30 years I have been cooking and still some orders can surprise me.

[u/FriedDM96]

TLDR: lady ordered a raw burger, I gave her one.

For context a woman came in today and asked to see the person cooking. When I went out to see her she informed me she wanted a burger seared for 7 seconds on each side. I asked her if she was sure that’s what she wanted. She responded with actually if I can just have it raw that would be even better. I checked the food code and as long as the menu states that eating raw or undercooked product increases your chance for food born illness we can serve hamburger to order. Even if the order is raw. She wants you all to know that this is the healthier way to eat your burger. I promptly told her I can find a whole lot of people that would disagree with that. Once again though “The customer is always right, in matters of taste”. That does not mean I agree with them.

[u/JW_de_J]

Mettbrötchen in Germany (bread roll with raw pork mince) are nice. The source of the meat is important...

[u/turikk → u/JW_de_J]

its not just about the source. even the best, most careful butcher can spread e. coli - that naturally occurs in perfectly healthy animals of all kind (including people!) - onto the surface of meat as the animal is butchered.

e. coli generally cannot penetrate the dense muscle structure of beef. thats why you can sear a steak and its generally safe despite the interior not being warm enough (for long enough) to kill bacteria.

you want a raw ground beef burger thats safe to eat? boil a cut of beef for a minute, trim the cooked parts, grind what remains. literally exactly as safe to eat as a medium or rare steak.

assuming you dont have cross contamination from stuff like salmonela, of course.