# outback steakhouse cooking habits **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 25, 2000, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outback-steakhouse-cooking-habits/30756 "2000-08-25T19:07:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![metroshane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@metroshane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metroshane)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outback-steakhouse-cooking-habits/30756/1 "2000-08-25T19:07:23Z")
I was at Outback recently and decided to try a Jackaroo chop. Which, as you can guess, is a pork product. The kind, if not so bright for other reasons than this, waiter asked how I would like it cooked. Feeling that he probably wasn’t paying to much attention, I asked him if they had a habit of undercooking pork. He responded that they’d cook it however I wanted. Feeling a little adventurous, and hoping the kitchen staff would catch the err and have a giggle, I ordered it Medium- Well. And guess what, that’s how they brought it. I didn’t get sick, but that may just be luck. IS THERE ANOTHER GRADE OF WELLNESS FOR PORK? I was always told to cook the heck out of it? ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outback-steakhouse-cooking-habits/30756/2 "2000-08-25T19:20:42Z")
I heard that these days trichinosis is so rare that technically you could eat pork as rare as you eat beef. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outback-steakhouse-cooking-habits/30756/3 "2000-08-25T19:21:25Z")
My understanding was that pork was cooked well on the off-chance that it was inhabited by whatever it is that causes tricanosis. However, that’s relatively rare anymore, so there really isn’t much risk. I believe, though, that undercooking any type of meat carries other risks. ---
**Author:** ![metroshane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@metroshane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metroshane)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outback-steakhouse-cooking-habits/30756/4 "2000-08-25T19:27:59Z")
o.k., that may be true. But as I understand it, tricanosis doesn’t really have anything to do with the quality/freshness of meat, they either have it or don’t. when did a chain restaraunt decide it was worth the risk? I mean did they invent some kind of enoculation for it, or is the industry cleaner now? ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outback-steakhouse-cooking-habits/30756/5 "2000-08-25T19:43:57Z")
I seem to remember that there’s some connection between tricanosis and the fat in the meat. Between the industry getting cleaner as a whole, and consumers demanding leaner cuts of pork, tricanosis is really not a problem any more. Order your pork as rare as you want. ---
**Author:** ![KeithT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@KeithT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KeithT)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outback-steakhouse-cooking-habits/30756/6 "2000-08-25T19:47:49Z")
[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20000812/aponline190306\_000.htm](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20000812/aponline190306_000.htm) ---
**Author:** ![metroshane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@metroshane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metroshane)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outback-steakhouse-cooking-habits/30756/7 "2000-08-25T19:47:50Z")
how about salminilla? Is chicken safe too? It’s gonna be hard to convince my grandma that the porkchops don’t have to be black. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecccb3/32.png) [@Lord\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outback-steakhouse-cooking-habits/30756/8 "2000-08-25T19:54:58Z")
I got this from the [CDC site](http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/trichinosis/factsht_trichinosis.htm). > [@](#): > > **Is trichinosis common in the United States?** > > Infection was once very common; however, infection is now relatively rare. From 1991-1996, an annual average of 38 cases per year were reported. The number of cases has decreased because of legislation prohibiting the feeding of raw meat garbage to hogs, commercial and home freezing of pork, and the public awareness of the danger of eating raw or undercooked pork products. Cases are less commonly associated with pork products and more often associated with eating raw or undercooked wild game meats. It seems that the only way to pass the parasites is by eating the meat, so by not allowing hogs to eat meat scraps eliminates passing the disease. I suppose the risk factor is low enough that it isn’t a big deal anymore. Jim ---
**Author:** ![metroshane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@metroshane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metroshane)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outback-steakhouse-cooking-habits/30756/9 "2000-08-25T19:57:59Z")
Thanks, I knew i could count of you people. by the way, outback is my favorite place to eat. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecccb3/32.png) [@Lord\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outback-steakhouse-cooking-habits/30756/10 "2000-08-25T20:10:42Z")
