Tips for a safe summer cookout
Don’t let food poisoning spoil your gathering with friends and family
There’s no better way to celebrate the summer season than a cookout. What’s not to love about enjoying the best weather of the year while savoring grilled meat and side dishes galore?
Whether you’re hosting the party or just bringing your favorite dish to share, we all have a role in making sure that everybody has a good time while also staying safe. Besides running out of food, there are no greater buzzkills at a cookout than food poisoning.
THAWING: The time to start thinking about food safety starts as soon as you leave the grocery store. Get raw meats and other perishables into the refrigerator or freezer as quickly as possible.
When thawing frozen protein, put the package inside another container to avoid leakage and place it on the lowest shelf in the refrigerator. Be certain that meats are completely thawed before grilling or you’ll risk uneven cooking. Plan ahead and thaw a day or two before you plan to cook.
Under no circumstances defrost meat on the counter. Room temperature presents an opportunity for dangerous bacteria to thrive.
KEEPING THINGS SEPARATE: The kitchen becomes a chaotic place before any gathering, but it’s particularly important to stay vigilant about crosscontamination. Keep raw meat away from foods you plan to serve uncooked. Always use separate cutting boards and utensils for raw meat and make sure to wash them in hot soapy water after use.
By now, you’ve probably heard about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s plea to stop rinsing chicken under running water, as it can cause potentially deadly bacteria to splash all over your sink, counters, walls and clothes. Pat the meat with
paper towels, if necessary, then continue prepping. The goal is to get raw meat out of the package and to a cooking vessel or grill with as few opportunities for cross-contamination as possible.
Poultry can marinate, refrigerated, for up to two days before cooking. You have a little more wiggle room with refrigerated pork and red meat — up to five days before cooking. If you plan to also serve a marinade as a sauce, it must be boiled first.
COOLERS: Use a separate cooler for raw meat, poultry and seafood, and fill it with ice or ice packs to keep the interior temperature below 40 degrees. Try not to open coolers more frequently than necessary, as this lets the cold air out and warm air in. Don’t take raw meat out until you’re ready to grill it. Bring dedicated bags of ice for beverages instead of using ice that may have been contaminated by food and dirty hands. If you won’t have running water at the cookout location, bring a few jugs for cleaning utensils and hands. Also bring hand sanitizer and extra paper towels.
GRILLING: If you’re responsible for grilling, gather the proper tools. A handheld instant-read meat thermometer will enable you to take quick temperature checks as food cooks.
If you’re slow-smoking larger cuts of meat, a probe thermometer is even better. It stays in the meat to monitor the internal temperature without requiring you to constantly open the grill.
I’m a stickler for having some sort of thermometer on hand, because some critical numbers for food safety are useful to know. The grill or smoker needs to be at least 250 degrees to safely cook food. Per the Department of Agriculture guidelines, poultry should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Pork, beef, lamb and veal steaks, chops or roasts should be cooked to at least 145 degrees. All ground meat should be cooked to 160 degrees.
TEMPERATURE CONTROL: It’s imperative that cold dishes stay cold; in particular, those made with uncooked eggs (such as homemade mayonnaise). You’ll want to avoid letting food sit out in the sun, so find a shady area for the buffet table. Even better, set cold side dishes inside a bigger pan filled with ice to help keep them cold longer.
Likewise, hot dishes need to be kept hot — warmer than 140 degrees. To do this outdoors, you can use disposable chafing dish buffet kits, which will keep food piping hot. A set of pans, wire racks, and fuel tins to keep two dishes hot will set you back a mere $10 to $15. Once you’re finished grilling, you can also keep food hot by setting aluminum pans on the cooler side of the grill.
Whether cold or hot, food should not be left out at room or outdoor temperature for longer than two hours. If it’s warmer than 90 degrees outside, shorten that to one hour. Beyond that time period, there’s a greater likelihood for bacteria to grow.
LEFTOVERS: This brings us to the last phase of the cookout. Assuming you took the preceding precautions, properly refrigerated leftovers should be consumed within three to four days, tops. Always be sure to thoroughly reheat hot food in the microwave or oven until steaming.
Although it may be a bit of a drag to take on the role of cookout safety monitor, knowing better means doing better. So be as annoying as it takes. Ensuring your guests are served food that’s safe to eat is just as important as how it tastes.