Cooking
Safety
Summer
is the ideal time to cook outdoors. But warm temperatures card
also ideal for bacteria to multiply and cause food poisoning.
Use these simple guidelines for Gas-Grill food safely.
Four
basic steps to Gas-Grill Food Safety
Clean
Chill
Cook
Cover
CLEAN
Wash and dry hands before starting to prepare foods and every time after touching
raw meat or poultry.
Wash your hands in hot soapy water before
preparing food, after each time you touch raw meat, and after any
interruptions such as using the bathroom, handling pets, stopping
to do something with children.
Cover any cuts on your hands or forearms with a plaster.
Before you start cooking, make sure all Grill tools (knives, forks, tongs
etc) and surfaces on which you put food are spotlessly clean. Keep raw
meat, poultry and fish and their juices away from other food. That means
thoroughly washing cutting boards, knives, platters,
etc. before letting them come in contact with other foods you’re
preparing or with cooked foods you’re about to serve.
Sanitize cutting boards and countertops with chlorine bleach. Pour
on small amount and let stand several minutes, rinse thoroughly
and air dry or dry with clean
paper towel. Soak sponges and dishcloths in hot soapy water to which you’ve
added chlorine bleach.
When
you first turn the grill on leave it running for 5 minutes on
full this will burn off any residue that has accumulated and
get the grill up to a good cooking temperature.
Always
make sure the cooking surface of the grill is clean. Use steel
wool or a brush to
remove any baked-on food residue. Or try some cleaning
solutions especially designed to clean grills.
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CHILL
Store meat, poultry, & other fresh/ perishable foods cold until ready to
cook. Once outdoors, use an ice pack in either a cool bag or in a chilly-bin
to keep food cold. Store raw meat & poultry apart from other foods. Defrost
meat fully (in the fridge or microwave) so it cooks evenly on the Grill. Always
marinate food in the refrigerator. When
shopping for meat, fish and poultry, put them in your grocery
cart last. Never buy a package that’s damaged or torn and
check “sell-by” and “use-by” dates.
Put
packaged raw meat in plastic bags so leaking juices cannot cross
contaminate other foods.
Load grocery bags with meat and other refrigerated foods in the air-conditioned
section of the car, not in the trunk.
Take groceries home immediately or bring along a cooler with ice packs and
place the meat in it. Refrigerate or freeze it as soon as possible.
When carrying food to a picnic, the beach or a tailgating party, keep it cold.
Use an insulated cooler with sufficient ice or ice packs to keep the food at
40° F. Remove food from the refrigerator and pack the cooler just before
leaving the house.
If including take-out foods, such as deli potato salad, coleslaw or baked
beans, eat within two hours of picking them up. Otherwise, purchase them
in advance and chill thoroughly, then transport in a cooler and reheat those
that should be hot just before eating.
If you won’t use meat, fish and poultry within a few days, freeze it
immediately.
Store refrigerated meat in the coldest part of the refrigerator in its original
packaging.
The more times the food is handled the more chance of contamination. Put a
plate under the package, or place in a plastic bag, to avoid juices dripping
onto refrigerator shelves.
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COOK
If possible, pre-cook pork and poultry in the microwave or oven, then take
them straight to the grill to finish off. Meat and poultry cooked on
the
grill often browns very fast on the outside. Make sure burgers, sausages,
pork and poultry are cooked thoroughly until the juices run clear and no
pink bits remain on the inside.
Use one set of utensils (e.g. knives, tongs)
for handling raw meat and another set for handling cooked meat. When taking
food off the grill, don't put the cooked items on the same plate, which
held the raw meat.
If
possible, eat the cooked food, as soon as it is ready, don't leave
it sitting around. Alternatively, keep food hot on the side
of the grill rack or in the oven until ready to eat.
Keep
hot food hot (160°F) and cold foods cold (40°F)
Do not serve marinades in which raw meat has been marinating. Marinate foods
in the refrigerator, never on the counter.
Boil any marinade to destroy bacteria if you plan to baste with it or serve
it with the cooked meat. Never save marinades for a second use.
To cook meat thoroughly on skewers, space the pieces a little bit apart
Burgers
Cook
all burgers until the juices run clear and there are no pink
bits – never serve rare.
Thick burgers, either bought or homemade, are difficult to cook
thoroughly on a grill. Cook first in the oven at 390ºF
for 15 minutes, then brown on the grill, checking that the
juices run clear before serving.
Chicken
Never
serve chicken under cooked. Cook all chicken until juices run
clear.
Ensure frozen chicken is thoroughly defrosted.
Only use small pieces of chicken on skewers, or fillets on the grill.
Chicken on the bone, like drumsticks should be cooked in the oven first and
transferred to the grill for crisping.
Other
Meats
Sausages
and any other minced meat products, cook thoroughly as for burgers
to a core temperature of 160ºF.
Steak/ chops or similar whole pieces of lamb/ beef may be served rare, as long
as all the outside surfaces are well browned.
Trim
excess fat from meat to avoid flare-ups; never char the meat.
Reheat
foods or fully cooked meats like hot dogs by grilling to 165°F,
or until steaming hot.
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COVER
Discard any perishable food that has been left out more than 1-2 hours. Cover
and chill any other leftovers as soon as possible and eat within 48 hours.
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