Eliminate Food Poisoning With Your Microwave 0 comments

Microwave ovens can play an important role at mealtime, but special care must be taken when cooking or reheating meat, poultry, fish, and eggs to make sure they are prepared safely. Microwave ovens can cook unevenly and leave "cold spots," where harmful bacteria can survive. For this reason, it is important to use the following safe microwaving tips to prevent food-borne illness.

Microwave Cooking

1. Arrange food items evenly in a covered dish and add some liquid if needed. Cover the dish with a lid or plastic wrap; loosen or vent the lid or wrap to let steam escape.

2. Large cuts of meat should be cooked on medium power (50%) for longer periods. This allows heat to reach the center without overcooking outer areas.

3. Stir or rotate food midway through the microwaving time to eliminate cold spots where harmful bacteria can survive.

Microwave Defrosting

4. Remove food from packaging before defrosting. Do not use foam trays and plastic wraps because they are not heat stable at high temperatures.

5. Cook meat, poultry, egg casseroles, and fish immediately after defrosting in the microwave oven because some areas of the frozen food may begin to cook during the defrosting time.

Reheating In The Microwave

6. Cover foods with a lid or a microwave-safe plastic wrap to hold in moisture and provide safe, even heating.

7. After reheating foods in the microwave oven, allow standing time. Then, use a clean food thermometer to check that food has reached 165° F.

Proper Containers

8. Only use cookware that is specially manufactured for use in the microwave oven and that is labeled for microwave oven use.

9. Plastic storage containers such as margarine tubs, take- out containers, whipped topping bowls, and other one-time use containers should not be used in microwave ovens. These containers can warp or melt, possibly causing harmful chemicals to migrate into the food.

Food Safety 0 comments

1. Choose foods that are light enough to carry in a backpack and that can be transported safely. Keep foods either hot or cold. Since it's difficult to keep foods hot without a heat source, it's best to transport chilled foods. Refrigerate or freeze the food overnight. What foods to bring? For a day hike, just about anything will do as long as you can fit it in your backpack and keep it cold -- sandwiches, fried chicken, bread and cheese, and even salads -- or choose non- perishable foods.

2. Keep everything clean. Remember to bring disposable wipes if you're taking a day trip. (Water is too heavy to bring enough for cleaning dishes!)

3. It's not a good idea to depend on fresh water from a lake or stream for drinking, no matter how clean it appears. Some pathogens thrive in remote mountain lakes or streams and there's no way to know what might have fallen into the water upstream. Bring bottled or tap water for drinking. Always start out with a full water bottle and replenish your supply from tested public systems when possible. On long trips you can find water in streams, lakes, and springs, but be sure to purify any water from the wild, no matter how clean it appears.

4. If you're backpacking for more than a day, the food situation gets a little more complicated. You can still bring cold foods for the first day, but you'll have to pack shelf-stable items for the next day. Canned goods are safe, but heavy, so plan your menu carefully. Advances in food technology have produced relatively lightweight staples that don't need refrigeration or careful packaging.

5. If you're cooking meat or poultry on a portable stove or over a fire, you'll need a way to determine when it's done and safe to eat. Color is not a reliable indicator of doneness, and it can be especially tricky to tell the color of a food if you're cooking in a wooded area in the evening. It's critical to use a food thermometer when cooking hamburgers. Ground beef may be contaminated with E. coli, a particularly dangerous strain of bacteria. Illnesses have occurred even when ground beef patties were cooked until there was no visible pink. The only way to insure that ground beef patties are safely cooked is to use a food thermometer, and cook the patty until it reaches 160° F. Be sure to clean the thermometer between uses.

6. To keep foods cold, you'll need a cold source. A block of ice keeps longer than ice cubes. Before leaving home, freeze clean, empty milk cartons filled with water to make blocks of ice, or use frozen gel-packs. Fill the cooler with cold or frozen foods. Pack foods in reverse order. First foods packed should be the last foods used. (There is one exception: pack raw meat or poultry below ready-to-eat foods to prevent raw meat or poultry juices from dripping on the other foods.)

Safely Store Food 0 comments

Storing Vegetables

1. Vegetables should be stored in the vegetable crisper in the refrigerator. However, keep potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, and garlic in a cool, dark, well ventilated place, but not in the refrigerator. Tomatoes have better flavor if they are not refrigerated. Once cut, tomatoes should be refrigerated like any vegetable.

2. Store vegetables in the refrigerator crisper in plastic bags to prevent loss of moisture and nutritional values. However, eggplant and capsicums should be stored open in the crisper as they sweat if stored in plastic bags. Put mushrooms in a paper bag (not in a plastic bag) before placing them in the crisper.

Storing Fruits

3. Apples and berries should always be kept in the refrigerator for maximum crispness. Summer stone fruits and melons should sit at room temperature until they are ripe, then go into the refrigerator. Grapes & fruits that are not yet fully ripe can be left in a fruit bowl in the kitchen.

4. Citrus fruits are fine at room temperature unless it is very hot, in which case, put them in the refrigerator. Bananas should be kept at cool room temperature. Their skins become black if they are refrigerated, although the flesh is still fine to eat.

Storing Dairy Products

5. Always check the expiry date on dairy products, especially milk. Don't buy milk if it will expire in 2-3 days. Milk generally starts giving smell before its expiry date even if you store it in the refrigerator! Generally, milk bottles at the front of the shelf in the supermarket have an expiry date of only a few days. Look for bottles at the back of the shelf.

Storing Frozen Foods

6. Pack all your frozen foods together in an insulated container to keep them frozen until you get home. If foods defrost on the way home and you re-freeze them in a domestic freezer, large ice crystals will form and can rupture cell membranes in the food allowing nutrients to escape. Keep frozen foods frozen to maintain quality, as bacteria will begin to multiply when the food is thawed.

Storing Meat Products

7. Fresh meat, chicken, and fish always carry some bacteria so these foods must always be kept cold. Bacterial growth slows down in the refrigerator; at room temperature, they grow rapidly. Cooking kills these bacteria. Store meat, seafood and chicken in the coldest part of the refrigerator. See that any uncooked products do not come into contact with other foods in the refrigerator. They should be stored at the bottom part of the refrigerator so that any juices that drip out won't contaminate other foods on lower shelves.

8. Make sure that fish or other seafood are wrapped and use as soon as possible. Throw them out if not used within two days.

9. If you are going to freeze meat, seafood or poultry, enclose it in freezer wrap and freeze as soon as possible after bringing it home. Store eggs in the refrigerator, preferably in their cartons, as it provides protection and prevents moisture loss through the shell.

Storing Other Products

10. Do not allow pet foods to come into contact with human foods. Pantry items (canned foods, cereals, etc.) should be stored in a dark place like in a cupboard or pantry. Keep oils out of direct light.