# Ever had a 'cannibal sandwich'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [December 15, 2020, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-cannibal-sandwich/928096 "2020-12-15T14:23:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-cannibal-sandwich/928096/41 "2020-12-16T19:20:33Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Anyway, I’m not dumb enough. Well that’s pretty rude. The dangers of e-coli or other contaminant or miniscule if the beef is properly sourced and processed. The most common contaminants are found on the surface of the beef. That’s a big issue if you’re running hundreds of pounds of beef through a processor at a time, and shipping it out - that ground beef has a TON of surface area. It’s not an issue if you start with a beef round with very little surface area, and have a butcher process it for you in a grinder that’s clean. Either way, my 95 year old grandmother WAS pretty cool, and she was tough as hell. She weighed no more than 120 lbs, and bowled with a 16 lb ball. ---
**Author:** ![AllShookDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-cannibal-sandwich/928096/42 "2020-12-16T19:45:09Z")
I’ve lived in small-town Wisconsin for 40 years and I’m quite familiar with the tradition. They used to (maybe still do) have them at the Christmas parties at the bars. I never had one but not because raw meat grosses me out. l salt and eat raw whatever beef I’m about to cook all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-cannibal-sandwich/928096/43 "2020-12-16T19:57:24Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > How much of what we eat during the holidays is for it’s nutritional value? All of it! My system requires pumpkin pie to properly function! It science…y. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-cannibal-sandwich/928096/44 "2020-12-16T23:19:31Z")
I grind my own hamburger on occasion. In small batches raw hamburger can be very safe\*. I boil the cuts of beef for about 15 seconds before grinding. It leaves a small bit of overcooked beef on the outside but it’s undetectable after grinding. I assume butchers do something similar. \* - I was going to say “perfectly safe” but few things are that safe. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-cannibal-sandwich/928096/45 "2020-12-17T13:41:51Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > I grind my own hamburger on occasion. In small batches raw hamburger can be very safe\*. I boil the cuts of beef for about 15 seconds before grinding. It leaves a small bit of overcooked beef on the outside but it’s undetectable after grinding. This sounds like a great solution for safely consuming raw beef. I’d absolutely eat hamburger or tartare that I knew was prepared this way. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-cannibal-sandwich/928096/46 "2020-12-17T16:09:42Z")
Anyone know the thermal neutron cross section of beef? Asking for a friend. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > Ultraviolet light can kill surface micro-organisms, but won’t penetrate inside. Although given the higher likelihood of surface contamination, I would expect this to be a pretty big improvement over doing nothing. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-cannibal-sandwich/928096/47 "2020-12-17T16:24:48Z")
This thread makes me wonder: Is there anything out there regarding raw beef preparation comparable to the way [ceviche](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceviche#South_America) is prepared (“cooked” in acidic citrus juice)? ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-cannibal-sandwich/928096/48 "2020-12-17T16:30:24Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Is there anything out there regarding raw beef preparation comparable to the way [ceviche](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceviche#South_America) is prepared (“cooked” in acidic citrus juice)? Your question made me curious so I googled “beef ceviche” and found this: I present someone’s “ground beef ceviche” recipe. No thank you… I don’t think so! That bad photo of the end result is not helping the appeal at all: [https://cookpad.com/us/recipes/360823-ground-beef-ceviche](https://cookpad.com/us/recipes/360823-ground-beef-ceviche) (Don’t click the link if you get nausea easily) ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-cannibal-sandwich/928096/49 "2020-12-17T16:42:35Z")
There’s a dish in northern Italian cuisine called _carne cruda_ or _carne cruda all’albese_, which is similar to steak tartare but seems to use lemon juice to denature the beef proteins somewhat. > **[Learn How to Make Italian-Style Steak Tartare](https://www.thespruceeats.com/italian-chopped-raw-beef-dish-2019383)** > > Learn how to make Italian-style steak tartare with shaved white truffles. Known as carne cruda all'albese, this dish is perfect for grass-fed beef. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-cannibal-sandwich/928096/50 "2020-12-18T13:59:43Z")
One could, in theory, pasteurize beef just _barely_ in the “kill zone”. That takes longer the lower you go, IIRC USDA FSIS pegs the 7-log10 lethality at 130 °F at about two hours. (With some caveats, so please nobody use my post as a guide.) What I’m not sure of is if you can go low enough to avoid an appreciable change in texture without dropping into the growth zone. I’ve cooked beef lower than that but never tried grinding it after. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-had-a-cannibal-sandwich/928096.md?page=2)