Time for Summer Grilling: Top Tips for a Healthy Family Cookout on Memorial Day

Are you ready to bust out the grill for summer cookouts? How many of you know that much of what you do to protect yourself, family, and friends from food poisoning begins and ends with what you do in your own kitchen? Food poisoning is more prevalent in the summer because bacteria multiply fast when the weather is warm and cooking outdoors means many food safety rules are viewed as suggestions that are easily ignored. Food recalls seem to be everyday news, with the latest being the Jif Peanut Butter and products containing it. When you hear about these recalls it means that our food safety system is working. But no one is going to recall your famous BBQ brisket or chicken or homemade guacamole if it makes someone sick.

Here is how to avoid common mistakes in the kitchen or at the grill to serve up a healthy holiday meal without food-borne illness.

Clean your grill before firing it up. If your grill has been under cover all winter, it is time for a deep spring cleaning. Keeping the grill clean makes the food taste better by removing grease (which can hold on to bacteria) and carbon deposits which can cause uneven heating. For tips on how to keep your grill in top shape, check out this article from Popular Mechanics. The best tools are a long-handled wire brush, a 5-gallon bucket, a grease cutting dish detergent, and elbow grease.

Keep raw food separate from cooked foods and fresh fruits and veggies. Raw chicken juice can drip onto foods on the way home from the grocery store (that is why it is best to bag raw meats separately from other foods) or in the refrigerator. Always place raw meat on clean, covered plate in the fridge before cooking.

Stop washing raw chicken! Washing chicken in the sink or rinsing in a colander can spread the raw juices around sink, counter tops, and other foods that might be nearby. A fresh melon or an avocado on the countertop can get easily contaminated by the spread of raw meat juices.

And speaking of cross contamination, always wash the cutting board and knife in hot soapy water before using it to cut veggies or fruits. Better yet, have separate cutting boards for produce and raw meats.

Never reuse the marinade used for raw meat to brush on cooked meat. The marinade can be a regular petri dish of bacteria as the meat tenderizes. It is better to have some extra marinade in a separate dish that hasn’t been in contact with raw meat. Keep a clean plate on the grill to transfer cooked food to the table.

Break out the food thermometer. (I suggest an instant read thermometer as a useful host gift!) Chicken should be cooked to an internal temperature of a 165 degrees F. as measured with a thermometer, not your eyes.  Beef burgers should be cooked 160 and steaks and pork loin or chops to 145. Here’s a handy chart for safe cooking temps. Do you need another good reason to use a thermometer? There will be no danger of overcooking! Moist and tender food is the goal, not an overdone, hockey puck of a burger!

Don’t forget to wash the dirtiest things in your kitchen…. your hands! Keep hand sanitizer by the grill for touch ups.

So, now you are prepared for a summertime full of great cookouts with good food and no bad bugs! For more information on home food safety click here and here.

Happy grilling!

Dr. Chris Rosenbloom is a registered dietitian and nutrition professor emerita at Georgia State University. She is the co-author of Food & Fitness After 50 and writes a blog on food, nutrition, and healthy aging, click here to follow the blog.