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Flipping burgers frequently during frying and using a lower flame
may decrease the cancer-causing risk that has been previously associated
with compounds called heterocyclic amines (HCAs), since the flipping
cuts their production.
- Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California
tested various burger-frying methods.
- They found that a low-heat pan combined with frequent flipping
produced the lowest HCA levels.
- This cooking method also killed the sickness-causing bacterium
E. coli.
Researchers found that cooking the burgers to an internal temperature
of 158 degrees Fahrenheit eradicated bacteria, regardless of pan
temperature or flipping frequency. Meat thermometers can signal
when a burger has hit the bacteria-killing temperature.
HCAs form only when meats like beef, pork and poultry are cooked
at high temperatures and researchers determines that levels depend
largely on pan heat and flipping frequency. Levels remained
low when the burgers were flipped every minute in a 320-degree pan
and rose in patties that were turned just once after cooking for
5 minutes.
Journal of the National Cancer
Institute November 1, 2000;92:1773-1778
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