eNewsHound

At one time, families held outdoor barbecues for holidays or birthday parties, and usually only in the summer time.  However, nowadays, more than half the people in the United States cook using outdoor grills all year through.  One will notice in Chicago, grills set up on the back stair cases in the back yards of their neighbors, even while there is snow on the ground.  And in the states with the hotter climates–climates much too hot to enjoy an outdoor barbecue, people will still fire up their grills in order to save on the electricity bill, as the air conditioner will compensate for the heat the oven produces in the house.

The reason is that whether one is grilling vegetables,slow grilling port ribs, or roasting a chicken, the food just tastes different.  It tastes better, and the flavor is such that it is hard to reproduce inside using the oven or the stove top.  There are some simple food safety guidelines to follow to ensure that food born bacteria does not, for one, collect on the grill itself, and for two, steps to follow as the usual habits one uses in the kitchen may not follow them into the backyard.

One step starts in the grocery store, and should be applied whenever buying raw meat and poultry.  One should always put the raw meat into their shopping cart just before checking out, the butcher should be the last one to visit.  And it goes without saying that all meat and poultry should be bagged separate from all other groceries such as fruit and vegetable.

If the meat is to be frozen, it should be thawed completely…completely through and through before cooking.  All meats to be marinated should be done so in the refrigerator and not on the counter.  The standard is to marinate for up to two days maximum for poultry, and five days maximum for beef and pork.  All utensils and platters should be clean, of course, and one should take care not to place the cooked meat, back onto the plate on which they originally carried it out to the barbecue.  Safety is always a concern when the temperatures outside are warmer, and following these guidelines will ensure that no one at the party becomes ill.