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| Stuffed Meats: Meat, poultry or fish that has a hole or is wrapped around a filling of soft food, like bread or rice mixed with liquids, then cooked together. Stuffed meats take longer to cook safely than unstuffed meats. |
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Trichinosis: A disease caused by eating a parasite, a worm, found in pork that is raw or undercooked. It causes
pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. E.COLI 0157:H7: A germ found in raw or undercooked ground beef. |
You must place the thermometer in the thickest part of the meat or in the center of the food to get a true reading. (Do not touch a bone with the stem of the thermometer.) All poultry, all food made from poultry, all stuffed meats and the stuffing in them must reach 165o F or hotter to destroy Salmonella and other bacteria. Pork and all foods made from pork must cook to at least 150o F to prevent trichinosis, a very serious illness.Hamburger (ground beef) must be cooked to 155o F to kill a germ called E.Coli. This includes all kinds of hamburger such as taco meat, and meat loaf, as well as hamburger patties. Fish, seafoods, all foods made with seafood, and all other meats, such as beef and lamb, must be cooked to 140o F or hotter to kill the bacteria that cause food borne illness. Some people like rare beef, and this is the one meat that can be cooked to only 130o F if it is served right away. No raw meat is really safe to eat. Never cook large roasts, turkeys or stuffed turkeys while they are still frozen. Their big size keeps the insides from cooking to a safe temperature. You must thaw them first so the heat can reach the center of the meat faster. Microwave ovens do not cook evenly; you must stir and turn the food while it cooks to make sure it cooks to the same temperature in every part. Check the food with a metal stem thermometer before you serve it. (Do not keep the thermometer in the food while it is cooking in the microwave oven). Never put metal of any form in a microwave oven!
Between the time you cook the food and you put away the cooked food in a cooler or freezer, its temperature can fall into the "Danger Zone". This section is about the ways to keep it safe while it gets past the "Danger Zone". You will learn about how to keep cooked food hot, hot holding, and how to reheat cold food. You will also learn how to cool down cooked food, and how to keep food cold, cold holding. We begin with cooling hot food the right way.
. You always take a chance when you have to cool down food.The best way to keep food safe is to make it fresh each day, just before you serve it. If you have food that is leftover or made in advance, you must cool it and store it safely. The first rule to remember about cooling is to: COOL HOT FOOD FAST! Cool it as fast as you can to below 45o F (7o C), past the Danger Zone. FOOD THAT IS NOT COOKED FAST ENOUGH IS THE NUMBER ONE CAUSE OF FOOD POISONING!
Here are five steps to cool solid food solid cuts of meat:
1. Cut large roasts and turkeys into pieces no larger than 4 pounds.
2. Put all meats and other hot food in the cooler or refrigerator as quickly
as you can, RIGHT AWAY; do not let the food sit at room temperature
for more than 30 minutes.
3. Do not stack pans; leave space for air to move around them.
4. Use a metal stem thermometer to check food temperatures (clean and sanitize thermometer stem
after each use).
5. Wait until the food has cooled to below 45o F before you cover it.
Examples of soft/thick foods are: refried beans, rice, potatoes, stews, chili, thick soup or thick sauces. You can cool soft/thick foods by pouring food into a shallow metal pan. The food cannot be more than 4 inches deep. For very thick foods like refried beans or chowder, you must have the food no more than 2 inches deep. You can also cool soft/thick foods using an ice and water bath. How to do an ice and water bath will be shown later with the cooling of liquid foods. Here are seven steps for cooling foods in a shallow metal pan:
1. Pour hot food into shallow metal pans. Soft/thick foods: keep food depth at
2 inches or less. Thin soups and thin sauces: keep food depth at 4 inches or less.
2. Put hot food int he refrigerator as quickly as you can; do not let food sit out at room
temperature for more than 30 minutes.
3. Do not cover the food until it has cooled to below 45o F.
4. Do not stack pans; leave space for air to move around them.
5. Stirring food speeds up cooling process.
6. Use your metal stem thermometer to check temperatures (clean and sanitize thermometer stem
after each use).
7. Once food cools to 45o F, you can place food in a large container and cover.
When you cool thin soup and sauces you can use shallow 4 inch metal pans, or you can use the ice and water bath. Remember, you want the food to cool as fast as possible to below 45o F. For shallow pan cooling, the food must be not more than 4 inches deep. Do not cover the food until it has cooled to 45o F in the refrigerator. The ice and water bath works well for cooling liquids. Here are eight steps to take for cooling food with an ice bath:
1. Close the drain in a large sink. Place the metal pot or pan of hot food in the sink.
2. Fill the sink with ice up to the level of food in the pot.
3. Add cold water to the ice.
4. Stir the soup or sauce often so that it cools all the way to the center. Ice paddles or cooling
wands canbe used to speed up the cooling process.
5. Add more ice as the old ice melts.
6. Check the food temperature with a metal stem thermometer. (Clean and sanitize the thermometer stem after each use).
7. Be sure youhave cooled the food from 140o F to under 45o F in LESS THAN FOUR HOURS.
8. Put the cooled foods into the refrigerator or freezer.
Each refrigeration unit, cold table or cooler must have its own thermometer that gives a true measure of how cold the air is, but you must also check the food with a metal stem thermometer. Air in the cooler must be able to move around the food, so the pans and dishes need to have space between them; do not crowd them.
For cold holding, do not let food stand at room temperature because that will allow germs to grow. Store foods in a refrigerator, refrigerated display case,in ice, or other approved method. Always cold hold foods at 45o F or less. Fish, shellfish, poultry, milk and red meat will stay fresh longer if you cold hold them below 40o F (4o C). Use the metal stem thermometer to check the food in cold holding, for example, in salad bars, areas where you prepare food, and in coolers. If you use ice to keep the food cold on a salad bar or food display, be sure that the ice comes up to the level of the food that is in the pan or dish. Food must be colder than 45o F when you put it in the ice. Cold hold foods at 45o F or less.
There are only three safe ways to thaw foods, and you must plan ahead to allow enough time to do it right:
1. Thaw food in the refrigerator; it may take a few hours or a few days. This is the best and safest way. Be sure
to put meat in a container to catch the meat juices and to keep them from dripping. Put raw meats on the bottom shelf away from ready-to-eat foods;
2. thaw the food under cool, running water; or
3. Thaw food in a microwave oven; you must then cook it or serve it right away.
Never thaw food at room temperature, on a counter or in warm water. These methods let harmful bacteria grow to high numbers (the "Danger Zone").
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TEMPERATURES TO MEMORIZE: Danger Zone: 45 F to 140 F Oregon Law: Allows 45 F - but 41 helps keep food safer. Potentially Hazardous Foods and minimum required temperatures: Poultry & Stuffing: 165 F (74 C) Hamburger: 155 F (68 C) Pork: 150 F (66 C) Beef, Lamb and Seafood: 140 F (60 C) Rare Beef: 130 F (54 C) This 40 page booklett is provided free at the Lane County Courthouse and is reprinted here in condenced form by removing all images to fit into six pages. |
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