Also, from the [CDC about Salmonella.](http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/salmonellosis_g.htm) > [@](#): > > \*\*How common is salmonellosis? \*\* > > Every year, approximately 40,000 cases of salmonellosis are reported in the United States. Because many milder cases are not diagnosed or reported, the actual number of infections may be twenty or more times greater. … It is estimated that approximately 1,000 persons die each year with acute salmonellosis. I don’t think the threat from Salmonella is over yet. It’s not quite the same as 38 cases a year. Jim ---
**Author:** ![hardhead365](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/71c47a/32.png) [@hardhead365](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hardhead365)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outback-steakhouse-cooking-habits/30756/11 "2000-08-25T21:10:09Z")
From the same CDC site; Moorhead A, Grunenwald PE, Dietz VJ, Schantz PM. Trichinellosis in the United States, 1991-1996: Declining but not gone. Am J Trop Med Hyg 1999; 60:66-69. As the symtoms of infection can include death, I don’t particularly want to be one of the 38 ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecccb3/32.png) [@Lord\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outback-steakhouse-cooking-habits/30756/12 "2000-08-25T21:48:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hardhead365 \* > As the symtoms of infection can include death, I don’t particularly want to be one of the 38 ☹ I’m sure no one wants to be one of _the_ 38. Since most of the case are from wild game and not pork, that puts the cases from pork at less than 20 per year. And there is an effective test and treatment for it. I would say that the chances of getting _Trichinosis_ from a pork chop are about the same as being run over by a blue '55 Studebaker with red interior on my patio while cooking the pork chop on the bbq grill. It’s not something to change your cooking habits over. Jim ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2000, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outback-steakhouse-cooking-habits/30756/13 "2000-08-27T04:37:59Z")
Incidentally, many high quality, non-chain restaurants have been preparing their pork medium and rare for years. In searching for information on this topic, I also found that aside from cooking to an internal 160-170 degrees (F), one way to help prevent any possible illness is to freeze pork less than 6 inches thick for 20 days at 5 degrees (F). ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2000, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outback-steakhouse-cooking-habits/30756/14 "2000-08-27T08:40:06Z")
As a restaurant asst. chef, I would never serve any pork product underdone, and would run screaming from any place that would. I am worried that some may not get the true point from **JimB** ’s post about the rareness of trichinosis; > [@](#): > > The number of cases has decreased because of legislation prohibiting the feeding of raw meat garbage to hogs, commercial and home freezing of pork, and the _ **public awareness** _ of the danger of eating raw or undercooked pork products. Emphasis mine. In other words we don’t have the problem so much any more because _we know how to avoid it_; don’t eat undercooked pork! ---
**Author:** ![Danielinthewolvesden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Danielinthewolvesden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danielinthewolvesden)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2000, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outback-steakhouse-cooking-habits/30756/15 "2000-08-27T08:54:12Z")
I would say “medium” is not underdone. “Rare”, on the other hand… ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2000, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outback-steakhouse-cooking-habits/30756/16 "2000-08-27T16:05:44Z")
There’s an additional factor: if you get salmonella from undercooked chicken and DON’T die from it, you generally recover none the worse for wear (aside from, perhaps, a rolling of the stomach whenever you consider eating chicken for awhile). If you get trichinosis, you run the risk of permanent damage to your heart muscle and other muscles as a result of zillions of nasty little trichinella parasites eating their wa into them. There is treatment for trichinosis that kills off the parasites but it doesn’t undo the damage they’ve already caused. ---
**Author:** ![Angkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@Angkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angkins)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2000, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outback-steakhouse-cooking-habits/30756/17 "2000-08-27T16:23:19Z")
I’d just like to point out that salmonella can be passed from food to food. Although chicken is the common source, you can just as easy get salmonella poisoning from a carrot… if that carrot had been exposed to salmonella… from a countertop, or a knife, or even from your hands if proper washing is not observed between handling one food to another.