1. Medium well. Don't want it to look like it's fixin to get up off the plate, though that's the way my DH eats it.

2. Cooked by DH on the grill at home, with pickles, good old yellow mustard, ripe tomatoes and a hint of lettuce. Yummo!

3. I do not care. I'm not sophisticated enough (see yellow mustard comment above) to discern the difference, probably.

4. Nope. I refuse to worry that much about food.

5. Peppered!!!!!

1. Medium rare

2. At least 1 inch thick grilled over mesquite. Worcester is the condiment of choice, tomato, no lettuce.

3. Grass, of course.

4. no.

5. There's a smokehouse outside of town that does an outstanding peppered jerky. Mesquite flavored is also a big favorite in South Texas.

Dang, I'm hungry!!

1. Medium rare.

2. Hamburgers are all about condiments. Grainy mustard, onions, sweet/tart relish, pickles, lots of lettuce, mayo, and possibly cheese. Hot peppers are good too. The bun must be toasted. And, oh yes, a little bit of juicy meat for that umami zing.

3. Grass. I am lucky enough to live near a specialty beef farm with reasonable prices. I never buy anywhere else when entertaining.

4. Never. You are much more likely to die of heart disease from the fat in the beef, or from the carcinogenic carbon that the char-broiling process puts on the meat. Find better things to do with your time than worrying about this non-issue.

5. Sweet 'n' hot. Asian food stores have the best stuff in my experience, but then I live in a jerky-starved part of the world (south-western Ontario, Canada).

1. Medium rare. I believe that restaurant staff should have the right (no, the obligation) to refuse to serve a steak at any level of doneness greater than medium.

2. Ground sirloin. Onion salt, cracked peppercorn. Cheddar cheese, romaine lettuce, grilled onion, dijon mustard (no ketchup!) and one of those long flat pickles (stackers? they're called? something like that). Sourdough bun, lightly toasted.

3. My palate is not educated enough to have an opinion on this one.

4. No. Sometimes in life, you've got to take a risk.

5. Spicy!

1) Medium well.

2) Well splashed with Worcestershire and grilled over charcoal in my backyard while I drink Wachusett IPA and listen to the Blues on the boombox. Cheese on top, plus ketchup, Gulden's or Dijon, and pickles. Frappe optional.

The rubrics can differ based on location and entree. At a little greasy spoon where I used to eat from time to time, I'd put the Ruffles potato chips on top of the burger.

At T Anthony's, maker of the best steak-and-cheese in Boston, the drink on the side was always Mountain Dew. At the late, lamented Tasty Diner in Harvard Square, the "Veri-Tas-Ty" Frank at 3 AM had to be accompanied by a Lime Rickey. But we're getting off topic here.

3) No opinion.

4) Not at all.

5) The several-foot-long kind.

Here it goes,

1. Rare

2. The ideal hamburger is one made with a really quality ground beef (I prefer ground sirloin)that includes at least 15% fat. It should be seasoned well with salt and pepper, and thrown onto a very hot charcol fueled fire cooked to about medium rare. You can put whatever you want on it, but I prefer a good old fashioned San Francisco sourdough roll, swiss cheese, grilled onions, pickles, and good Dijon mustard.

3. Until recently I didn't know what the big deal was with the grass fed v. corn fed beef. Then I had some grass fed beef at a preety fancy place. If I could get it all of the time it would be grass fed only for me. I believe that would mean I have to move to Argentina though.

4. I don't really worry about mad cow. If you buy your food from quality vendors who know their farmers and those who distribute to them you have nothing to worry about. If you buy your meat from Safeway et. al. I would be worried.

5. I honestly didn't know that there was any other type of beef jerky other than teriyaki.
RAM