About ten years ago, I attended training to become a personal chef. The training detailed just about every aspect of being a personal chef, especially food safety. Since a personal chef usually cooks one or two weeks’ worth of food for clients, knowing how to cool, package and store food properly is extremely important. When clients pay for the luxury of having someone else do the cooking, they need to trust the way their food was handled and that it won’t make them sick. When we entertain or host guests, it is important to extend the same kind of care. The Fourth of July presents some challenges when it comes to food safety, since so many of us cook and eat outdoors at barbecues and picnics.
Tips for food safety:
Be sure to wash hands thoroughly and often. If you are away from a water source (like at a picnic pavilion), bring plastic jugs of water for washing your hands.
Make sure you sanitize your cooking area, especially to clean up any spilled marinade or meat juices. If you grill on your deck and open a door to access it, be sure to sanitize your door handle.
Avoid cross-contamination. Everyone knows that you must use a clean platter for meat once it is grilled, and to never replace the grilled meat to a tray that has touched raw meat. But, all too often, people just give the original platter a quick rinse and dry and then use it for the grilled meats. Be sure to use hot, soapy water; a quick rinse will not do.
Meat needs to be cooked to the proper temperature. The best way to protect your family from e coli and other illnesses is by achieving the recommended temperature when grilling. Toss a meat thermometer in your picnic basket to be sure.
Cold foods like pasta salad and cole slaw need to be kept cold, or at or under 40 degrees, to avoid spoiling. Serve at the last moment and keep cool in a refrigerator or cooler packed with ice. If you serve a buffet, try to have food set up indoors or in the shade. Try serving salads in bowls on a tray of ice to keep the food cold.
Cold, sweet watermelon is synonymous with summer, and extra care needs to be taken to keep it safe. Wash the outside of a whole watermelon in a clean sink using running water. Rinse and dry with a clean towel.
Keep foods covered to avoid flies or other pests. Food tents keep food safe.
Check out more food safety tips.
What are your plans for celebrating The Fourth?