The Food Handling Thread

From the USDA (there's a better-formatted version of the chart at the bottom of the linked page):

I keep meat in the freezer unless preparing to cook it. So it'll be in the fridge for no more than 24hours.

What are the preferred techniques for handling sausage?

Pio?


- B

Well, obviously you know that the "sell by" dates are a CYA maneuver by produce stores in case anything happens, and you can stretch that further at home. Restaurants, generally, IME don't take it very far. A responsible restaurant/chef will be good enough at ordering things appropriately and/or getting rid of menu items that don't sell, that their stock will be rotating relatively quickly. I don't think anything in our entire cooler stays for longer than three days.

That said, the biggest way to know if meat is still good is a combo of smell, taste, and appearance. Obviously, anything that smells like it has turned should be tossed immediately. Duh. You knew that. Taste is relatively meaningless b/c you aren't going to taste your meat before cooking it. But I bet that your chicken went from being that bright, lively color, to a sort of grayish and lifeless color by the time it met its last meal. That doesn't mean that it was bad or would make you sick, that's just a way to tell that it is definitely on its way out. How far you push it is really up to you. Remember that the USDA rules are there to "protect you" and don't necessarily mean not following them will make you sick. But really, some of the foodborne illnesses are entirely undetectable, so it's possible for you to get sick and die by food that smells, looks, and tastes absolutely fine.

Honestly, the best way to make food last longer in your fridge is to make sure it is at the right temp. It is absolutely imperative that your fridge be under 41, and it should probably be under 38 or 37 to make sure that the constant opening and reopening doesn't raise the temp too much. The other way to keep proteins longer is to get a foodvac. They don't cost much anyore (maybe $100 for a nice at home model) and help a lot.

Definitely help in the fridge, b/c it keeps less oxygen from coming in contact with the food, which will slow down the breakdown of it. I don't know much about dry aging, and especially little about dry aging at home, but to me, vaccing it seems counterintuitive to me. The point of dry aging is to let oxygen circulate and for the enzymes to begin to break down the meat, so vaccing it wouldn't allow it to really age. I think most fridges can get cool enough to dry age, but the humidity becomes a factor. People here have dry aged at home before though, I think acidboy is one of them IIRC.

Good thread. I have some questions about food handling and safety and never knew who to ask. How often are you washing hands when cooking? Obviously, before and after, but do you go so far as to washing your hands every time you touch a piece of raw meat or unwashed produce? Even just to grab the salt or pepper? What about after touching a package that contained raw meat?
Also, do you use different utensils for handling raw and cooked meat? How about for meat that is in the process of cooking?
What do you wipe your countertops with? Do you use fresh kitchen towels every time?

I'm curious as to the home cook and professional cook's view on these.


Douglas, as to your questions, I do the smell and appearance test. Hasn't failed me yet! And Kwilk was right about dry aging. There's no such thing as dry aging under plastic - the meat would never dry out under there.

40 for cold fool, and 140 for hot food. You're better of sticking certain things in the freezer where the temperature slows bacteria growth, and it's not as opened as much as the rest of the fridge.

As far restaurant sanitation you're required by the health department to have a bucket of sanitizer near your work station. Clean towels are always available, and a cutting board is specifically for one thing only to avoid cross contamination. You're also required to put your name, and the date of anything you put in the fridges, and walk ins. The health department requires you to have paper towels, and hand soap in the restaurant. You can get fined if you run out of soap, sanitizer, clean towels, dirty gaskets in the fridges and walk ins and I've even seen a health inspector make a cook cut his nails.

Re hand washing, I probably wash my hands far more often than is reasonable. It is a habit from work, where I run the constant risk of personal injury as well as the need to repeat tests if I'm not scrupulously clean. It just carries over to my home life too.

I'm pretty particular about cleanliness of my dishes and such as well. As a result, water quality drives me crazy. . . I hate the mineral deposits that I get in the dishwasher, shower, toilet, etc.

Utensils: I use the same utensil for work in process as I do to serve it up. It is getting dipped repeatedly in boiling liquid or at least extremely high heat environments, so I assume any microbes are getting destroyed.

I do use a separate cutting board for raw meat. I use the same big cutting board for produce, and cooked things.

Wipe downs are with dish soap and hot water and paper towels. I don't bother with bleach or EtOH.

Wash your hands constantly and don't cross-contaminate. Keep the foods that need to be coldest away from the door and near the back and bottom of the fridge. Don't put things that can drip (raw chicken) on a shelf above things that you eat without preparation.

Many restaurants have different color cutting boards for different tasks...

Red, yellow, blue, green and white.

Should be obvious what all of them are for... excite white which is often used for breaking down hard items before being transferred to a normal cutting board.... coconut for instance.

The best cook I know, and one of the most accomplished, has food handling procedures so frightening that I am sure I am going to get sick every time we cook together. Still, it never happens and is always fantastic. That said, restaurant procedures have certainly changed a bit since my time working in one, and I don't think you need to be as crazy about things at home. Just keep things cold and clean, but good meat, and don't keep it too long.