I know this is still quite rough. Mom is going to look over it tomorrow to help me pin down what's missing. Ugh, this part is tedious.
Cooking Safely
The kitchen is a
fun place, and a source of full bellies and tasty treats. But it is
also a dangerous place, as a source of burns, cuts, fires, and
food-borne illness. This information can be tedious, but if you are
new to cooking, please read this section, and save yourself a trip to
the emergency room.
Knife Safety
Knives are safest
when kept sharp, because dull knives often slide in unpredictable
directions. You can use a sharpening steel at home to keep your
knives sharper for longer, but eventually all knives need to be taken
to a professional knife sharpener to be restored to optimal
sharpness.
Protect your
knives and counter top by using a cutting board.
In general, cut
away from yourself, and towards a cutting board. When cutting a
rounded vegetable, first carefully cut off one side. Then set the
vegetable so that the cut side is down on the cutting board. This
will prevent the vegetable from rolling while you cut.
When using a
paring knife for peeling potatoes, or making other small and
controlled cuts, it is safe to cut towards your thumb, and no cutting
board is needed. Hold the knife in the fingers of your dominant
hand, with the blade facing your thumb. Use your thumb to guide the
food to the knife.
Heat Safety
Kitchens are full
of hot surfaces, and every cook gets burned on occasion by grabbing a
hot handle by mistake. Keep several pot-holders stationed around the
kitchen where you can grab them in a hurry.
Don't reach into a
hot stove. Instead, use a pot holder to pull the oven shelf out.
Keep all pot
handles turned so that they aren't hanging over open space. This is
particularly important if children are present. With children
present, do as much cooking on the back burners as you can, and never
leave a young child unsupervised near a hot stove.
Appliance Safety
Keep toasters and
other counter-top appliances unplugged when not in use. Read all
appliance directions thoroughly.
Fire Safety
It's a good idea
to keep a fire extinguisher in your kitchen. Read the instructions
carefully, so that you know how to work the extinguisher in an
emergency. After being used, even just a little, most extinguishers
will either need to be recharged (refilled) or replaced. Aim at the
base of the fire, not at the tops of the flames.
Do not use water
to put out a grease fire! A grease fire must be smothered. Use a
wet towel, a pot lid, or baking soda, or salt to smother a fire. If
the fire is in the oven or microwave, close the door and turn off the
device. If the oven continues to smoke as if there is still a fire
inside, call 911.
Toasters
accumulate crumbs, and these crumbs must be cleaned out regularly to
prevent fires. If you have a toaster fire, unplug the device if
possible before putting out the fire.
Test your smoke
alarms every month to make sure they are in working order.
The Danger Zone
Food rots quickly between 40 degrees
Fahrenheit, and 140. This is the “danger zone”. With the
exception of sealed canned goods and dry foods like crackers, food
must be kept below 40 or above 140 to keep for any length of time.
Cooked dishes can be left at room
temperature, I.E. the “danger zone”, for a maximum of two hours.
Food left at room temperature for longer than two hours must be
thrown away. On a hot day, food should be thrown away after just one
hour.
Animal Products
Most animal
products have the potential to be carrying bacteria or parasites
which are dangerous to humans. This is why meats and eggs typically
have a minimum temperature that they must be cooked to in order to be
safe to eat.
When in doubt,
cook all hot dishes to 165 degrees. Some foods are safely cooked
at lower temperatures, but the majority need to be cooked to 165.
Exceptions are eggs (160), whole beef (140), ground beef (160), fish
and shellfish (145), and uncooked ham (145). Leftovers should be
reheated to 165 degrees.
Never eat an egg
that has been damaged.
Milk and milk
products are typically pasteurized, which eliminates bacteria and
parasites from them. Milk and milk products must be refrigerated to
prevent spoilage.
Cooling Hot Foods
When you need to
put a hot food into the refrigerator or freezer, avoid leaving it out
to cool at room temperature to cool, because this extends the time
that the food will spend in the danger zone. You can cool some foods
quickly (such as boiled grains) by putting the food in a colander and
running cold tap water over it. Ice is a good tool for cooling food.
Or clear a space in the refrigerator to allow air to circulate
freely around the food. (Note, however, that hot glass cookware
should not be cooled quickly, because it could shatter.)
Cold Food Safety
Strictly speaking,
leftovers should only be kept for a couple of days. However,
pre-cooked ingredients such as boiled grains, boiled beans, or baked
chicken, if handled carefully, and cooled and refrigerated promptly,
will be good for at least five days.
Food can be frozen
once after you buy it. Once a frozen food has thawed, it must be
refrigerated and cooked within 24 hours. Do not refreeze a thawed
food. When you buy frozen food, if it thaws too much before you can
get it into your own freezer, then it cannot be refrozen, and should
be cooked and eaten within 24 hours.
Some foods, such
as cream sauces or cheese, cannot be frozen because the quality of
the food deteriorates. This doesn't make the food dangerous to eat;
it merely makes it unappetizing.
Food must be
sealed tightly when frozen, or it will become “freezer burned”.
Freezer burn isn't dangerous, but it tastes bad.
Frozen foods keep
from a month to several years, depending on the type of food, and
weather the freezer is opened regularly or not. If a frozen food is
kept in the freezer for too long, it will slowly become less
nutritious, and the quality will become less good. Empty your
freezer once a year, and label everything you freeze with the date
and what it is.
Thawing Safely
The safest way to
thaw frozen food is in the refrigerator. Smaller quantities of
frozen food can be thawed safely in a bowl of cold water, or in the
microwave. Never leave food to thaw at room temperature.
Canned Foods
Sealed
wet foods, such as canned foods and sealed jars, can be kept
on a shelf at room temperature until their expiration date. Do not
eat or taste foods from cans that have swollen, rusted, become leaky,
that are badly dented, or if the food looks or smells unusual. Do
not eat food from a jar that is no longer safely sealed.
Most canned or jarred food must be
refrigerated after opening, and after opening must also be used or
thrown away within seven days. This information will be printed
somewhere on the label in small print. This especially applies to
things like juice and applesauce that children will be eating. This
does not necessarily apply to condiments, such as catchup or pickles.
When in doubt, throw it out.
Dry Foods
Dry
goods such as cereals, crackers, cake mixes, spices, and
flour, can be kept on a shelf at room temperature in their original
packages or in tightly sealed airtight containers, until their
expiration date. When dry goods are not sealed, the food will absorb
moisture from the air, causing the food to become stale. This is not
dangerous; it is merely unappetizing.
When
a food has a “use by” date, or a “best if used by” date, the
food can be used within a reasonable amount of time after that date.
Cross Contamination
Cross
Contamination is a major cause of food poisoning. I.E., the raw meat
dripped on the top of the beer can, or the cooked meat was placed on
the platter that had held raw meat, or someone didn’t wash their
hands after handling raw egg, etc. Prevent cross contamination by
washing your hands immediately after handling raw animal products,
and always wash your hands before cooking, before handling clean
dishes, and after using the restroom. Wash promptly anything that
touched raw animal products. Store raw animal products so that they
can't drip onto anything in the refrigerator.
