Food Safety Rules

We are rapidly approaching big kitchen party 'of the year. We all want our family and our guests to experience a pleasant dining experience. We spend days planning special meals and hours of preparation so that nothing happens without a hitch, but we do it safely? You could have removed the best beef Wellington ever - you favorite boss, but if you poison everyone in the room, you can kiss good bye promotion. Then look at some basic tips to keep your food safe and you have used.

Keep It Clean

Wash your hands often. Sounds easy, and most people wash their hands before starting to cook, but you need after handling almost all the meat ingredients that concerns you.
Wash all surfaces with hot soapy water before starting to prepare your meals, but often during and after preparation. To add a mix c. soup preventive measure. bleach to 1 gallon of water. Use it on surfaces and keep them away from food.

Vegetables and fruits should be washed under running water. After washing, they should be attached to the side until ready to use. Keep them separate from meat.

It is a common myth that washing meat before cooking can prevent bacteria from spreading throughout your kitchen and improve food security, which is false. What happens instead is spread on contaminated utensils, sinks and food preparation surfaces. Meat should go directly from the packaging surface preparation and the cooking appliance (IE pot, pot, pot, etc..) Bacteria that may be present in meat is killed by cooking. This is why the meat is supposed to be cooked at certain temperatures.

Cooking

Every kitchen should have a meat thermometer and all cooks must know how to use one. This will ensure that all meat is cooked to a temperature that is sure to be properly consumed. The following are the types of meat and a minimum of good temperature according to the FDA:

Beef, veal and lamb - 145 degrees F
Pork - 145 degrees F
Poultry - 145 degrees F

Cold

Harmful bacteria that can cause food poisoning grow rapidly at room temperature. For this reason it is important to bring the temperature of your leftovers as soon as possible. Foods should be refrigerated and stored in two hours of serving or preparation.
Covering the remains is not always sufficient. Make sure you have removed as much air contact as possible. With soups and sauces, it is recommended to place a large piece of plastic wrap on top and press down until the liquid touches the scarf, forming a seal. Not only that prevents harmful air to reach the sauce, but has the advantage of eliminating the "skin" that forms on the surface of sauces, soups and sauces.

The meat should be wrapped and placed in the refrigerator as soon as possible.
Keep your refrigerator at least 40 ° F and check it every so often against a refrigerator thermometer. Also, try not to pack too much food in your refrigerator, as this allowed to circulate air and keep everything nice and cool.

If you follow these steps, you can greatly reduce the risk of foodborne pathogens ruin your holiday season. Have a happy holiday season!