Summer time in the United States translates to one thing for a lot of people: outdoor grilling season. Summer weather makes for great outdoor grilling conditions that a lot of people love to take advantage of. Family and friends get together to enjoy each other’s company while consuming some delicious foods right off the grill. Unfortunately, summer also comes with an increase in cases of food poisoning at emergency rooms around the country. Nothing can ruin a fun summer gathering like a trip to the hospital after consuming undercooked food.
Each summer a lot of areas try to inform their residents about the proper methods to cook food on the grill in order to cut down on the number of emergency cases that result from people consuming undercooked meat. Besides the obvious health risks, localities around the country spend a lot of tax dollars subsidizing emergency services. It benefits everyone involved to educate anyone interested in grilling foods about proper cooking techniques and how to tell when a particular kind of meat has finished cooking.
Health Risks from Undercooked Meat
Raw meats, and even some vegetables, carry bacteria like E coli, salmonella, and other food borne illnesses that can cause serious health issues if they are not properly prepared. Children and older people are especially at risk to getting sick from consuming raw or undercooked meat. Some symptoms of food poisoning include vomiting and diarrhea; there have been cases reported where consumption of food that was not properly prepared resulted in death.
Proper Handling Procedures
When you are preparing raw food to be cooked there are several ways to ensure that you contain the spread of any dangerous bacteria. Make sure that you wash your hands before and after touching any kind of raw meats. If you are chopping vegetables or other items of food that you are preparing make sure you take care of those before cutting up any meats with the same knife or cutting board. Also, it is a good idea to handle the raw foods as little as possible to help avoid spreading around any bacteria.
One popular entrée that is enjoyed during the summer is shish-kabobs; this dish involves skewering meats and veggies before grilling them. Most people typically prepare the skewers by alternating stacking meats and vegetables on the rods before grilling. It is a much better idea to keep the vegetables and the meats to their own rods and preparing them separately.
Cooking Temperatures
Everyone likes their food prepared differently with some enjoying foods that are less cooked with others love their meats to be well done. Each type of meat has its own requirements as far as what internal temperature the meat should reach before it is served. Chicken and other poultry should always get up to 180 degrees Fahrenheit before being served. Pork should reach about 160 to 170 degrees. When preparing steaks you can cook them a little less if they are higher quality; for medium rare they should reach about 150 before you serve them. Make sure that you purchase a high quality meat thermometer than can accurately tell you what temperature your meat has gotten to as you are cooking it.
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