Many burger restaurants now serve their patties medium rare, leaving some uncertain about the food safety guidelines around burgers. Are there any risks involved in eating a pink burger at a restaurant? And if there aren’t, can you serve them medium rare at home, too?
We took a look at the UK food safety guidelines, to find out what the official advice is and what temperature it’s safe to cook burgers to.
Can you eat burgers medium rare?
No, it is not safe to eat medium rare burgers. Ground beef should always be cooked thoroughly, whether it is used in meatballs, burgers or spaghetti bolognese.
Minced beef is not the same as steak, and must be cooked all the way through to eliminate the risk of food poisoning. Even if it’s good quality mince.
Why ground beef is different to steak
For steaks, harmful bacteria is only carried on the outside of the meat. So, once seared, it is safe to consume. Because minced beef has been ground, the bacteria from the outside of the meat is spread throughout all of the mince before being shaped into a patty. Therefore, it needs to be heated thoroughly all the way through in order to kill all of the bacteria and prevent food poisoning.
This applies to all burgers, even if they are made from good quality or expensive meat.
Why do some restaurants serve medium rare burgers?
Some restaurants are able to put strict controls in place over the production and preparation of their burgers, significantly reducing the risk of harmful bacteria.
However, it’s important to remember that there is still a risk involved when eating an undercooked burger from a restaurant, even with strict controls in place.
The Food Standards Agency recommends that anyone who is vulnerable to food poisoning should only choose burgers that have been cooked thoroughly. This includes:
- children
- people aged 65 or over
- people who are pregnant
- people with a weakened immune system
Safe burger temperature
The safe burger temperature in the UK is 70 °C for two minutes or equivalent. This means the meat should be held at this temperature for two minutes. Alternatively, it could be held at 75 °C for 30 seconds, or 80 °C for six seconds. After this time, you can be confident any bacteria has been destroyed.
This temperature and time combination is standard advice across the UK for most meats, including poultry. The exceptions are steaks or joints of red meat, pork roasts and fish. See our temperature chart for a full guide to food cooking temperatures.
How to check if your burger is cooked
The easiest way to check that your burger is safely cooked, whilst still nice and juicy, is to use an instant-read thermometer probe. A regular meat probe, like our renowned Thermapen food thermometer, is great for quickly checking the internal temperature of any meat, including burgers.
If cooking thinner patties, you might prefer to choose a specialised burger probe, to ensure you get an accurate reading from the centre of the patty. Our Thermapen Burger Probe is perfect for this, or we have a Burger Temperature Probe with a type K connector, ideal for pairing with thermocouple instruments.
You might also like:
Are We Overcooking Chicken? A Temperature Vs Time Investigation
How to Use a Food Thermometer Accurately
The Ultimate Digital Thermometer Guide — Types, Features & Probes
FAQs
But for real meat lovers, 140°F is still too high. The fact of the matter is you can actually safely grill and eat a moist juicy hamburger at 130°F internal temperature (medium rare) if you bypass what Bruce Aidells calls “the germ-filled environment of the butcher shop or packinghouse” altogether.
Is it okay to eat hamburgers a little pink? ›
Because doneness and safety cannot be judged by color, it is very important to use a food thermometer when cooking ground beef. To be sure all harmful bacteria are destroyed, cook all ground beef products to an internal temperature of 160 °F throughout. Ground beef can be pink inside after it is safely cooked.
Is burger Safe at 145? ›
Though any temperature under 160 F/71 C or 165 F/ 74 C for ground poultry—is not considered safe for ground meat, here is a list of cooking times for varying degrees of doneness for burgers: Rare: 120-125 F. Medium-Rare: 130-135 F. Medium: 140-145 F.
What is the perfect temperature for a medium rare burger? ›
Medium Rare Burger Temp
A medium-rare burger's internal temperature typically reaches between 130 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit before being cooked. These burgers are usually cooked for around five minutes in total before reaching the desired internal temperature.
How rare is too rare for a burger? ›
Then bring the internal temperature up to 120-125°F (rare), 125-130°F (medium rare), or 135-140°F. To safely eat ground beef, an internal temperature of 160°F must be reached.
How pink is too pink for steak? ›
These are the temperature benchmarks you're looking for: Rare (red): 125°F-130°F ; Estimated Cook Time: 8 minutes. Medium Rare (pink): 130°F-135°F; Estimated Cook Time: 9 minutes. Medium (light pink): 135°F-140°F; Estimated Cook Time: 10 minutes.
Why is my Mcdonald's burger pink in the middle? ›
According to Haracz, the pink that customers claim to see in their Quarter Pounders may simply be caused by the gas flushing process. It's possible for the patty to retain some of the red coloring it developed after being taken out of the pack, even after being cooked correctly and for the appropriate amount of time.
What are the chances of getting sick from undercooked hamburgers? ›
“If you eat rare burgers, there is a much higher chance that any disease-causing bacteria inside will not have been heated up enough sufficiently to kill them, so they can still be alive and may then multiply in your body, making you potentially very sick,” per Daily Mail.
Do burgers have to be fully cooked? ›
If burgers are not thoroughly cooked there is a risk that harmful bacteria may survive and cause food poisoning.
What is the safest burger temp? ›
The USDA recommended safe temperature for ground beef is now 160F (71.1C). Not that long ago, 155F was the safe temperature. Since bacteria live on the outside of food, grinding spreads it throughout the product. So, eating a rare burger is a risk decision.
Store-bought ground beef must be cooked to an internal temperature of 160°F (71°C) to be considered safe to eat.
How do I know if my burger is safe to eat? ›
Color is not a reliable indicator of doneness, so the only way to be sure that hamburgers are cooked safely is to use a food thermometer. Ground beef is safe when cooked to an internal temperature of 160 °F as measured with a food thermometer.
What is the 5 6 7 rule for burgers? ›
Cooking Your Burgers
The 5-6-7 rule is basically as follows: Rare burgers only require around 5 minutes on each side. Medium-rare burgers with a red and warm center will take about 6 minutes on each side. Medium-done burgers usually require approximately 7 minutes to achieve that pink, warm center.
Is it okay to order a burger medium rare? ›
A properly cooked medium rare steak isn't a concern, but medium rare ground beef is, according to the USDA.
How pink should a medium rare burger be? ›
Medium-rare: Medium-rare burgers have a golden brown crust, a juicy deep pink center, red or deep pink juices, and a slightly soft interior. Medium: These have a light pink center, pink juices, and a slightly soft interior. When it comes to increased cook times, burgers tend to shrink as the water evaporates.
Is a medium rare burger raw? ›
A medium-rare hamburger is a hamburger that registers at 130-degrees when you measure its internal temperature. It should be perfectly seared on the outside, but its center should be warm and pink. When a lot of people think of pink meat, they consider it to be raw. That's not the case.
How to tell if a burger is undercooked? ›
Color is not a reliable indicator of doneness, so the only way to be sure that hamburgers are cooked safely is to use a food thermometer. Ground beef is safe when cooked to an internal temperature of 160 °F as measured with a food thermometer.
Can kids eat a medium burger? ›
Always cook ground beef until the internal temperature has reached 160 F (71 C), as ground beef carries a high risk for foodborne illness from harmful bacteria like E. coli and Salmonella when the meat is not cooked thoroughly.
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