Cooking TipsTips for a Safe Cook-out
Don"t you just love to have outdoor cook-outs during the long, summer days? It"s great family fun for all, but it is important to take steps to keep your family safe and healthy while you prepare for grilling, the clean up activities and food storage afterwards. Here are some important tips to remember:
*Since you will be using raw meat for grilling, it is important to begin by washing your hands with warm, soapy water for at least 20 seconds before and after handling raw meat and poultry.
*Wash the cutting boards, utensils and dishes with hot, soapy water. Immediately clean up spills.
*Keep raw meat, fish and poultry away from other food that will not be cooked.
*Use separate cutting boards for raw meat, poultry and egg products and also cooked foods.
*Eat ground beef or ground beef patties only if they have been cooked to a safe internal temperature of 160 degrees.
*You cannot always look at the color of ground beef as a reliable indicator that it has been cooked to a temperature high enough to kill harmful bacteria.
*Use a meat thermometer to measure the internal temperature of ground beef to make sure it was cooked to a high enough temperature to kill harmful bacteria.
*Refrigerate raw meat and poultry within two hours after purchase or one hour if the temperature exceeds 90 degrees.
*Refrigerate cooked meat and poultry within two hours after cooking.
If you follow these simple and easy safety tips, then your family barbeques will be enjoyable for all!