It's BBQ time!!! Even up here in the Northern latitude of 43' NORTH!

Ahhh, the beginning of the warmer temperatures! Not too hot, but warm enough not to have to bundle up : )
White skin be damned, t-shirts and shorts are coming on out of hiding and they feel GOOD!

We welcome the season with a few BBQ ed meats, just to practice before the real scorching temps arrive and you HAVE to cook outdoors to eat meat!

As a quick reference , for myself and your ease of locating... I am posting the USDA internal temperatures for different kinds of meat you might cook. This is not a definitive list, I cook rabbit and game birds which are not listed.. just follow the guide for the type and density of the meat being cooked.

The temperatures listed should be followed to the letter with store purchased meats or from sources unknown to you. If you raise your own meats or know the person who did and have a relationship or know the butcher who processed that animal... use it as a guide not the LAW!

USDA			temperature @ thickest spot and in degrees F
	Poultry
	Whole - uncut						165 breast 165-175 thigh
	Parts			165			same as above
	Stuffed			165			taken in stuffing
	Ground						170-75
	Beef and Lamb
	Ground						160
	Steak
	Rare						125 DO not eat unless you know the source!
	Medium rare			145
	Medium			160
	Medium well			165- 170
	Well done			170+
	Pork
	Medium rare						145 DO NOT EAT , unless source is know!
	Medium			160
	Well done			170
	Ground pork			160     *See quote below**

                            Today we BBQ'd some pastured beef steaks we purchased from our beef guy over in Star,ID ... aged 21 days and FULL of flavor! Just a sprinkle of salt and BBQ'd to 155' , pure joy ! The meat has so much flavor on its own, its not necessary to lather on the BBQ sauce, A-1 sauce or other condiments to enjoy this piece of steak! 


                            Last night, we had some small hamburgers grilled again , very simply, from the same beef !  They did not have to be big, we were satisfied with an 1/8 pound burger that fit inside the buns with simple dressings to remind you of what summer tastes like! We tend to eat less in volume when the meat is pastured or poultry free-ranged due to the flavor being so GOOD! We tend to eat slower to savor that rich flavor! So, it may cost more per pound, but with eating less and not missing anything, its a wash at our house!


** QUOTE "...meats inevitably harbor bacteria, and it takes temperatures of 160 degrees Fahrenheit or higher to guarantee the rapid destruction of the bacteria that can cause human disease-temperatures at which meat is well-done and has lost much of its moisture. So is eating juicy, pink-red meat risky? Not if the cut is an intact piece of healthy muscle tissue, a steak or chop, and its surface has been thoroughly cooked: bacteria are on the meat surfaces, not inside. "

I include this statement from the USDA site to further strike the point that knowing your source of food is becoming VERY important. Unlike 20 years ago and beforehand.. when "people" balanced food safety with product cost, these days, food is not always what it used to be or seems. The person you could call if you get sick from the meats consumed has been replaces with an 800 number to who knows who and where!

If you have a few extra minutes, look up the source of the ingredients of your foods! Its shocking! when you follow up looking up to see if that ingredient is oncogenic (on·co·gen·ic  adj. Tending to cause or give rise to tumors/ cancer) Not something  you ever want to think about when eating food! But, you must know that the multinational companies producing and managing our food supplies don't want you to either! Thus the unpronounceable names of the ingredients! They know your eyes will just glaze over and you will say.. whatever that is! ... and put it into your shopping cart.

I know, I know , I sound like a scandal monger , a conspiracy theorist , an anti-establishment type of person! I know how it sounds, but when you really read the labels, read the USDA reports on findings of the conditions of food plants, read the daily paper about food recalls and follow the money back ...it leads to these multinational companies! They lobby and get many changes to FDA allowances!

OK, I am off of my soap box... thanks for listening!