Keep it clean… for the family (and safety) Won’t somebody, please, think of the children?

Ask Helen Lovejoy what we should be concerned about. It’s the children. More than that, it’s anyone you feed. Unlike Paul’s grandfather in “A Hard day’s night, not everyone can be a “clean old man.” But, striving for cleanliness is the ultimate goal in the kitchen. We eat for health, not to jeopardize it. If we have learned anything from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is wash your hands and prevent the spread of germs. Those of us who work in professional kitchens have always known this. Proper sanitation procedures are essential. When you visit a restaurant, your first concern is the cleanliness of the operation. We trust that all precautions are taken to keep people safe in public. So, why not at home?

Home is where the health risk is. Not just from McCauly Culkin. We must be vigilant to protect ourselves and our families. It scares me when I see how people handle food and equipment in their home kitchens. How many times have you seen a casserole left out at room temperature for hours on end? Or, someone wipes down a cutting board with the same towel they used for drying their hands? How about the frozen turkey left out overnight to defrost? Never mind the pets running everywhere and kids touching everything and anything.

While home cooks don’t need a sanitation certification, the basic principles need to be followed. It’s not that hard; mainly common sense through observation. You don’t have to know all the symptoms and pathology of botulism, shillelagh, salmonella, or a host of other diseases. You just need to be aware of how to stop them. That is done through keeping a clean work environment.

There are a few simple things to do:

1. Wash hands and equipment between every project.
2. Keep raw meats and proteins separate from vegetables and ready-to-eat foods. Prevent cross-contamination.
3. Cook food to proper temperatures to prevent growth of bacteria in the food.
4. Serve and store hot food hot and cold food cold.

Hand washing is vital. Get in the habit of washing your hands with soap and warm/hot water thoroughly for at least 20 seconds. If possible, use disposable paper towels since a reusable cloth can re-contaminate hands. The same holds true for turning off the water. Don’t use your clean hands directly to turn off a faucet that you turned on with dirty hands. Use the paper towel you dried your hands with. Definitely consider wearing disposable gloves when handling meats and ready to eat food (Obviously, not the same gloves).

Thoroughly clean and sanitize everything you use to cook and process food as well. We all have sanitizer wipes or sprays now. Use a food-safe sanitizer or quaternary sanitizer (not Lysol or bleach). If unsure about choosing a food-safe sanitizer, ask a professional chef or retailer. Also remember, sanitizing is not cleaning. Warm/hot water and soap is the recipe for cleaning, sanitizing is the process of eliminating bacteria. Both steps are necessary to keeping food contact surfaces and equipment safe!

Be careful with animal proteins. Cross contamination from raw meats contacting ready to eat foods and improper cooking are severe dangers. You cut steak tips, wipe off your knife and then cut vegetables. The vegetables will be mush if you cook them to the temperature needed to kill off the bacteria that is present in beef (or poultry or other animal protein). Don’t do it. Use separate cutting boards and knives if possible. And, clean and sanitize everything between projects. Preferably, cut the vegetables first.

Time and temperature are your biggest concerns. The danger zone for food is our living space. Bacteria dies between 140 and 165 degrees depending on what you are cooking. Its growth is arrested below 40 degrees. Our rooms are usually kept around 70 degrees and our bodies are 98.6. That is the perfect breeding ground for bacteria. It is vital to bring your food through that dangerous temperature zone to its higher or lower safety temperatures as quickly as possible. Your body is the perfect party place for bacteria and viruses. Let them know you are not open for business!

Even Moe gets it!