What’s on your Memorial Day menu? Chances are, you’re opening the summer season with a barbecue. To keep your meal perfect, keep it safe!
Your grilled meal can be an ideal medium for bacteria to multiply—fast! A potential result? Food-borne illness for you, your family, and your guests.
To keep harmful bacteria at bay whenever you grill:
- Marinate in the fridge, not on the countertop. Set aside any unused marinade for basting. Toss out leftover marinade used with raw meat, poultry, or fish—unless you heat it to a rolling boil first.
- Clean the grill. Get rid of debris from the last cookout.
- Precook wisely. If you partly cook food in your kitchen first, grill it right away. Or thoroughly cook it ahead, refrigerate, and just reheat it on the grill.
- Cook thoroughly on both sides. Use a meat thermometer to check for safety and doneness: burgers, 160°F; poultry breasts, 170°F; steaks, 145° to 170°F; pork, 160°F.
- Transfer cooked foods to clean plates with clean utensils. Keep raw meat, poultry, and seafood juices away from cooked foods, vegetables, and fruits.
- Serve right away! In hot weather, the keeping time is an hour or less.
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