Summer is a great time to enjoy outings and outdoor cooking. It gives you time to get out of the hectic daily routine and enjoy yourself with your friends and family. It is important to ensure all safety measures are followed during outdoor cooking to prevent food poisoning.
My friend invited me to his outdoor cooking plan with other friends last summer. We enjoyed the outing and especially the food. I was surprisingly happy to see the arrangements and the food safety measures. Later, I asked him about that, and he told me about food safety tips.
In this article, we are going to tell you the top ten food safety tips for outdoor cooking.
1. Cook Thoroughly
Cooking outside is an interesting activity. Everything has advantages and disadvantages; the activity is interesting, but you must take extra care with the gas cylinder.
Before you plan to go for an outing, it is necessary to check your gas appliances checked by a gas safety engineer. He will inspect the devices and issue you a gas safety certificate cp12.
Gas product (gas cylinder) is the most important thing in the outing as it is used to cook food to a safe temperature until all the bacteria are dead. You can use a thermometer to check whether food has reached a safe internal temperature or not.
2. Wash Your Hands
The second on the list is to wash your hands. It is important because your hands are mostly in contact with everything. During the outing, which can be hiking or a trip to a beautiful place, your hands come in contact with several germs and bacteria.
It is important to wash your hands before you touch anything related to food. The physical contact will transfer bacteria from your hands into the food, leading to food poisoning.
If no water is available, take a sanitizer with you so you can wash your hands anytime you want. Wash or sanitize your hands anytime you come in contact with anything unhealthy.
3. Serving Food
It is important to take care of the safety measures when serving food to friends. For this, use separate and clean plates to put the cooked food. Don’t mistake using the same plates to keep the uncooked meat. Using the same plates can contaminate the food because of the bacteria in the plates.
Moreover, if there is time to serve the food, keep the cooked food in a hotpot. If there is any food left, place it in the small refrigerator. In addition to that, please dispose of the waste properly; don’t throw it because it will pollute the environment.
4. Defrost And Marinate Meat In Advance
Marinating the meat increases its life and saves it from contamination. You can buy a marinating powder and place the meat in it after defrosting the frozen meat.
This step is necessary when you are planning to go for an outing. Marinate the meat a day before the outing. After marinating, please place it in the refrigerator to prevent the meat from bacteria.
5. Separate Raw And Cooked Food
There should be separate plates for everything, for uncooked meat, fish, and chicken, and for cooking the cooked food. The preserving temperatures are different for uncooked food as they are kept marinated inside the refrigerator.
On the other hand, cooked food is hot and should be kept on separate plates or hot pots. We recommend you take disposable plates, so you are free from washing the plates. You can use the plates and then dispose of their plates properly.
6. Take Medical Help With You
Food poisoning is normal when you go out with your family and friends. However, it is not something that you should take for granted. Sometimes, it can be life-threatening, so make sure you are ready to face the illness.
There are several symptoms of food poisoning which include.
- Blood in your vomit.
- If you suffer from diarrhea for more than three days.
- If you have extreme pain in your belly or temperature.
- Weakness in your muscles.
7. Cook Professionally
Ensure the person cooking the food is professional and knows all the techniques. The first and foremost thing to check is whether the chicken meat is properly defrosted before you put it on the stove.
After you place the food on the cylinder, make sure that you move the food regularly so that the food is cooked evenly and doesn’t burn. To keep the cooked food warm, place it on the side of the stove, so it remains warm.
8. Rinse The Fruits And Vegetables
You take meat, chicken, fruits, vegetables, and snacks when you plan to go out with family and friends. As far as meat is concerned, it would help if you marinated it before you go out.
Before using vegetables and fruits, wash them under running water, so no bacteria are left behind. It is mandatory to wash these as they contain a lot of bacteria. To be safe, wash the fruits before cutting them, so the chances of bacteria in them are minimized.
9. Keep Everything Clean
Cleanliness is important and plays a handy role in keeping you healthy. Make one member of the group the leader, and he should make a proper plan before the departure. The leader should assign duties to every member of the group. Assign the duty to clean every utensil and properly dispose of the waste material.
10. Cover All Dishes
Leaving your dishes uncovered at home is normal, but the case is different when you are outside. It is important to cover all the dishes and plates to protect your food from flies, ants, and other bugs.
Note the timings of every dish; don’t leave any dish outside the refrigerator for more than two hours. If any food is left out for more than four hours, dispose of the dish. It has the risk of being contaminated.
Conclusion
Going out with friends and family is a vital task. It also brings certain responsibilities to save you and your close ones from getting food poisoned. The tips mentioned above will help you stay safe from any time of illness. This is all from today’s article. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. Thank you so much for your time.