Food safety in the kitchen is always of utmost importance, but especially during the hot summer months when leaving a carton of milk out on the counter for just 30 minutes can cause harmful bacteria to develop, yet the milk will not taste or smell sour. We also saw an interesting late night news film clip which showed that a bottle of ketchup, left unrefrigerated for just 1 day, developed harmful bacteria.
Safe Food Storage
Check the temperature in your refrigerator and freezer. Refrigerators should stay below 41°F (5°C) and the freezer, 0°F (-l8°C). This won't kill any bacteria that is already present, but it will keep them from multiplying. You can buy a thermometer for the refrigerator and freezer in the housewares section of most supermarkets.
Take extreme care in handling leftovers-we refrigerate ours immediately after a meal. No leaving them out until they cool-better a few pennies for the refrigerator to bring the temperature back to its setting than for us to spend lots of dollars treating a food-born illness.
When you're shopping for food, be sure to check the sell-by label and always opt for the package or carton with the latest date. Once home, promptly store your perishables in the refrigerator or freezer. If you happen to live some distance from the store, carry one or more coolers and have the grocery clerk pack the perishables separately so that you can quickly put these into the cooler for the trip home.
Wash your hands with hot soapy water before and after handling any raw food. Be wary of the possibility of cross-contamination by using clean, smooth cutting boards made of hard maple, glass, or plastic that are free of cracks and crevices. Wash the boards in hot soapy water or better yet, sanitize them in the automatic dishwasher, or rinse them after washing in a solution of 1 teaspoon (5 ml) chlorine bleach to 1 quart (1 l) water. Since we sometimes cook most of the day when we're developing recipes for one of our cookbooks or this site, we keep a ready supply of this solution in a spray bottle near the kitchen sink.
Always thoroughly wash and dry any knives or other utensils after using them for raw foods, such as poultry, before using them for another food, raw or cooked. Better, use different knives or utensils when possible. We have different cutting boards for raw foods that will be cooked, and food that has already been cooked or is to remain raw, i.e. a board to cut raw chicken or fish and an entirely different board to cut bread or fresh fruits.
Cooking Safety
The USDA suggests cooking meat to an internal temperature of at least 160°F (71°C). Does that mean that you can never enjoy another rare or medium rare steak or tenderloin roast? We personally practice caveat emptor (buyer beware) in our homes. We know our butcher and his source of meat so we have no problem in sometimes cooking beef for medium-rare (rare, we have given up), and so far we've had no trouble. Ground beef is another matter, as research shows that ground beef absolutely needs to be cooked to an internal temperature of 160°F (71°C) to prevent food-borne illness. That doesn't necessarily mean "no pink" in the center as some ground beef patties or meatballs can reach the proper internal temperature and still have a pink center.
Recommended internal temperatures for other foods are:
pork-160°F (71°C)/medium/no pink
lamb--160°F (71°C)/medium/some pink
veal--160°F (71°C)well done
whole poultry and thighs-180°F (82°C)
poultry breasts-170°F (77°C)
ground chicken or ground turkey-165°F (74°C)
fish and seafood-cook at a high temperature, making sure the internal temperature reaches 145°F (63°C) for at least 15 seconds
Buy only refrigerated eggs and refrigerate promptly when you get them home. Cook fresh eggs until both the yolk and white are firm, not runny, and scramble eggs until there is no visible liquid egg. This means soft-boiled eggs will take 3 1/2 minutes to properly cook, instead of the 3-minute egg of days gone by. Never taste anything, such as a cookie dough, cake batter, etc. that contains raw eggs.
How long can you store leftovers in the fridge? Here's a general guideline:
cooked fresh vegetables-3 to 4 days
cooked pasta-3 to 5 days
cooked rice-1 week
deli counter meats-5 days
salad greens-1 to 2 days
cooked and sliced ham-3 to 4 days
cooked beef, pork, poultry, fish, and meat casseroles-3 to 4 days
cooked patties and nuggets, gravy, and broth-1 to 2 days
cooked seafood-2 days
soups and stews-3 to 4 days
stuffing-1 to 2 days
When in doubt, throw it out!
