Food safety

SpazHappy

I'm cooking small pieces of meat, about 1/2 ounce each, on a skillet. But the meat cooks very fast (within seconds) and I'm worried its not enough time to kill the bacteria within. Could these fast cooking times result in food poisoning or do bacteria die instantly?

Zeon

If its cooking through, the bacteria is dead.

If its still raw on the inside, then you run the risk. What kind of meat is it? Unless its really really thinly sliced i have a hard time believing it cooks through in seconds... Maybe try turning down the heat on the pan?

Spudge

Definitely turn it down if you're worried about it. It's always better to err on the side of caution if you're unsure about the meat

SpazHappy

The meat is beef, thinly sliced into shapes.

Burtletoy

Beef doesn't really have that many problems with it to begin with. There is a reason you can order beef "Raw" but not pork or chicken. But, if it is cooked through, then it is cooked to the temp that it needs to be to kill stuff. Time doesn't have anything to do with it.

DoctorArch

From the BBC:

The study concluded that rare steak can be produced safely provided that food poisoning bacteria are not reintroduced by contaminated utensils.
The Meat and Livestock Commission said there should no longer be any doubt over the safety of rare steak - a claim supported by advice issued by the Food Standards Agency.
Its guidelines state that whole cuts of meat, such as steaks, cutlets and joints, are only ever contaminated by bacteria on the outside of the meat, which are destroyed during cooking even if the middle of the meat is pink, or rare.
In the case of minced-meat products such as burgers and sausages, bacteria are spread throughout the product during manufacture.
These products should be cooked until they are piping hot throughout, with no pink meat left and any juices running clear, it says.
The agency also stresses the importance of keeping utensils clean while cooking any type of meat, to ensure that bacteria are not spread from raw to cooked foods.

As an additional general rule for your own good health, try to only buy ground beef from shops that produce the ground beef themselves from the other meat remnants.

Fagatron

But rare burgers are delicious.

Mcben

Hi Mate

it's not advisable to cook fast as the bacteria might be present and moreover the cooked food won't look to be tasty to have and more consumption of gas or electric power will be utilized.

Hevach

Just turn the heat down. Thin meat will cook fast on high, but aside from bacteria there's all kinds of other reasons to cook on lower heat. Medium is always good enough. On most stoves, you can cook a nice big steak on low (on mine I can manage it on warm, it just takes all afternoon), but that's taking it to the extreme.

Bacteria aside, you'll get a more even result. Less little burned spots (old electric stove and cheap Wal Mart cookware, I got this a lot between hot spots and flaws in the pan), less problems with the middle not cooking through with thicker meat.

I was a bachelor for years. I know how it is. You just want to be eating. It makes a lot of sense to just crank the burner up and finish it. I used to make by burgers thinner than McDonalds so they'd cook even, and I even split my sausage links lengthwise to cook the middles.

Best thing I ever did for my eating habits was to just calm the hell down and turn the fire down off the Armageddon setting. It helps to start cooking when you start feeling a little bit hungry instead of waiting until you actually want to eat. The hungrier you are, the less patient you are. You'll be ready to eat by the time you're done.

DusT_HounD

Definitely the time taken is not too critical, since if you're able to cook all the way through the meat, bacteria are going to be killed by then, even if it's short. Temperature is the limiting factor here, not time.

Furthermore, if the meat is sliced rather than ground, and unless the cow was pretty sick, or you've been keeping the meat in extremely unsanitary conditions, any bacteria will be on the outside, rather than inside of the slices, so will be the first things to be exposed to the high-temperature cooking surface.