Since it is almost that time of the year where professional and weekend BBQ'es pull out the charcoal and grill, thought I would share some easy BBQ food safety tips.

Before you barbecue
Clean and sanitize all cooking equipment, utensils and work surfaces with a mild bleach solution (use 5 ml/1 tsp. of bleach in 750 ml/3 cups water). Do this before you start and after you have finished preparing food. Rinse with clean water. Let air dry if possible, or use clean kitchen towels or paper towels.

Wash your hands well for at least 20 seconds with soap and hot water.

Wash your hands before you begin to prepare food.Wash them again when you switch from one food to another. Be sure to wash your hands after you touch raw meat, poultry or seafood.

Keep raw foods away from cooked foods. Do not use the same plate or tray for raw and cooked meats. Use different utensils for raw and cooked foods.Keep meats, salads and perishable foods in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them. If you store your food in a cooler, pack the cooler with freezer packs to keep the temperature at or below 4?C (40?F). Keep the cooler lid closed as much as possible. Store your cooler in the shade, away from birds and animals.

Pre-heat the barbecue before you start to cook. If you use a charcoal barbecue, use enough charcoal to cook everything and make sure it is glowing red before you start to cook
During CookingPre-cook poultry if you can. Then put it on the barbecue immediately. You don?t want any food to be exposed to danger zone temperatures (4?C to 60?C or 40?F to 140?F).Raise the height of the grill or reduce the heat of the barbecue if food starts to burn during cooking. Always check the temperature of the food before you stop cooking.

Use a food thermometer to make sure that food has reached a safe internal temperature. Follow the manufacturer?s instructions on how to use the thermometer. Safe internal temperatures are found in the chart below.

Here is a list of typical foods and temperatures you should cook them to:
- ham, ready-to-eat, fully cooked: You can eat it cold or you can heat it.
- beef, lamb and veal steaks and roasts: 71?C (160?F) medium; 77?C (170?F) well done
- ground beef, pork, veal ad lamb; pork chops, ribs and roasts; egg dishes: 71?C (160?F)
- stuffing and casseroles, hot dogs, leftovers; 74?C (165?F)
- chicken and turkey breasts; 85?C (185?F)
- turkey and chicken (whole bird), chicken and turkey legs, thighs and wings; 85?C (185?F)
- ground chicken and turkey; 85?C (185?F)

After Cooking
Put cooked food on a clean plate or tray. Don?t use leftover sauce or marinade from the raw food on cooked food

Keep all food covered to prevent cross contamination

Eat food as soon as it is ready. If you must hold food hot make sure the temperature stays at or above 60?C (140?F).

If food has been held in the danger zone, between 4?C to 60?C (40?F to 140?F) for 2 hours or longer, don?t keep food as leftovers.Place leftovers in shallow containers and refrigerate. Cover when they are cool. Reheat leftovers to 74?C (165?F) before eating. Eat leftovers within 2 days.

Thanks , good informations
and expecting more from you
Thanks Again

Glad you found the info useful engmazen.

Note that I removed your email from your signature. You do not want your email displayed in forums as spammers will be able to scrape most forums and find your email address. If users want to contact you, they can use the Private Message function on the forum or the Email function to contact you.

Welcome to the board!

Hmmm, a food science student. I expect to see some neat posts from you as well!

thanks Ian
actually you are true about email point.
and for sure expect some posts from me, and i hope you and all the board find it good.
and also waiting more from you
and thanks Again

Hi Ian,
The health measures you have outlined are very sensible guidelines, but another area that always concerns me is overcooking of barbequed fare. When meat is burnt sugars in the muscle are converted to cyclic hydrocarbons and they are very powerful carcinagenics.Prevention is easily achieved by using a marinade made from olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt and mustard Ref; New Scientist 1996. Vegetables high in starch will also form acrilamide, when burnt, which is also a powerful carcinagenic. Being an Aussie and loving a BBQ and red wine I want to be around for as long as possible to enjoy them, I have to go now, I have to put another shrimp on the barbie.
John Bobbin BNat

John, the carcinogens produced from over cooking food on the bbq is definitely something to be concerned about. But that's where some of the flavor comes from

Joking aside, it is a serious issue and we should not eat so much of that blackened stuff.

Shrimp on the barbie? I have a feeling you mean a prawn! (as per dictionary.com - Any of various edible crustaceans similar to but larger than the shrimps)

Hi Ian
You obviously don't watch our Aussie ads. We were informed by Paul Hogan (Crocodile Dundee) that the Americans called our prawns shrimps. Remember Mick Dundee turning them on the barbie with a knife that would rival any machete for size.
Best wishes John Bobbin BNat

Health AND Humour-love it!
We are now aware of the risks of overcooked foods; where were these discussions years ago when we charred our marshmallows and weiners in the campfire flames-yikes?!
Great info-thanks,
Tracey

Thank you,
I am glad you appreciate a bit of Aussie humour, I think it would be a sad world if we were all to straight.I have been trying to reply for 3 days. I changed computers and it was as if I had of changed planets, nothing worked, I couldn't even get an e-mail to you guys. I rejoined and that appears to have solved the problem.
John Bobbin BNat

Hi People,
I have just been looking at a research paper doing the rounds here in Oz which relates to this thread.
Apparently researchers have been checking the links with acrylamide and have found no association at all with a lot of cancers; check the link

http://www.news-medical.net/?id=28947

Here is the latest on grilling and how it affects your health. Interesting stuff!

How to Minimize Your Exposure to Cancer-Causing Chemicals In This Grilling Season

Time to fire up the bbq a few more times before the end of summer!

Hi Ian,
Another way you can protect your meat from flair ups is of course to cook on the plate rather than the bars, or alternatively put a piece of foil with holes in it, to a allow the fat to drain, between your meat and the flames.
eating cheese (calcium phosphate)whenever you eat red meat also offers protection against stomach cancer.

My dog and myself are going to have a Barbie tonight, I'll eat and drink red wine while she watches and whinges. She got too fat last year but she has lost it all now and can display a six pack.

Cheers

Hey those are good tips. I will have to try them next barbie season. So how did your friend take not being able to eat all that delicious bbq'ed food?

She was a very unhappy "camper", she tried everything she knew from begging to mock threatening but all to no avail. She is 13 years old now so we have to keep her weight down. She is a pedigreed dog, and her weight for the breed should not exceed 18Kg, she got to 24 Kg before we finally said, that's enough, and put her on a calorie restricted diet. She weighs 18Kg now and looks good, if she could talk I am sure she would claim she was anorexic. She is a Staffordshire Bullterrier.

Cheers

Very nice article.All tips are very good and satisfied.Thanks for sharing.I agree with you.Thanks very much.

These are great tips. I am always a paranoid of germs when I cook. I carry a bottle of hand sanatizer around with me!

Your sharing tips are very good and nice.Thanks for sharing.I agree with you.Thanks very much.