A
report from Amelia Rosen, junior at Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, NY.
You've bought mustard and ketchup in preparation for your summer barbecue. Now make sure foodborne bacteria isn't an addition to your cookout menu. The USDA highlights 4 rules you should follow to reduce the risk that you or someone in your family will get sick from grilled foods.
1. Clean Wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds before and after handling food, and insist that everyone who helps you prepare the food washes their hands as well (especially the kids and grandparents, since they're particularly prone to foodborne illness!). After working with raw meat, use hot soapy water to clean the counter, cutting board, knives, sink and anything else it may have touched.
2. Separate Keep all raw meats and poultry totally separate from cooked foods and vegetables. Use different cooking tools for your meats, poultry, and vegetables. After grilling, be extra careful not to place cooked meats back on the plates that held the uncooked meats, because the raw meat juices can transport bacteria to the grilled meats.
3. Cook We can't stress enough the importance of utilizing your food thermometer when grilling. Make certain to place the thermometer in the thickest section of the meat or poultry to get a correct reading of the internal temperature. Need a food thermometer? Check out our review of the top food thermometers and find the one that's right for you. For a guide to the proper cooking temperatures, refer to the USDA's safe temperature guide.
4. Chill Bacteria thrives in temperatures from 40°F to 140°F (aka room temperature!), so make sure to keep hot food on the grill and cold food in a cooler to avoid bacterial growth. Moreover, don't allow perishable food to sit at room temperature for more than two hours, or more than one hour if the temperature's greater than 90°F. In need of a way to keep food you'll be grilling chilled? See our review of the best food coolers!
With the above 4 rules for food safety, you can make certain that foodborne bacteria won't be making an appearance on your cookout menu this summer. Now, fire up the grill and get cooking! Are you a grilling novice? If so, read our Guide to Great Grilling to start your grilling career on the right foot. Are you your family's go-to grill master but want to step up your game? See our list of essential BBQ tools and tasty grilling recipes!
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Sharon has been with the GHI since 1987, when she was hired as an assistant primarily to develop recipes for the magazine's column on microwave cooking. Before joining GHI, she was a chef in restaurants in the World Trade Center.
