Safety

Anyone that has ever gotten food sickness knows that it is no fun. In this section I will give information that will hopefully prevent you from causing someone else to get sick. The best way to remember this is to just remember the four C’s: Contain; Chill; Clean; Cook. (1)

Contain:

Prevent microbes from spreading from where they might be to where they might want to go, or as some say “cross contamination.” You should keep all like meats separate. You do not want to store you chicken in the same place you store vegetables in the refrigerator.

Take a cooler with ice when you go to the store for shopping. The time on the ride home can give bacteria time to start growing as food warms. Also this will keep meat juice from spreading to other things by keeping it separated.

When working with raw meats make sure to wash your hands after you handle it each time. If you do not want to have to do this, then use latex or vinyl gloves.

Also use different cutting boards for different things. Label cutting boards so that it is easy to remember which one you cut chicken on.

Chill:

Bacteria grow and rapidly reproduce at temperatures between 40F and 140F, so keep your refrigerator set between 35F and 38F and your freezer below zero.

Once you are done cooking any leftover should be immediately packaged and stored. If you need to rapidly cool something, lay it out on a sheet pan and put into the freezer.

Clean:

            This one cannot be understated. Make sure to thoroughly clean all tools, hands, cutting boards, counters, and so on after every use. If meats were used make sure to sanitize the area with proper cleaning solutions.

Cook:

            These are the FDA’s recommended cook temperatures. (2)

Safe Minimum Cooking Temperatures

Use this chart and a food thermometer to ensure that meat, poultry, seafood, and other cooked foods reach a safe minimum internal temperature.

Remember, you can’t tell whether meat is safely cooked by looking at it. Any cooked, uncured red meats – including pork – can be pink, even when the meat has reached a safe internal temperature.

Why the Rest Time is Important

After you remove meat from a grill, oven, or other heat source, allow it to rest for the specified amount of time. During the rest time, its temperature remains constant or continues to rise, which destroys harmful germs.

Category	Food	Temperature (°F)	Rest Time
Ground Meat & Meat Mixtures	Beef, Pork, Veal, Lamb	160	None
	Turkey, Chicken	165	None
Fresh Beef, Veal, Lamb	Steaks, roasts, chops	145	3 minutes
Poultry	Chicken & Turkey, whole	165	None
	Poultry breasts, roasts	165	None
	Poultry thighs, legs, wings	165	None
	Duck & Goose	165	None
	Stuffing (cooked alone or in bird)	165	None
Pork and Ham	Fresh pork	145	3 minutes
	Fresh ham (raw)	145	3 minutes
	Precooked ham (to reheat)	140	None
Eggs & Egg Dishes	Eggs	Cook until yolk and white are firm	None
	Egg dishes	160	None
Leftovers & Casseroles	Leftovers	165	None
	Casseroles	165	None
Seafood	Fin Fish	145 or cook until flesh is opaque and separates easily with a fork.	None
	Shrimp, lobster, and crabs	Cook until flesh is pearly and opaque.	None
	Clams, oysters, and mussels	Cook until shells open during cooking.	None
	Scallops	Cook until flesh is milky white or opaque and firm.	None

Works Cited

1. Brown, Alton. Good Eats 3: The Later Years. New York : Abrams Books, 2011.

2. [Online] http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/charts/mintemp.html.