Grilling And Food Safety Tips To Prevent A Grilling Disaster
Using proper safety precautions when grilling outdoors can prevent an outdoor cooking nightmare. Some of these safety tips only require old-fashioned common sense, while others are little-known but very important to you and your family's safety. These tips are not meant to scare you away from ever grilling, but instead, practicing these tips will help you to enjoy carefree cookouts for years to come.
Grilling Safety Tips:
Always place your grill at least 10 feet from your house or any building. And never grill under any type of covering, either indoors or out. This includes in your garage, under a patio, or under an awning. One flare-up is all it takes to burn a house down.
When lighting a gas grill, always make sure the lit is open. Lighting a closed grill allows a large amount of gas to accumulate inside the grill, and lighting that is like lighting a bomb.
Always store propane tanks outside, and away from any direct sunlight. If traveling anywhere with a propane tank, make sure it is secure and unable to move or roll.
Never add lighter fluid after a fire is already lit. And never use anything but charcoal starting fluid to start a fire. Gasoline is much more flammable, and can easily ignite to a spill or up to the container.
Similarly, never use cooking sprays on or around a grill. The cans can easily ignite or blow up if hit by high heat or flames.
Use long-handled grilling tools and barbecue gloves to keep you from burning your hands. And do not wear loose clothing when cooking out, as any clothing hanging over the grill could catch on fire.
Never use a grill that is not sturdy. A grill falling over will lead to all kinds of fire and food problems.
Keep an eye out for any children or pets around the grill area. Grills are almost as hot on the outside as they are on the inside.
Food Safety Tips:
After handling meat, and before starting any of your meal preparations, it is very important to scrub your hands using soap and warm water.
Make sure and defrost meat, poultry, or fish in the refrigerator, and not on the counter at room temperature.
Once any raw meat sits on a platter or plate, make sure you get another one to put the meat or any already-prepared foods on.
If you will be using a sauce for basting or marinading, but still would like to use the same sauce to put on the food after cooking, divide the sauce into two parts...one part for basting or marinating, and the other part for serving. You never want to use sauce on cooked food that had raw meat in it without at least boiling the sauce for at least one minute.
These safety tips do not take a great deal of effort to practice, but once in the habit of following them, you will routinely be taking the risk out of grilling or cooking outdoors.
Billy Bristol is the editor and chief bbq pitmaster for TexasBarbeques.com, an outdoor cooking and entertaining website devoted to backyard living. TexasBarbeques.com has been providing barbecue recipes, cooking tips, grilling techniques, and backyard entertainment ideas since 2005. TexasBarbeques.com
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