Food Safety Tips

Three Main Rules for Food Safety:

o Keeping everything clean in the kitchen area

Food Techniques

o Keeping cold foods cold

o Keeping hot foods hot

Beware of hidden dangers:

o Spoiled Food

o Food Poisoning

Spoiled food is easy to spot since it usually looks and smells bad, but food poisoning is another story. Food poisoning is a bacteria that cannot be tasted, seen, or smelled. The following points will help keep a person safe:

o Always use paper towels when working with, or cleaning up after raw meat and even vegetables. Vegetables maybe shipped from other countries and some of their safety standards are not as strict as the United States.

o Keep pets out of the kitchen while cooking, especially if they are generally outdoor animals.

o Keep kitchen linen's washed regularly since bacteria tends to hang out in sponges, towels and cloths that are used over and over. Throw out dirty or mildewed dish sponges or clean in dishwasher.

Your clean kitchen:

o Clean with soap, that says "antibacterial".

o Wash hands with "antibacterial soap".

o Always wash hands, utensils or anything that raw meat or vegetables were around.

o Cover any skin cut or opening with bandage or gloves or protective plastic of some kind.

o Any cutting boards other than wood are the safest for cutting raw foods on because they are less porous than wooden boards.

o Do not mix raw meat with cooked meat because this could transfer bacteria. For example, do not take raw hamburger out to the grill to cook and put cooked ones back on the same plate.

Hot Foods

o Bacteria will thrive at room temperature or in lukewarm food, so do not allow hot foods to be at room temperature for more than two hours; to keep hot foods hot that means keep it above 140° or higher.

o Never partially cook or heat perishable foods because during cooking, the food may not reach a temperature high enough to destroy bacteria.

o It is necessary to roast meat or poultry at 325° or above.

o When reheating leftovers; stir often until steaming hot at 165°. If there are, any doubts about leftover foods throw it away because it is not worth getting sick over.

Cold Foods

o Since bacteria can thrive at room temperature then it can grow in foods that are suppose to be cold as well, so the same rule applies don't leave out for more than 2 hours at a time.

o Always take perishables foods home and refrigerate immediately.

o Foods chill faster when space is allowed between them when stocking refrigerator and freezer. In addition, divide into smaller amounts in shallow containers helps to chill faster.

o It is a good idea to buy a refrigerator thermometer to make sure your refrigerator is cooling at 35° to 40°. In addition, use a freezer thermometer to check that your freezer is staying at 0° or colder. If the power goes out do not open the doors. Food will be good for up to four hours and maybe a little longer depending on the circumstances.

o You should not thaw foods at room temperature, but if you do cook immediately at the correct temperatures. The same thing applies if you thaw foods in the microwave.

Check out these tips and more at http://www.cristiescookin.com.

Food Safety Tips