Since it’s now the unofficial start of summer after Memorial Day weekend, we figured it would be a great idea to talk about some summer related topics, and what’s more summer-y than cookouts and BBQ’s? I know that for me personally, I live at the gril in the warm months and don’t even touch the stove top until October. But hey, that’s just me.
In any event though, there’s perhaps nothing worse that can ruin your cookout more than poorly washed or cooked food that leads to sickness. Food safety is extremely important, no matter what you’re cooking or where you’re cooking it, but it’s pretty easy to forget or cut corners if you’re having a lot of people over for a big cookout. It’s understandable- you’re trying to host everyone, get drinks or other things to keep the party going, AND trying to cook the food. But if you don’t take the proper steps to have safely prepared and cooked food, then you could have a crowd of very unhappy people on your hands. And worse case scenario, some end up in the hospital with food poisoning, leading to a pricey medical bill- something that would more than likely hit your CT insurance coverage.
Don’t think this scenario isn’t going to happen? Well, think again, because every year, 48 million people get sick in some way or another from food. That’s A LOT of people! Furthermore, over 125,000 of them end up in the hospital- so yes, it CAN HAPPEN! So to ensure that you’re weekend BBQ doesn’t turn into a sick fest, here’s three quick and easy tips to ensure that your food is in tip-top shape:
– Washing your hands is imperitve, as well as using clean tongs, forks, or other cooking utensils before, during, and after you cook
-Make sure you keep different foods apart from one another, especially raw meat or poultry from foods like salads or raw veggies.
– Two words: Meat thermometer- I don’t care if you consider yourself an expert and can tell when the food is done just by feel- the temperature of the food is the tell-tale sign of when the food is ready to conume.
So if you follow the above three tips, you should be in pretty good shape so that your next cookout will have your guests loving the food instead of asking for a bathroom.