4th of July Safety Tips

Jesse Fulbright, MSU Liberty County Extension

It is hard to believe that the end of this week will be the 4^th of July.  With everything we have been through the past few months and our uncertain times even now, it doesn’t feel like the year is halfway gone.  With July 4^th falling nicely on a weekend this year, it may lend itself nicely to traveling, camping and other recreational activities.  While, of course, this year we are being constantly encouraged to practice safe social distancing, there are other safety precautions we need to take around this festive weekend.

Image courtesy of Consumer Product Safety Commission

 

The first safety tip that I can give is the one to be safe around fireworks.  According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, 180 people go to the emergency room every day with fireworks-related injuries around the time surrounding July 4^th.  Of those, 57% of the injuries are burn-related.  So, let’s put the safety tip out there, and never allow young children to play with or ignite fireworks.  This is a hard sell and I don’t know what to say about sparklers other than if you choose to let your child have sparklers, that would be an excellent opportunity to teach them about keeping a safe distance away from others when the sparkler is lit.  Sparklers burn at temperatures of about 2,000 degrees which is hot enough to melt some metals.  When lighting fireworks, never place any part of your body directly over a fireworks device when lighting the fuse.  Back up to a safe distance immediately after lighting fireworks.  Once they are spent, make sure they are fully extinguished by keeping a bucket of water or a hose handy to douse them completely.  Last, never try and make your own fireworks.  This is how seemingly a large amount of severe injuries and even death occur when I was looking through reports on fireworks.  Leave the firework making to those professionally trained.  Our job is to enjoy their handiwork, not try and duplicate it.

My second tip is concerning food safety.  Whether you are cooking indoors or outdoors, make sure you clean all surfaces, utensils, and hands with soap and water.  When grilling, use separate plates and utensils for raw meat and cooked meat and ready-to-eat foods, like raw vegetables, to avoid cross-contamination.  Cook foods to the right temperature by using a food thermometer.  That’s the only way to know it’s a safe temperature.  Remember, burgers should be cooked to 160°F.  Pork should be cooked to 145°F for medium rare and 160°F for medium, with poultry needing to be cooked to 165°F.  Last, chill raw and prepared foods promptly if not consuming after cooking.  You shouldn’t leave food at room temperature for longer than two hours or 1 hour if outdoor temperatures are above 90° F, so if you’re away from home, make sure you bring a cooler to store those leftovers.

Have a safe and enjoyable 4^th of July weekend!

Merry Christmas!  Hopefully you will be enjoying a delicious Christmas dinner soon.  The holidays typically bring some great food and those leftovers can easily fill up the fridge. The key is to safely store and use those leftovers, and today we’ll offer a few tips on that topic. 

First, food storage.  After food has been served, leftovers should be placed in clean, small, shallow containers, three inches or less in height, and covered completely.  Leftover food should be placed in the refrigerator within two hours or less.  Containers should be spread out in the refrigerator to allow air flow and promote rapid, even cooling of the food.  Food should not be refrigerated or frozen in large, deep containers as the food in the center remains warm for a longer time which can cause harmful bacteria to grow.  If you’re short on fridge space, use a cooler with ice packs or cubed ice to keep leftovers at a temperature of 40 degrees or less. 

When reheating leftovers, food should be reheated on the stove, in the oven, or in the microwave until it reaches 165 degrees.  Slow cookers are not recommended for reheating leftovers. 

Plan ahead for using those leftovers.  If you’re having a Christmas ham, plan for omelets, casseroles,

Plan to use holiday leftovers, whether its
turkey sliders or scrambled eggs and ham!

sandwiches, or a pizza, for example.  Leftover turkey can become a base for a turkey pot pie, turkey noodle soup, turkey wild rice soup, turkey enchiladas, etc. – it can easily be substituted for chicken in many recipes.  Leftovers can quickly grow tiresome, so another good option is to freeze them.  For example, dice up that ham and freeze in small Ziploc bags so that a serving can be pulled out in the morning and added to scrambled eggs. 

So, how long can you safely keep refrigerated leftovers?  Generally, leftovers should be used within four days but specifically the guidelines are as follows:

Those delicious salads should be
eaten within three to five days.

• Soups and stews - 3 to 4 days
• Gravy and meat broth - 2 to 2 days
• Cooked meat, meat dishes, casseroles - 3 to 4 days
• Opened package of deli meats - 3 to 5 days
• Pasta and potato salads - 3 to 5 days·       

Now, I’m sure there’s lots of folks out there right now saying, “Oh, I eat leftovers way older than that and I’ve always been fine!”  Could be, but please remember that adults ages 65 and older, children younger than 5 years, pregnant women, and people whose immune systems are weakened due to illness or medical treatment are most at risk for foodborne illnesses.  So, while you may be able to handle that week-old turkey, Grandma, your pregnant wife, or your three-year-old son may not be able to. 

