3 Tips for Cooking Food Safely

Keeping your food safe from contamination is an important part of good food preparation. Cooking thoroughly kills bacteria that can make your customers sick. By following a few simple rules, you can help keep your food safe from bacteria and keep your customers safe. In this article, you’ll learn about three easy ways to keep your food safe. After cooking, make sure to wash your hands and keep leftovers at room temperature. Lastly, separate raw meat, poultry, and seafood from your ready-to-eat foods.

Cleaning kitchen surfaces after cooking food

Before preparing and cooking food, you must ensure that you clean your kitchen surfaces thoroughly. Not only does this remove visible dirt and grime, but it also removes bacteria. Foodborne illnesses can develop due to bacteria remaining on surfaces for a long time.

Salmonella, for example, can remain on a surface for 32 hours before it causes illness. While cleaning removes some of these bacteria, it does not eliminate them completely.

Keeping leftovers at room temperature

There are many tips for safely storing leftovers after cooking. Ideally, you should use airtight containers to avoid odors and bacteria. Refrigerate leftovers on the top shelf and place older ones at the back. Keep hot leftovers refrigerated for at least 2 hours after cooking. Then, refrigerate them for two to three days. If possible, refrigerate food for up to 3 days after cooking. This is crucial for reducing the risk of foodborne illness.

Washing hands

You may have heard that you should wash your … Read More ...