Nothing says ‘Aussie summer’ than throwing a barbie. But the rising thermostat can cause bacterial growth in our food. Without the proper food safety procedures, it can lead to foodborne illneses! In the second part of the Summer Food Safety series, let’s look into
Summer Part 1: Recap
Last week, we looked into the proper method of transporting your food to the outdoor venue. Major takeaway from this point is to keep your food cool! Use gel coolers or frozen food to help the process. You can read more about it here.
Now this week, we are going to look at the cooking process. It’s not as simple as seeing that the meat is a different colour to know that it is safe to eat. You should be doing this will barbecuing your food:
- Use separate cutting boards and utensils for raw meat and ready-to-eat items like vegetables or bread
- Keep perishable food cold until it is ready to cook
- Use a food thermometer to make sure meat and poultry are cooked thoroughly to their safe minimum internal temperatures
- Beef, pork, lamb and veal (steaks, roasts, and chops): 63 °C with a 3 minute rest time
- Ground meats: 71 °C
- Whole poultry, poultry breasts, & ground poultry: 74 °C
- Always use a fresh, clean plate and tongs for serving cooked food. Never reuse items that touched raw meat or poultry to serve the food once it is cooked.
Next week, as we wrap up this series, we will be looking at how you should be serving the food at your next summer picnic.
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