This is the Important stuff!

Food Safety

I like to think I run a very clean kitchen. I took multiple food safety classes and I really find it all vital and interesting. I was watching tv the other day and a program came on about food safety in our kitchens. I forget what show it was now but it was really good. They came into a woman's home and just before she started cooking that rubbed a safe chemical on the chicken she was about to cook. The chemical shows residue under black light. From what I saw she was a very clean and diligent cook but at the end of the show there was residue in some the most unexpected places. She washed her hands multiple times but residue showed up where her wedding ring was.After watching the show I thought it would be a good idea to refresh myself on some food safety stuff and that't what I want to share with you.
This stuff is so incredibly important and I urge you to take a class or do some extensive studying of your own.
I've found that most common mistake are the ones that our parents pass down to us and we think are ok.
We need to toss that excuse that we haven't died yet. I hear that all the time and it freaks me out.

Here are just a couple things I've learned.

1.Use separate cutting boards for your food! Have a different color, if possible, or label the one you use for meat, veggies and etc. You can never really get cutting boards fulling sanitized and the plastic and wood all absorb the bacteria.

2.Take off your wedding rings before you start cooking. They harbor bacteria under them

3. Wash hands for a minimum of 20 seconds. Either sing happy birthday slowly or count.

4. DON'T wash your chicken! This is a big one that our parents taught us To do and it has been proven that this doesn't clean the chicken in any way( remember all the bacteria will be killed when it's cooked) but instead by washing them it spread bacteria through your whole kitchen.

5. Buy a meat thermometer and use it!

6. Put your sponges in the dishwasher. I do this at least once a week. You can dampen them and use the microwave too. Sponges and towels harbor so much bacteria and you need those high heats on a regular basis to kill them.

7. Always refrigerate food promptly.

8. NEVER leave raw meats on the counter to thaw out. They will get into that danger zone and that's when those dangerous bacteria are formed. Always thaw food out in the fridge, microwave, or COLD water.

9. Food defrosted in the microwave should be cooked immediately after thawing.

10. wash your reusable grocery bags regularly. They harbor bacteria also.

11. The food danger zone is between 4 Celsius(40F) and 60Celsius(140F)

12. Never refreeze thawed food.

13. Always store eggs in their original container.

14. Marinate meat in the fridge not on the counter. Never use leftover marinade from raw food in cooked food.

15. Use Pre-packaged deli meats within 4 days of opening and fresh deli meat within 2-3 days.

16. Best before dates apply to unopened packages only. Check the opened shelf life of all your food!
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