Safe Summer Grilling

As the weather warms up many people enjoy using a grill to cook meats. The time between Memorial Day and Labor Day marks the time to break out the backyard barbecue grill. Use these simple guidelines for grilling food safely.

From the Store: Home First

When shopping for meat and poultry, put them in the shopping cart last, right before checkout. Load meat and poultry into the air conditioned car—not the trunk—and take the groceries straight home. At home, place meat and poultry in the refrigerator immediately.

Marinating

Some recipes state to marinate meat and poultry for several hours or days, either to tenderize or add flavor. Always marinate food in the refrigerator, not on the counter. If some of the marinade is to be used as a sauce on the cooked food, reserve a portion of the marinade. Don’t put raw meat and poultry in it. Don’t re-use the marinade used on raw meat or poultry unless it’s boiled first to destroy any bacteria.

Keep Everything Clean

Be sure there are plenty of clean utensils and platters for separately handling the raw foods and the food after cooking. Don’t use the same platter and utensils for raw and cooked meat and poultry. Any bacteria present in raw meat or juices can contaminate the safely cooked meat. This is a major cause of food borne illness.

Cook Thoroughly

Most people think they know when food is done just by eyeballing it. But cooking by color can fool you. Meat and poultry cooked on a grill often browns very fast on the outside. Research shows that 1 out of 4 hamburgers turn brown in the middle before it has reached a safe internal temperature. Use a thermometer to be sure the food has reached a safe internal temperature.

Serving the Food

When taking food off the grill, don’t put the cooked items on the same platter which held the raw meat. Any bacteria present in the raw meat juices could contaminate the safely cooked meat or other grilled foods. Food should never sit out for more than two hours, and in hot weather (90 degrees and above), food should never sit out for more than one hour.

Now let the grilling begin!!