Read Online Smoking Meat by Jeff Phillips - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jeff Phillips
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sugar
Worcestershire sauce
FOOD SAFETY
When you’re feeding family, friends, and other guests, you have a responsibility to follow certain safety protocols in the processing and cooking of food. This topic is especially near and dear to my heart simply because I would be devastated if anyone ever got sick from something I prepared, especially if it was preventable.
You must follow a few simple rules when cooking meat at a low temperature. Luckily, the United States Department of Agriculture ( USDA ) provides all the information we need to avoid foodborne pathogens such as E. coli (
Escherichia coli
) and salmonella.
Buy from Reputable Sources
Make sure you purchase your meats from reliable businesses that follow safety protocols during butchering and processing. This can be difficult to ensure if you buy meat from a grocery store or meat market, so it is imperative to get to know the butcher or meat-handling personnel. When you foster those relationships, you will gain some valuable knowledge about the origin of the meat you are buying and how it is handled prior to your purchase.
I recently went into a local grocery store and noticed that there was no hand sanitizer anywhere near the meat-packaging station. I asked the butcher about it, but all I got was the classic deer-in-the-headlights look. I proceeded to ask a few other people, but all gave the same look. No one knew where the sanitizer was or if they even had any in the store. I’m not talking about a small backwoods grocery store here; this was a retailer whose name everyone would recognize. I e-mailed the corporate office, explaining that this was unsanitary and that I fully expected to see hand sanitizer stations set up not only for the customers but for the employees behind the counter as well. After all, this is common practice when it comes to cleanliness and food safety.
In fewer than 24 hours I received an e-mail reply from someone in the PR department letting me know that this would be taken care of immediately and that I could contact them again if I had any further concerns. I returned to the store a few days later, and lo and behold there were hand sanitizer stations in several prominent locations behind the counter and next to the meat displays. It took a little effort on my part, but I feel like I made a difference not only in the safety of my family but in the safety and well-being of countless others who regularly shop at this store. After all, a pound of prevention is worth an ounce of cure, and when it comes to food safety, you can never take too many precautions.
Keep Meat Cool
On the road
Once you have purchased your meat, you need to bring it home. Take special precautions to make sure it stays cold during the trip, especially in the summer. To get from the store to my home is usually about a 15-minute drive, so I don’t worry about it. But if you take more than 30 minutes to get home, find a way to keep the meat cool. If you are driving, it would be very smart to keep an ice chest in your vehicle with a single bag of ice. Place the meat in the ice chest and put the bag of ice on top for the trip home. Ice is cheap and you can rest assured that the meat will stay at a safe temperature until you get home. If you aren’t shopping with a car, consider bringing an insulated bag and a small ice pack to keep the meat cool.
At home
Be sure to put meat in the refrigerator or freezer as soon as you arrive home. It’s a good idea to make space in the refrigerator before you go shopping to ensure you can place the meat in it right away. To ensure meat doesn’t spoil before its expiration date, it must be kept below 40° F . I highly recommend using a thermometer in your refrigerator to ensure that this is actually the case instead of assuming that your nice shiny appliance is doing its job. Commercial refrigerators require this, but it is a good thing to do at home as well.
When you take meat out of the refrigerator to prepare it for
Worcestershire sauce
FOOD SAFETY
When you’re feeding family, friends, and other guests, you have a responsibility to follow certain safety protocols in the processing and cooking of food. This topic is especially near and dear to my heart simply because I would be devastated if anyone ever got sick from something I prepared, especially if it was preventable.
You must follow a few simple rules when cooking meat at a low temperature. Luckily, the United States Department of Agriculture ( USDA ) provides all the information we need to avoid foodborne pathogens such as E. coli (
Escherichia coli
) and salmonella.
Buy from Reputable Sources
Make sure you purchase your meats from reliable businesses that follow safety protocols during butchering and processing. This can be difficult to ensure if you buy meat from a grocery store or meat market, so it is imperative to get to know the butcher or meat-handling personnel. When you foster those relationships, you will gain some valuable knowledge about the origin of the meat you are buying and how it is handled prior to your purchase.
I recently went into a local grocery store and noticed that there was no hand sanitizer anywhere near the meat-packaging station. I asked the butcher about it, but all I got was the classic deer-in-the-headlights look. I proceeded to ask a few other people, but all gave the same look. No one knew where the sanitizer was or if they even had any in the store. I’m not talking about a small backwoods grocery store here; this was a retailer whose name everyone would recognize. I e-mailed the corporate office, explaining that this was unsanitary and that I fully expected to see hand sanitizer stations set up not only for the customers but for the employees behind the counter as well. After all, this is common practice when it comes to cleanliness and food safety.
In fewer than 24 hours I received an e-mail reply from someone in the PR department letting me know that this would be taken care of immediately and that I could contact them again if I had any further concerns. I returned to the store a few days later, and lo and behold there were hand sanitizer stations in several prominent locations behind the counter and next to the meat displays. It took a little effort on my part, but I feel like I made a difference not only in the safety of my family but in the safety and well-being of countless others who regularly shop at this store. After all, a pound of prevention is worth an ounce of cure, and when it comes to food safety, you can never take too many precautions.
Keep Meat Cool
On the road
Once you have purchased your meat, you need to bring it home. Take special precautions to make sure it stays cold during the trip, especially in the summer. To get from the store to my home is usually about a 15-minute drive, so I don’t worry about it. But if you take more than 30 minutes to get home, find a way to keep the meat cool. If you are driving, it would be very smart to keep an ice chest in your vehicle with a single bag of ice. Place the meat in the ice chest and put the bag of ice on top for the trip home. Ice is cheap and you can rest assured that the meat will stay at a safe temperature until you get home. If you aren’t shopping with a car, consider bringing an insulated bag and a small ice pack to keep the meat cool.
At home
Be sure to put meat in the refrigerator or freezer as soon as you arrive home. It’s a good idea to make space in the refrigerator before you go shopping to ensure you can place the meat in it right away. To ensure meat doesn’t spoil before its expiration date, it must be kept below 40° F . I highly recommend using a thermometer in your refrigerator to ensure that this is actually the case instead of assuming that your nice shiny appliance is doing its job. Commercial refrigerators require this, but it is a good thing to do at home as well.
When you take meat out of the refrigerator to prepare it for
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