Summer Outdoor Cooking Tips

Memorial Day is quickly approaching, and with it, the summer season of outdoor grilling and picnics. It can be tempting to let your healthy eating habits fall by the way side at parties, but if they are going to be a frequent occurrence, you want to make sure that you still have healthy options available. Another thing to keep in mind about summer eating is that historically, food poisoning peaks in the summer time. To avoid food poisoning and keep your outdoor picnics healthy, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

Clean: Make sure that you and your guests wash your hands before preparing or handling food, and that all surfaces that will come in contact with food are clean as well. The rule of thumb for safe hand washing is to use soap and warm water and rub your hand for 20 seconds prior to rinsing. Always wash your hands before and after handling food. Any surface that comes into contact with raw or cooked food should also be cleaned with warm soap and water.

Separate: Always separate raw meats and poultry from fruits, vegetables and cooked foods. Always use separate cutting boards for raw meats, vegetables, and cooked foods to avoid cross-contamination.

Cook at the right temperature: Use a food thermometer. Color alone is not a reliable indicator of when a food is done; often the outer surface of meat will brown quickly while the inside still has not reached a safe temperature to kill bacteria. Steaks, roasts and chops should be cooked to 145 °F, hamburgers to 160 °F, all poultry to 165 °F, fish to 145 °F, and fully cooked meats like hot dogs to 165 °F or until steaming hot.

When you take cooked meats off the grill, remember to place them on a clean plate or platter, NOT on the unwashed dish that held them when they were raw because the juices left on the plate from the raw meats can cross-contaminate cooked foods.

If you use a smoker, the temperature in the smoker should be maintained between 225 °F and 300 °F. Use your food thermometer to be sure the food has reached a safe minimum internal temperature.

Be sure to “keep hot food hot.” This means using warming trays, chafing dishes, or slow cookers to keep hot food at a temperature of 140 °F.

Chill: Bacteria can start to grow on perishable food that has been sitting out too long; avoid having food sit out for more than 2 hours. If the temperature is above 90 °F, perishable foods shouldn't sit out more than one hour. Make sure to “keep cold food cold.” This means cold food should be kept at 40 °F or below; you can use ice packs or ice sources underneath. Refrigerate or freeze leftovers promptly and discard any food that has sat out too long.

Water: Pack water. Avoid buying a lot of soft drinks and other beverages with “empty calories.” Use juice boxes as an occasional treat for kids, but remember even the most healthful juices contribute excess calories. Freeze reusable water bottles (for a full-day outing) or partially freeze them (for a shorter outing chill just 1 hour or so in your freezer); place the bottles in a cooler or bag to help keep foods chilled.

Fruit: Pack fruit whole if you can to ease clean up later, or slice it up and put it in plastic containers that can double as serving dishes.

The menu: Consider foods that don't spoil quickly. Humus or peanut butter on bagels, veggie wraps, vinegar-based pasta salads, and breakfast items such as waffles or pancakes travel well and have a slightly longer “shelf life” than with a slightly longer life than deli meats, casseroles, and cheeses.

High-fiber snacks: Instead of “convenience” bags of crackers, chips, or snack foods, choose high-fiber foods in large bags/containers to portion into baggies or small containers. Look for 3 grams (g) fiber or more/serving for snack food items; the more fiber, the more filling (and in general, the healthier) the snack. Some foods that fall into this category are dried fruits, nuts, seeds, popcorn, and some types of pretzels.

Sweets and treats: Decide ahead of time your “policy” on sweets and treats. For example limit treats to one serving per day.

Questions? The USDA has a great resource available 24/7 to help you plan your summer cookout. It is called “Ask Karen,” which is a virtual representative. You can find “Ask Karen” at AskKaren.gov. You can also talk to food safety coaches by phone at the USDA’s Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854). Food safety experts staff the hotline Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. In addition, recorded messages are available 24 hours a day.