meat - this is a copy and paste from the page:

1.Salmonella is destroyed at a temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74 degrees Celsius).

2.Listeria monocytogenes is destroyed at a temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit (71 degrees Celsius).

3.Staphylococcus aureus is destroyed at a temperature of 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius).

4.Escherichia coli is destroyed at a temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74 degrees Celsius).
____________

I was a little surprised that the temps were that low. A quick Google search confirmed the above, but the toxins from staph would remain after the bugs were killed.

 

[Neko-chan]

Every chef in training could tell you the right temps for cooking meats. I suggest a good cooking thermometer with an adjustable nut.

However, I don't think much of this hamburger rocks thing. Seems a bit dodgy.

Pemmican though, is an old and once popular concept.

 

[patandchickens]

1.Salmonella is destroyed at a temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74 degrees Celsius).

2.Listeria monocytogenes is destroyed at a temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit (71 degrees Celsius).

3.Staphylococcus aureus is destroyed at a temperature of 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius).

4.Escherichia coli is destroyed at a temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74 degrees Celsius).

Yes but it is not that simple. It is not like all cells of <particular bacteria species> go instantly toes-up when they reach <particular temperature>. It's a percentage-and-time thing... sort of like half-life of isotopes, or the odds of winning a lottery as regards how many tickets you buy. So the higher the bacteria count in the meat, the more cells survive <X amount of cooking>.

As discussed on another recent thread I forget which, if you seriously immolate your meat for an extreme amount of time, yes it is possible to kill ALL the bacteria - that is why waterbath-canned meats that were boiled for 3-4 hrs in their jars "hardly ever" kill ya But this requires much, much hotter and/or longer than normal cooking, and people tend to underestimate it, and it often doesn't do great things to the meat. (There is such a thing as *beyond* tender )

(n.b. in some forms of cooking, there is also the concern that while the meat may all get cooked sufficiently, contaminated parts of the *cooking vessel* may not all get hot enough long enough, and can then recontaminate the meat when it's being removed)

So yeah, you certainly CAN cook fairly-yucky meat "clean", but it requires a lot more overdoing-it than most people would credit (and theefore a lot more than most will do), and there are still no guarantees, and personally I would only consider doing these type preservation methods with meat that was relatively "clean" to begin with. NOT supermarket hamburger.

(Mind you, unlike some on this forum I still EAT supermarket ground meat sometimes, but I *am* realistic about it )

Pat

 

[Marianne]

Pat, I'm in total agreement with you.

Personally I wouldn't eat 'iffy' meat. I believe in the 'when in doubt, throw it out' line of thinking.

We do supermarket meat all the time, but don't buy nearly enough to worry about perserving it other than putting it in the freezer. We eat a lot of vegetarian meals, so I don't foresee ever buying a side of beef again. Just a personal choice...