Meat Safety for Health

Meat safety guidelines must be followed when handling, cooking and serving meat to ensure the safety of your family and friends as well as yourself.

Most of this is common sense like washing your hands after handling meat and not letting meat sit out of the fridge for very long but I have learned over the years to not assume anything so I want to go over some very important food safety details with you just to cover all the bases.

If you already know all of this and are already following all of these guidelines to the letter then good for you... you make me proud;-)

The Guidelines

• Meat stored in a freezer at 0 degrees will always be safe
• Freezing meat keeps bacteria in a dormant stage Once thawed these bacteria can become active again
• Never thaw meat on the kitchen counter for more than two hours
• Never defrost meat in hot water
• Always thaw meat in the refridgerator for safest practices
• Meat can be thawed in cold water however, water must be changed every thirty minutes and package must be leak-proof.
• Meat thawed in cold water must be cooked before re-freezing.
• Meat thawed in microwave should be cooked immediately after thawing.
• When marinating meat be sure to do so in the fridge and never re-use the marinade

Washing your hands is probably one of the most vitally important things you can do when working with meat. It takes 15 seconds and some soap and water but it does a world of good and ensures that you do not infect other areas of your kitchen or work area with something that could make someone very sick.

These are just some meat safety tips that will make you a better cook and you can be sure that your family and guests may get sick from overeating your delicious barbecue but never from a food borne illness.