Jose Suro
TVWBB All-Star
Hi All,
Back in the days of burger perfection I ate my burgers cooked no more than medium, with a wonderful dark crust on the outside. They were heavenly. You could eat burgers that did not carry a lot of fat because it was not needed, as long as you did not overcook them they were just perfection. I will even confess that I once ordered a burger tartare in a restaurant many years back.
We now live in an era where burgers, if not cooked to 160 degrees, are considered unsafe to eat. For the last 20 years, with kids in the house and being a responsible parent, I never served burgers that were not fully cooked. My kids have never known what a true, really good burger tastes like.
I tried everything in my quest for the perfect, fully cooked burger and I will tell you, there is no such thing as a well done perfect burger - same thing or worse than a well done steak. It simply does not exist. There is no way, especially after knowing what a seared burger cooked to medium tastes like. And the answer in most media is to add more fat. I like fat on meat, but really? It doesn’t work with burgers. Moist is not fatty, it’s moist – period.
This weekend my wife and I went over to Orlando to visit our daughters for college Parent’s Weekend. The weather was horrible so we stayed inside most of time going out only for dinner and such. So, I spent a lot of time on my laptop and visited the Omaha Steaks website. I never considered ordering from Omaha – I like my meat fresh. But the more I read the more I got intrigued by their processes. And then, I SAW IT.
There is a small print page on the site where they mention that their ground beef, which they sell in a box of four 1-pound packs, IS IRRADIATED. I immediately knew what that meant and I thought “OMG here’s the answer”! Ground beef is the only meat that Omaha Steaks irradiates.
You see, back in the day before retirement I set up a complicated dosimeter database for quality control purposes in the then only food irradiation plant in the US. They had a hard time keeping it going because of the stigma in this country about radiation. Truth be told, people are very misinformed. The irradiation process causes zero changes in the products; there is zero residual radiation of course because it is all done at safe levels. The reason irradiated food is safe is because irradiation breaks the DNA chains and so it stops pathogen mitosis. Ergo, no pathogens. All of our astronauts eat irradiated food from the plant that I worked with. Heck I use to take their NY strip test samples home - no refrigeration needed on those
.
So, on the way back from Orlando I stopped at the local Omaha Steaks store and bought some ground beef, plus a bunch of other stuff. While talking to the sales person I told him that I was there because I read that the ground beef is irradiated. He told me that it was irradiated right here in Florida, and I said, “In Mulberry?” And he sad yes, how did you know?
And know the story has come full circle. They are using the plant for which I developed the software. The plant software I developed then turns out to be a part of the answer to my perfectly cooked burgers, medium and medium rare – zero chance of pathogens getting in the way of the perfect burger. True, they will cost you an additional 2 dollars a pound. Worth it? You make the call. I will post photos as soon as I do a cook.
All the best,
Jose
Back in the days of burger perfection I ate my burgers cooked no more than medium, with a wonderful dark crust on the outside. They were heavenly. You could eat burgers that did not carry a lot of fat because it was not needed, as long as you did not overcook them they were just perfection. I will even confess that I once ordered a burger tartare in a restaurant many years back.
We now live in an era where burgers, if not cooked to 160 degrees, are considered unsafe to eat. For the last 20 years, with kids in the house and being a responsible parent, I never served burgers that were not fully cooked. My kids have never known what a true, really good burger tastes like.
I tried everything in my quest for the perfect, fully cooked burger and I will tell you, there is no such thing as a well done perfect burger - same thing or worse than a well done steak. It simply does not exist. There is no way, especially after knowing what a seared burger cooked to medium tastes like. And the answer in most media is to add more fat. I like fat on meat, but really? It doesn’t work with burgers. Moist is not fatty, it’s moist – period.
This weekend my wife and I went over to Orlando to visit our daughters for college Parent’s Weekend. The weather was horrible so we stayed inside most of time going out only for dinner and such. So, I spent a lot of time on my laptop and visited the Omaha Steaks website. I never considered ordering from Omaha – I like my meat fresh. But the more I read the more I got intrigued by their processes. And then, I SAW IT.
There is a small print page on the site where they mention that their ground beef, which they sell in a box of four 1-pound packs, IS IRRADIATED. I immediately knew what that meant and I thought “OMG here’s the answer”! Ground beef is the only meat that Omaha Steaks irradiates.
You see, back in the day before retirement I set up a complicated dosimeter database for quality control purposes in the then only food irradiation plant in the US. They had a hard time keeping it going because of the stigma in this country about radiation. Truth be told, people are very misinformed. The irradiation process causes zero changes in the products; there is zero residual radiation of course because it is all done at safe levels. The reason irradiated food is safe is because irradiation breaks the DNA chains and so it stops pathogen mitosis. Ergo, no pathogens. All of our astronauts eat irradiated food from the plant that I worked with. Heck I use to take their NY strip test samples home - no refrigeration needed on those
.So, on the way back from Orlando I stopped at the local Omaha Steaks store and bought some ground beef, plus a bunch of other stuff. While talking to the sales person I told him that I was there because I read that the ground beef is irradiated. He told me that it was irradiated right here in Florida, and I said, “In Mulberry?” And he sad yes, how did you know?
And know the story has come full circle. They are using the plant for which I developed the software. The plant software I developed then turns out to be a part of the answer to my perfectly cooked burgers, medium and medium rare – zero chance of pathogens getting in the way of the perfect burger
. True, they will cost you an additional 2 dollars a pound. Worth it? You make the call. I will post photos as soon as I do a cook.All the best,
Jose
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