rare chicken okay? page

[Heth]

Sorry if this has been addressed elsewhere, but I couldn't find if it it has been. I have the idea in my head that chicken should be cooked thoroughly. I did a couple years of chef training so I think that's where it came from. However, I just steamed a chicken thigh (no, I'm not fat phobic, but I like steamed chicken) and did it quite rare and it was SUPER DELICIOUS! What's the go with the 'rule' and is it just made to spoil the fun of yummy rare chicken? I don't have the time to get food poisoning though.

Thanks!

[Dr. Bork Bork]

I think the only thing that should be cook rare "moo"ed in a past life, but that's JMO. Personally I think rare chicken is gross (taste & mouth feel)

[Diana Renata]

Some meats besides beef can (and should) be eaten undercooked. Lamb, for example. Even pork, to a degree. Chicken, I absolutely wouldn't if it came from a grocery store. If you raise your own, or at least have shaken hands with your farmer... maybe a little undercooked, but certainly not rare. I apply the same rule for pork.

[Heth]

But why? What is it about chicken that's so bad rare? (apart from objections to texture/taste?). Is it a salmonella danger?

[Betorq]

Guy has been eating raw chicken for 10 years : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JLYuwR48B4
This guy's chicken is not only raw, its rotting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=cf3uycIWwEw

[Heth]

Whoa! I don't think I'd ever eat it like that...I like food that tastes and smells good! I've seen someone eat a whole raw chicken carcass IRL which is probably why I questioned the cooking 'rule'.

When I've roasted fatty drumsticks rare they've been a tad slimy but low-fat thigh water-cooked didn't go slimy at all.

[Heth]

Whoa! I don't think I'd ever eat it like that...I like food that tastes and smells good! I've seen someone eat a whole raw chicken carcass IRL which is probably why I questioned the cooking 'rule'.

When I've roasted fatty drumsticks rare they've been a tad slimy but low-fat thigh water-cooked didn't go slimy at all.

[jammies]

Apparently most salmonella would be found on the surface of the chicken, but the interior and body cavity can be contaminated with bacteria during processing, injection with saline, or during thawing and prep in the kitchen.

I would not eat rare chicken - particularly from a grocery store. Odd are probably pretty low overall of getting sick though. I got salmonella once and it was brutal. But it was from a well cooked pasture raised organic chicken - so I guess you can never know for sure!

[cori93437]

I wouldn't say that I eat chicken exactly rare... but I certainly don't mind of I'm grilling and it's still has a hint of pink. I think the texture/flavor raw is bad... it's mushy and bland. But it's not the salmonella that scares me off of it... I have no fear of raw eggs for instance.
For lean pork cuts I eat it pink in the middle... about medium.

Most foodborne illness outbreaks (salmonella, shigella, E. coli) are not from meat, but from vegetables and fruits.

As always with these things... it's something that you should decide for yourself.
It's certainly safer to eat pretty much everything well cooked.
But I'm not cooking a cantaloupe...

I eat raw fish and shell fish pretty regularly, and all my red meat is eaten rare (very, very rare... or even raw sometimes).

[KV8R]

I don't like cooking my cows any more than medium, but when it comes to chicken or pork, I usually go for well done. Occasionally, they come out slightly under done, but as long as they're mostly cooked I eat them anyway. haven't gotten sick so far...