Grilling Food Safety Tips

We are coming upon what might be the biggest grilling holiday of the year…Independence Day!

This is a fun time when friends and family gather to celebrate the liberties of living in our great nation, and there would be no better way to ruin this fun time than for someone to fall ill unnecessarily due to unsafe food handling practices.  Therefore, I’m going to share some food safety tips to practice for all those grill masters out there!

Let’s get started!

1)     Wash hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds (say your ABC’s or sing the Happy Birthday song to help pass the time).

2)     Always marinate foods in the refrigerator and don’t use the sauce that was used to marinate raw meat on cooked food.

3)     Grill food to a safe internal temperature using a food thermometer to be sure food is cooked thoroughly by placing the thermometer in the thickest part of the meat making sure not to touch bone, fat, or gristle and check the temperature in several places to make sure the food is evenly heated.

4)     Proper cooking temperatures follow:

·         Beef and lamb steaks and roasts=145°F for medium rare and 160°F for medium

·         Ground beef and pork=160°F

·         Poultry=165°F

·         Fish=145°F or until meat is opaque and separates easily with a fork

5)     Never place cooked food on a plate that previously held raw meat, poultry, seafood or eggs.

6)     Never let food sit at room temperature for more than 2 hours before putting them in the refrigerator or freezer (one hour when the temperature is above 90°F).

Overall…clean, separate, cook and chill to ensure a pleasant cookout for all!