BBQ Food Safety from Fat Boys BBQ - BBQ Ribs, Beef, Pork and BBQ Beans, Barbecue Restaurant

BBQ FOOD SAFETY
FAT BOY'S BBQ
FAT BOYS BARBECUE

BBQ food safety must be a part of Barbecuing. BBQ cooking (outdoor grilling) was once only a summer activity shared with family and friends. Now over half of Americans say they are cooking Barbecue outdoors year round and indoor all year round. So it is important to follow some simple food safety guidelines to prevent harmful bacteria from multiplying and causing food-borne illness. Use these following simple guidelines for Barbecue food safely.

Have a multi-purpose fire extinguisher or a bucket of water or sand in the area of your BBQ.

From the Store to Your Home
When shopping, buy the cold food on your list, like meat and poultry, last, right before checkout. Separate raw meat and poultry from other food in your shopping cart, to guard against cross-contamination which can happen when raw meat or poultry juices drip on other food. Put packages of raw meat and poultry separate into plastic bags.

Plan to drive directly home from the grocery store. For long drives, you may want to take a cooler with ice for those perishables. Always refrigerate perishable food within 2 hours. Refrigerate within 1 hour when the outside temperature is above 90°.

Once you are home, refrigerate meat and poultry immediately. Freeze poultry and ground meats that won't be used in 1 or 2 days and other all meats within 4 to 5 days.

Defrost Foods Safely
Completely defrost meat and/or poultry before Barbecuing so that it cooks more evenly. Use the refrigerator for slow, safe thawing or thaw sealed packages in cold water. You can microwave defrost if the food will be placed immediately on the cooking heat.

Marinating Foods
Meat and poultry can be marinated for several hours or days to tenderize or add flavor. Marinate food in the refrigerator, not on the counter. If some of the marinade is to be used as a sauce on the cooked food, reserve a portion of the marinade before putting raw meat and poultry in it. However, if the marinade used on raw meat or poultry is to be reused, make sure to let it come to a boil first to destroy any harmful bacteria.

Transporting Foods
When carrying food to another location, keep it cold to minimize bacterial growth. Use an insulated cooler with sufficient ice or ice packs to keep the food at 40° or below. Pack food right from the refrigerator into the cooler immediately before leaving home. Keep the cooler in the coolest part of the car.

Keep Cold Food Cold
Keep meat and poultry refrigerated until ready to use. Only remove from refrigeration the meat and/or poultry that will immediately be placed on the cooking heat source.

When using a cooler, keep it out of the direct sun by placing it in the shade or shelter. Avoid opening the lid too often, which lets cold air out and warm air in. Pack beverages in one cooler (often opened by dirty hands) and perishables (things that will be eaten) in a separate well iced cooler.

Keep Everything Clean
Be certain that utensils and platters are clean when you start and while in use. To prevent food-borne illness, do not use the same platter and utensils for raw and then again for cooked meat or poultry. Harmful bacteria present in raw meat and poultry and their juices can contaminate safely cooked food.

If you're eating away from home, find out if there's a source of clean water. If not, bring water for preparation and cleaning. Always pack clean cloths, and wet towels for cleaning surfaces and hands. It never hurts to bring along a little chlorine bleach for the cleaning.

Have a multi-purpose fire extinguisher or a bucket of water or sand in the area of your BBQ.

Choose a Safe Place to BBQ
Choose a site away from fences, plants, sheds or anything else which might catch fire or that the heat from the cooking might damage. Have a multi-purpose fire extinguisher nearby, or a bucket of water or sand. However, beware of steam if water is used to extinguish the fire in an emergency.

Pre-Cooking Barbecue Foods
Pre-Cooking food partially in the crock pot, microwave, oven, or stove is a good way of reducing barbecuing time. Just make sure that the food goes immediately on the preheated fire to complete the cooking.

Cook BBQ Foods Thoroughly
Cook food to a safe internal temperature to destroy harmful bacteria. Meat and poultry cooked on a grill often browns very fast on the outside. Use a food thermometer to be sure the food has reached a safe internal temperature. Whole poultry should reach 180°; breasts, 170°. Hamburgers made of ground beef should reach 160°; ground poultry, 165°. Beef, veal, and lamb steaks, roasts and chops can be cooked to 145°. All cuts of pork should reach 160°.

Keep Hot Food Hot
After cooking meat and poultry on the grill, keep it hot until served - at 140° or warmer. Keep cooked meats hot by setting them to the side of the grill rack, not directly over the coals where they could overcook. At home, the cooked meat can be kept hot in a warm oven (approximately 200°), in a chafing dish or slow cooker, or on a warming tray.

Serving Your Barbecue Food
When taking food off the heat, use a clean platter. Don't put cooked food on the same platter that held raw meat or poultry. Any harmful bacteria present in the raw meat juices could contaminate safely cooked food.

In hot weather (above 90°), food should never sit out for more than 1 hour.

Barbecue Leftovers
Refrigerate any leftovers promptly in shallow containers. Discard any food left out more than 2 hours (1 hour if temperatures are above 90°).

Re-Heating BBQ
When reheating fully cooked BBQ, grill, covered tightly to preserve moisture, to 165° or until steaming hot.

Pit Roasting
Pit roasting is cooking meat in a large, level hole dug in the earth. A hardwood fire is built in the pit, requiring wood equal to about 2½ times the volume of the pit. The hardwood is allowed to burn until the wood reduces and the pit is half filled with burning coals. This can require 4 to 6 hours burning time.

Cooking may require 10 to 12 hours or more and is difficult to estimate. A meat thermometer must be used to determine the meat's safety and doneness. There are many variables such as outdoor temperature, the cut, size and thickness of the meat, depth of the BBQ pit, Barbecue pit covering, moisture content and how fast the coals are cooking the meats.
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For Further Information Contact:
FSIS Food Safety Education Staff
Meat and Poultry Hotline:

1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) - Tollfree Nationwide
1-800-256-7072 (TDD/TTY)
E-mail: mphotline.fsis@usda.gov

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