Best burger, #2: Do you know (or care) where it's from?

I fall into basically the same category as Steve on the subject. I certainly don't mind knowing where and what kind of meat my burger comes from but it's certainly not of utmost importance. Type of places that I go for a good burger are pretty trustworthy and I'm sure have excellent food handling practices. As stated by others good quality meat does not necessarily translate into a good quality burger. There are so many things that contribute to a good burger that just inputting meat with a high reputation doesn't necessarily mean much.

I think we had a thread here a couple weeks ago about all of the extravagant descriptions that many fine restaurants put their products and even joked about why don't they tell us what day and time the food was harvested. That's all fine but in reality the consumer doesn't even have any assurance that what is on his plate is even what was described on the menu. With a very few exceptions no one can distinguish how the beef was raised so the only criteria we have is the quality of the finished product.

Only the best Shmoo meat on my burger.. I need to know they died happy and left their pedigree on Ancestry.com, or I tend to get indigestion.

GG.

I know the quality from certain producers and therefore know the great taste in the burger.

Deb

I also know the quality of certain producers, but unfortunately I also know that some restaurants can overcook, mishandle, whatever even the best meat, so unlike you I don't automatically "know" great taste just by recognizing the producer . . .

It takes a joint effort of growers and restaurant, and quite frankly a great restaurant can make most meat taste good, while a not-so-good chef can destroy great meat..

Andrew,

That's not what I meant. Obviously the restaurant always determines how good the end result is- but I do know the quality of what goes in. And I find that places that focus on buying those high quality ingredients ( and paying more for them), tend to be high quality overall. Examples that come to mind being Harvest , Marketplace @ Theatersquare, and Proof.
Deb

Here's a good place to get a burger off of a flat top.. no pretensions either. Endorsed by Abe Lincoln. Can't go far wrong in this place. You can eat with the chief of police on one side and a pig farmer on the other.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRg6fqS-CZU

GG

For me its not a realistic option to care where the meat comes from unfortunately I just don't have the money or the time to be that picky. For a while I was trying to cut down on beef and eat more ground turkey instead, but then I realized the turkey is pumped more full of antibiotics than the damn beef.

I do spend like $20 bucks a week on my local grass fed milk and free range eggs from Ehrlers micro dairy though.

Given the time and money I would probably buy everything organic and hit up the farmers market every week, but until I'm loaded I'm stuck with the feedlot beef, and I ain't going vegetarian. If I'm eating out i would probably pick the local option if its on the menu, but thats a rare occasion.

It does seem a bit persnickety to want to know where your beef comes from. I think we've become pretty overly confident here in the US with our food supply and its safety. I mean gee, we have a ton of laws in place to insure food handling procedures, farming safety , packaging and/or factory inspections to make sure everything is safe . (Don't we?) But I predict in the not too far future we will all be better label readers and want or demand to know more about all of our food supply.

Yesterday I picked up a prepackaged , refrigerated cup of sliced peaches (perfect for a kids lunch!) only to find all the fruit originated in China. Can't we supply our own national demands for peaches? Is there a peach shortage here I don't know about? . Sorry but so far China has shown a very bad track record for product safety in sooooo many fields from lead loaded dish ware and children's toys (sold here in the USA under big major labels) to anti-freeze tainted animal protein in our pet foods (responsible for the deaths of hundreds of animals) to nasty, dirty fish or shrimp. So yeah, if I ate burgers frequently (I don't but if I did) I would want to know where that beef came from. And all this doesn't take into consideration about how WE process our own food stuffs.

I know I'm going to hear a great deal of snickering about this but what I think many people my age, that grew up during the 50s, 60s and 70s must realize is that this is a very different USA that we currently live in than then. The general well being of the nation has taken a back seat to big profits instead and that means sacrifices in quality has taken place. Just the ebb and flow of society and it's priorities I guess.

As an addendum to my previous post -
I hope I didn't come off as sanctimonious or judging. At no point did I mean to insert a " you should" or " you ought to" anywhere in there. Only wanted to convey the idea that we now live in a truly global economy and that we are no where near as insulated as we were 20 years ago.

Bottom line:

-Do You know?

For the most part, Yes.

-Do You care?

Yes and No. Of course I'd prefer a local/grass fed/etc Burger. However, I'm not going to avoid a good hamburger. That's it. That's my personal choice. Good or bad.

I mean gee, we have a ton of laws in place to insure food handling procedures, farming safety , packaging and/or factory inspections to make sure everything is safe . (Don't we?)

Maybe...
http://www.wlky.com/news/national/8-7-m ... d/24372824

If you answer you don't care that's fine, but please don't order just any old burger medium rare...

Think of your health, gang.

I can't stop thinking about my health gang. They follow me everywhere!

Edited for extreme clarity.

PS I would not count on inspection and regulation to stop food borne illness. We have had an FDA, and USDA for years and we have seen plenty of recalls, health problems, outbreaks, and the like. It only takes one bad habit, or one misstep in preparation, or farming practice to make people sick in a big way. If you want to be paranoid, grow it and cook it yourself. If you are like the majority of folks, just try to educate yourself about your chow. If you don't care about food safety, and quality farming then don't sweat it, chances are your diet will kill you anyhow and all the food would be considered safe to eat. They never check the meat at the slaughterhouse for cholesterol...

Edited for extreme clarity.

They never check the meat at the slaughterhouse for cholesterol...

I think I read somewhere that almost 100% of the beef at slaughterhouses has cholesterol??

Question -

I was under the assumption Restaurant Hamburgers are not to prepared below Medium.
Is this still correct?

The one I had a Mussel and Burger Bar practically mooed at me, so I'm not sure that is still the case, at least not at indi places...

The one I had a Mussel and Burger Bar practically mooed at me, so I'm not sure that is still the case, at least not at indi places...

......Same experience here....despite ordering it "medium well". One bite and my plate looked like a cow axe murder had taken place.