Memorial day weekend seems to officially kick-off the summer grilling season.
With that it might be worth a reminder of the need for extra care when handling and preparing food in the summer heat. We have many basic food safety tips in our First Kitchen DVD, but there are some extra precautions when it come to warm weather food handling and cooking.
- When buying meat, fish or poultry for that out-door barbecue you’re planning, take it right home. Don’t stop for a latte with your groceries still in the car. Or if you do, have a cooler with ice in the trunk of your car to hold your purchases if you can’t get home within the hour.
- Just as we tell you about careful handling of meat- and especially chicken- in your kitchen, the same holds true for out-door grilling. Use separate utensils and platters for raw and cooked food. OK- this may not be totally green, but this might be a good place to use paper plates. As we say, “Eliminate, don’t contaminate!”
- Refrigerate leftovers right way. If you are using a cooler with ice for holding the food, a good idea is to use a separate cooler for beverages. That way when continually opening the cooler to get a cold drink, you won’t be warming the food.
- Cook hamburgers and chicken thoroughly just as you would at home.
By following a few simple food safety tips, we can avoid the mysterious “24 hour flu?” we often get.
Try our Surf and Turf Kabob
recipe (or maybe just the Turf). Have fun and get cooking!
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