Hopefully people are becoming more aware of the pitfalls involved with today’s media-enhanced society. Russian electioneering and Facebook foible outrage seem to be vying for eyeballs everywhere right now. But the problem runs much deeper and into just about anywhere you look online. Here is a perfect example of how a well-respected medical journal gets it wrong by trying to be everybody’s everything: WebMD Does BBQ.
Of course the findings are preliminary. I’m sure the data is good and they mean well. But where’s the chef? Or Grillmaster? Or just about anybody who understands cooking meat from a culinary standpoint – not just potential hypothetical scientific outcomes thereof. The data and study findings get lost in translation. They warn against high heat and flame as the means to avoid over-cooking meat, but the heat source is irrelevant. Intensity and time are the issues. Whether it is on the BBQ grill or in the kitchen frying pan makes no difference. The best steaks are quickly flame-grilled medium rare, IMHO.
The correct message they are trying to convey is “don’t overcook your meat.” Grilling and broiling do not necessarily over-cook your meat. Newbie BBQ buffs might need to develop better timing and heat control for this purpose. Apparently the problem also afflicts WebMD article authors. They overlook the carcinogen factor in searing meats, but that’s a different topic. Sort of.
After all, they’re just doctors, not chefs. Just presumptuous doctors – or maybe their inexperienced lab assistants? It’s hard to tell from across the Internet.