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My preference is rare. In fact, medium rare is the most done I will accept or it goes back to the kitchen. Bun sogginess is not generally an issue at the couple places we go to.

When I was a kid, it was rare all the way, but now I'm probably more likely to go for medium rare. Most places around here won't good burgers any less than just a little pink tinge. So if I want them any less cooked, I'm making them myself.

I like medium rare, from fresh ground, as I wrote about on my blog,
Tasty Travails...

http://tiny.cc/taegW

this is why I rarely (no pun intended) go out for a burger, I make my own, from meat i grind myself, Rare all the way. I know the meat is safe from most handling contamination and what chance there is I'll take it for a good bloody burger. Most of the resteraunts in this area will only cook ground meat to medium no less. I understand their reasoning, but its still pretty depressing for someone who like to hear a little moo when she bites into a burger. ;-)

I would say no less than a high medium rare (eat a steak if you want raw meat), no more than medium (just become a vegetarian if you don't like to taste your meat).

I find that the less cooked burgers don't quite have the right texture and warmth inside and often have too much grease and liquid. Cooked more and you don't have any grease or taste at all.

I haven't actually ordered a burger out in decades, because I have come across *far* too many of them that are totally uncooked, or bloody, et cetera. And I know that I will get ketchup bottles thrown at me for saying this, but I absolutely *love* charcoal-style hamburgers - you know, the ones that could easiy substitute for hockey pucks. Something about that char flavor and carcinogen that I love. :) Hey, i don't smoke, so I have to get my carcinogens somehow, right?

Straight-forward rule-of-thumb for me:

Reliable and Safe Source? - like a local butcher or EVEN BETTER a local beef farmer...direct source of course:
I say Medium - Med-rare

No sure of Source?
Get'er done well with lots of "moisturizing" condiments (ie - mayo!)

@Traveller -
I would like to add to your Steak Tartare investigation:

you should ALSO try a pork-tartare if you get a chance to find it!
Maybe at a local german butcher???

It's one of my FAVOURITE things on pumpernickel with grey salt and fresh cracked pepper...deeeevine!

Similar to what's been said above, I like my steaks raw or rare (cold in the center), but my burgers medium -- slightly pink on the inside.

I once had a burger that was seared on the outside and cold in the center at a regional chain restaurant similar to TGI Friday's but tack on ~$5-7/plate. I ordered their burger a couple of times previously w/o this rare of a burger.

I couldn't return it because I was with my father. He HATES people who make a fuss so I painfully ate the dark red, cold, mushy raw meat.

Since that experience, I will never purposefully order a rare burger.

I typically don't have a problem with the bun disintegrating because halfway through my burger, I usually toss the buns and eat the filling only. I may eat the buns if they taste good and/or fresh-baked.

It may be the "gourmet" way to go, but no thank you on the raw hamburger meat! If it's even a little pink I send it back. I've had food poisoning from under cooked hamburger meat and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy!

Oh wow - the "how should a burger really be cooked" debate. That's like asking who's kid is cuter - mine or yours. I think it all comes down to preference and what goes on the burger. The bun observation is spot on, though. It can really ruin a good burger, no matter how cooked or what's on top of the paddie. Personally, how I have it cooked all depends on where I'm eating. Some places cook a mean well-done burger while others get the medium-rare to a perfection. Now, if you asked how a steak should be cooked, I'd argue medium-rare no matter where you go.

Don't blame Sysco. Did you ever think that more people get sick from Commercial burgers because it is publicized and you hear about it? How may of these illnesses are because of cross contamination and poorly trained kitchen help. I know several people who went to very reputable restaurants and were extremely ill from Carpaccio, and steak tartare, no one knew because they didn't pursue the problem with the board of health. They got a staph intoxication poisoning so the symptoms cleared in a day.

The real issue with E coli and Listeria is the fact that meat plants are too clean. Thirty years ago, fresh meat spoiled in a week. This was due to the fact that the sanitation standards were lower than then now. Current meat plants are like clean rooms in a hospital, you can't get in in street clothes, your shoes go through sanitizing baths before you can enter, and work surfaces are sanitized with antibacterial solutions. there is very little harmless spoilage bacteria available, so the meat is vacuum packaged, heavily chilled and gets a minimum 28 days shelf life. The downside is there is no competition should you have a single cell of E coli or listeria bacteria, the meat that would have been harmless to eat, can become dangerous, regardless of whether it comes from a big processor or small. That is why USDA standards require preventative treatments and lot testing to enable recalls if needed.

Where and how it is raised is irrelevant, it goes to a processor for slaughter and that is the make or break part. There is one step that makes the real difference, when the bung is cut and sealed, if this is done poorly or improperly, then you have the fecal material splashed onto the carcass, this mistake can happen in any plant, regardless of size and line speed.

Most of the recalls on beef are preventative, there may be a problem very few result in public health problems. the huge ones where 30 million pounds were recalled stemmed from one lot needing to be recalled, and then the government requiring the following products made in the plant to be recalled because the plants couldn't confirm, that meat from the recalled lot wasn't reworked into following lots of ground meat or patties.

As a kid, my dad and I ate first at BBQ's because we loved our burgers bloody rare. But you could DO THAT at the time (sigh).

At present, I don't cook a burger past medium. Cooked through but still juicy. Make burgers large and flat for even cooking but they won't shrink into nothing. At least 8 oz. of beef.

Turkey burgers - a smidge past medium. Cooked through but still juicy - can't cook something to death if my life depended on it.

The sad truth is that unless you're grinding your own meat, it's not advisable to cook a burger rare or medium rare. Insert an instant read thermometer in the side of the burger till you reach the center of the patty and when it reads 160, it's done.

Unless you know your food source, safety calls for medium to medium well.

And I love medium rare....... *sad sniffles*

I prefer my Hamburger med to Med well but my steak rare to med rare, the mushyness of the burger is distasteful, where as the butteryness of the steak is delightful.