The answer to this question is an absolute YES! You can eat lamb medium-rare. Lamb is generally cooked rare to medium-rare. The doneness you like in your beef is the way you will like your lamb too.
You can eat lamb medium-rare as cooking it medium rare enhances the flavor and cooking it for a long time or well done makes the lamb bland. It is the safest to cook lamb up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Some like it slightly more cooked than rare and that is also perfectly safe for consumption.
Is it safe to eat lamb if it is pink in the middle?
It is absolutely safe to eat lamb even it is pink. It is safe to eat if the lamb is pink in the middle. The color pink in the middle is when the meat is cooked rare or medium rare. The pink color not necessarily means that it is completely raw but normally the inside is undercooked because bacteria are generally present outside the meat. So steaks are normally eaten rare to medium-rare.
Overcooking lamb makes it hard and they do not stay tender. Similarly, if the outside is also pink it means that the meat is undercooked and bacteria present in the meat can cause food poisoning. Medium rare is the second-lowest among the doneness level of a lamb steak. It is almost difficult to distinguish between a rare and a slice of medium-rare meat but if the meat appears to you like a little more pinkish and a litter fuller in the center then the meat is cooked medium-rare. You can find little blood and juiciness on the inside of a medium-rare cooked meat.
What temperature is lamb medium rare cooked?
Kitchen facts on lamb Medium rare
- 120 to 125 degrees Fahrenheit (internal temperature of the meat)
Can you eat Lamb Medium Rare? Is it safe?
If lamb is ground or mashed, then your answer is no. If the lamb is a steak (fresh meat), or a chop then your answer is yes. It means that the internal temperature should reach 145 degree Fahrenheit and a standing time of 3-4 minutes is given before consuming.
The interior of a lamb steak should be barely pink. To understand if your lamb is cooked till medium rare you need to firmly press on the whole lamb steak and if the meat is slightly firm and has cooked for the time recommended, it is most probably medium-rare. A slice of more cooked meat with a firmer texture will indicate that it is a well-done meat.
If you are among these three then you should stay away from any temptation of a medium-rare lamb:
- Pregnant
- Compromised
- Sick
These people should steer clear of any undercooked meat completely because of toxoplasmosis. Healthy children and old people can still enjoy medium-rare lamb as the bacteria concentration is very low.
What do we mean by the term rare?
Rare meat is the rarest of any cut of meat. However, being rarest the meat can be still called cooked. In other words, the rawest state of cooked meat is called to be rare. Medium rare comes after rare thus it is slightly more cooked till the center than rare meat. Next comes medium cooked which is slightly more done than medium-rare meat. Next is medium well-cooked meat which is almost close to a fully cooked meat. Lastly, it is well-done meat which is a fully cooked meat from the inside out.
To cook lamb steak medium rare is cooking it while retaining its highest amount of rawness, it should be perfectly seared from the outside. Cooking meat medium-rare is more than possible and safe.
So let us look into a quick table where you will find which medium rare lamb preparations are okay to consume:
| Lamb product | Can be consumed medium rare? |
|---|---|
| Lamb ribs | Yes |
| Lamb burgers | No |
| Lamb offal | No |
| Lamb steak | Yes |
| Lamb leg | Yes |
| Lamb chop | Yes |
| Lamb shoulder | Yes |
| Lamb breast | Yes |
| Lamb rack | Yes |
| Lamb lion | Yes |
| Ground or minced lamb meat | No |
| Lamb neck | Yes |
| Lamb tartare | No |
So can you eat lamb medium rare if served cold?
It will depend upon the initial cooking time, how the meat was preserved after cooking, and how your taste buds would feel eating a cold lamb steak. If you find a cold lamb medium rare tasty then go for it. Make sure the cold meat is coming from a perfectly preserved state for example in the refrigerator kept inside a sealed bag. If the meat was kept on the table or open for more than 2 hours then either cook id completely once again or simply discard it. Meat left in open attracts a lot of bacteria which might cause health issues if consumed.
Lamb or any meat should not be consumed raw. Meat can also contain tape worm. So we should steer clear of any kind of raw meat under any circumstances.
Things you should do to store the lamb:
- Avoid keeping the meat in the open even if it is cooked.
- Avoid cross contamination that is you should not let anything unwashed or unclean come in contact with your meat.
- Avoid storing the meat at the topmost shelf in your refrigerator as juices from the meat may leak and spread over other items kept on the lower shelves.
- Avoid washing the meat before cooking as the water may splash on to other surfaces causing the bacteria to spread.
Conclusion
Lamb is perfectly safe to eat if medium rare to rare. We just have to ensure that the outer surface of the lamb is perfectly seared while the inside remains juicy and slightly pinkish. This method makes sure that the bacteria living on the surface of the lamb is completely destroyed. Medium rare meat should be kept away from pregnant women, and sick people. Healthy people can gobble on lamb medium-rare.
Tip: Few things you should not eat undercooked- liver, poultry, internal organs, sausages, kebabs, minced meat, and rolled joints.
I hope you find the article helpful and full of unknown facts.
Have a safe and happy food binging!