So, keep those hot foods hot and those cold foods cold, and quickly refrigerate leftovers!

Avoid a Bummer Summer and Grill Foods Safely

by Wendy Wedum, MSU Extension Pondera County 

Today is the first World Food Safety Day. It was adopted by the United Nations last December.  Food Safety is everyone’s responsibility from how food is grown to how it is processed to delivery and how we each handle food at home.

Last week I talked about getting your grill ready for the summer and today I’m going to talk about food safety practices to make sure you can avoid food borne illnesses and not have a bummer summer.

Grilled food is hard to beat for family meals, camping, tailgating and more. It is also important to avoid any unwelcome guests such as bacteria that cause food borne illness. 

Start these simple food safety rules:

It is important to keep everything clean.  Wash hands before and after handling raw meats because harmful bacteria may be present in raw meat and poultry and the raw juices can contaminate cooked or ready to eat food. Have plenty of clean utensils, serving dishes and cutting boards ready for moving raw meats to the grill and clean plates to put the cooked foods on for serving.

It is important store ready to eat foods separately from raw meats.  Ready to eat foods are usually not cooked or reheated and raw meat juices can contaminate them. Examples of ready to eat foods include salads, side dishes, fried chicken and raw fruit or vegetables.

On the grill, meat needs to be cooked to a safe internal temperature to destroy bacteria. Use a food thermometer to check. The correct internal temperature for Poultry is 165°F, ground meat is 160°F, steaks, chops and roasts are 145°F. Remember to let steaks, burgers and chicken pieces rest 3-5 minutes before eating.  Roasts or a whole chicken may need 10-15 minutes to rest.  Resting helps finish the cooking process and lets the juices be reabsorbed for tender and juicy meat.

As you plan and prepare summer barbecues, remember to keep in mind loved ones who are most at risk for food borne illness. This includes children under 9 years old and adults over 65 years, pregnant women and nursing mothers, and people with weakened immune systems from chronic or short-term illness.

They are the why we keep things clean, why we separate raw and ready to eat foods, why we cook raw food to proper internal temperatures and why we keep all foods at safe temperatures.  Be sure to not take chances with your family’s or friends’ health. Keep hot foods hot, cold foods cold and when in doubt, throw it out.

For more information you can call me at 271-4054 or your own local Extension office. 

Resources: 
World Food Safety Day: https://www.un.org/en/events/foodsafetyday/ 
Five Keys to Safer Food:  https://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/consumer/en/5keys_en.pdf?ua=1
Summer Food Safety: https://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/events/summervacations/index.html

Let's Talk Turkey!!

by Wendy Wedum, Pondera County Extension
Let's Talk Turkey...If you are the Turkey Chef at home, remember to keep food safety in mind. 

Thanksgiving is less than a week away!  If you happen to be the cook, plan now to thaw your frozen turkey safely to avoid food borne illnesses.  Here are three safe ways to get your turkey ready to cook. 

1. In the Refrigerator: Keep the turkey in its original packaging. Place it in a tray or pan to catch any juices that may leak during the thawing process. The best place to put your turkey is at the bottom of the refrigerator to prevent any juices from leaking on other food in your fridge. If you thaw your turkey in the refrigerator, it takes about 24 hours for every 4-5 pounds.  So a 16 pound turkey will take about 4 days to thaw out.  If your refrigerator is extra cold or overly full, it may take an extra day.  A thawed turkey can remain in the refrigerator an extra 1-2 days if it thaws quickly.

2. In the Kitchen Sink: Wrap the turkey securely in a water tight wrap and submerge it in sink with cold tap water that is less than 70 degrees.  Submerge the wrapped turkey in the cold water and set the timer for 30 minutes.  When the time goes off, drain and refill the sink. It takes about 30 minutes per pound to thaw a turkey in cold water.  A 16 pound turkey takes about 8 hours to thaw.  It is important to cook the turkey immediately after it is thawed.

3. In the Microwave.  Since it will be a small turkey you will need to remove all the outside packaging and follow the microwave instructions on thawing and power levels.  Make sure to place the turkey on a microwave safe dish to catch any juices.  Cook your turkey immediately after thawing it. 

Bonus tip: Remember to remove the package of giblets from the turkey cavity after thawing.  The giblets need to be cooked separately.

If you run into troubles or have more questions, you can call the Poultry hotline at 1-888-674-6854 (M - F from 10 am to 4 pm Eastern time) or go online and “Ask Karen” website and use the automated response system at www.fsis.usda.gov.
Just be award that there are usually more questions during the holidays. 
Here is a helpful resource for Thawing, Cooking, Storing and Reheating your turkey leftovers. 
https://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/types/turkey/index.html
Check it out and Happy Thanksgiving!