It’s getting warmer outside, and it is time to start grilling outside and enjoying the beautiful spring evenings in Texas. Here are some safe food cooking tips for cooking outdoors.
• Thaw safely—The best way to thaw is by placing the frozen meat, fish, poultry or seafood in the refrigerator.
• Marinate carefully—Use marinade to add flavor, not germs. Marinate only in the refrigerator, never on the countertop. Do not use extra marinade as a sauce unless you cook it to the proper temperature of the meat you choose, or 165 degrees is best.
• Wash your hands before and after touching raw meat, poultry, or seafood.
• Wash work surfaces and cutting boards with hot, soapy water and sanitize before and after grilling.
• Try to use one cutting board for fresh produce and another one for raw meat, poultry, fish and seafood.
• After you have placed raw meat, poultry, fish or seafood on the grill, wash utensils and platters with hot soapy water before using them to serve the cooked food.
• Cook foods to a safe internal temperature. The paragraphs below show the minimum internal temperature, measured with a food thermometer, that a food needs to reach in order to be consumed safely. Once beef, veal, lamb, pork, steaks, roasts and chops have been removed from their heat source, allow for a three-minute rest period before consumption. Fish, poultry and ground beef do not require a rest period before consumption.
Beef, pork, veal, lamb, steaks, chops and roasts—145 degrees.
Fish—145 degrees.
Ground beef—160 degrees. Poultry—165 degrees.
• Keep cooked meat, poultry, fish, and seafood at 140 degrees or warmer until served. Keep cooked meats warm by moving them to the side of the grill, not directly over the coals where they could overcook. At home, place them in an oven set at 200 degree or in a slow cooker.
• Cooked foods like meat, poultry, fish or seafood should be eaten or refrigerated right away. Foods left out for more than two hours should be thrown away. When the weather is warm (90 degrees or above), cooked foods should be eaten or stored within one hour.
Enjoy the amazing evenings and hope you can use these tips to keep food safe while cooking outside!
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