Don't cook your goose when eating outdoors

Maybe it's the surroundings, but food seems to taste better when it’s eaten outside. We want your picnics and barbeques to stay delightful, so here are some tips on handling food safely at outdoor repasts from the Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Dept. of Agriculture:

• First, as we all learned in preschool, good food safety practices begin with hand-washing. If you won’t have access to water, think ahead and bring soap and a jug of water. If that’s not feasible, an alcohol-based hand sanitizer is an effective alternative.  
•  Because the bacteria that can cause food poisoning multiply faster at temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees, keep cold food cold and hot food hot in separate insulated carriers. Avoid opening the coolers more than necessary to maintain the temperature. 
• Cold food subject to spoilage should be held at or below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. To keep the cooler food cold longer, you can pack the meat, poultry, and seafood still slightly frozen and well insulated from other foods to avoid contamination. When you cook it, use a thermometer to ensure that it's reached a safe minimum internal temperature. Beef, veal, and lamb steaks, roasts, and chops can be cooked to 145 degrees. Hamburgers made of ground beef should reach 160 degrees. All cuts of pork should reach 160 degrees . All poultry should reach a minimum of 165 degrees.
• Hot food should be kept hot, at or above 140 degrees. Wrap the hot food well and place in an insulated container. Eat it within two hours of cooking or purchase. 
• Rinse all fresh fruits and vegetables thoroughly under running tap water before you pack it. Do that even if the skins and rinds are not eaten, since cutting through the outer layer can contaminate the inner fruit. That includes melons, whose nooks and crannies, we have unfortunately learned, are great hiding places for such uninvited germs as salmonella.
•  Don’t let perishable foods sit out longer than 2 hours — and only one hour if air temperature is hotter than 90 degrees.
• If you’re grilling out, marinate the foods in the refrigerator, not on the counter or outdoors. If the marinade is to be used as a sauce on the cooked food, reserve a portion separately before adding the raw meat, poultry, or seafood. Don’t reuse a marinade that’s been in contact with raw food. Similarly, don’t use the same platter and utensils that previously held the raw meat to serve the cooked foods, unless the platter and utensils have been washed in hot soapy water.
• If you want to partially cook food in the microwave, oven, or stove to reduce grilling time, do so immediately before the food goes on the hot grill.
• Be aware that the grill can brown foods quickly and make them look done, even when they're not, so be sure to check with a food thermometer. 

And one last tip to pass on from one of our own staffers (who admits he should know better): Make sure to clean your grill’s drip pan frequently. He didn’t, and the result was a flaming and dangerous mess.

See also:

• Quiz: Summer safety truths and half-truths
• Safe Food Handling (USDA)
• Barbecue Basics: Tips to Prevent Foodborne Illness (FDA)
• Outdoor Eating Food Safety Tips (FDA)

Comments

[SE in Ohio]

Great article and excellent guidelines to follow. I've got one question. My wife and I have an on-going disagreement regarding whether it's necessary to rinse fruits/vegetables when we bring them in from the grocery store before putting them in the refrigerator. I say there might be dirt/contaminants on them (even if they're organic) and I wash them with soap/water before they go in the refrigerator. She wants to wash them whenever they're used and sometimes claims that keeping them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator keeps them from harming anything else. I disagree and just want to wash everything before it goes in the "fridge". Thoughts on the best practice to follow?? Thank you in advance.