Kitchen Safety Rules

Most of us spend the rest of our lives trying to forget junior high school. Sure there were some great times, but the majority of it was a long period of awkwardness, growth spurts, braces, bad hair and makeup choices, and relationships that we honestly believed would end in marriage only to end in disastrous heartache two weeks (or sometimes two hours later). I can truthfully say I don’t remember much I learned in my classes during those years, especially the elective classes. I took several versions of Home Ec. and though I know I loved those classes, mostly because it was an opportunity to goof off and cook food and snack on it. There was always some “Johnny Hottie” that I would flirt with the whole time… ah the magic of the wonder years. Home Ec. classes were all about food safety and things that should be basic common sense, but as a good friend of mine recently said “Common sense is not always common knowledge.” Let’s review some basic food safety points and refresh our memory on how to keep ourselves and our families safe.

1.) Wash Your Hands.

 A lot food poisoning incidents could be prevented if someone had just washed their hands. You should always wash your hands before, during, and after preparing any food. (that includes before you eat) Make sure you wash your hands after handling any raw meat or chicken; I even go ahead and wash after handling fish and also vegetables. If you sneeze, or cough while cooking you should wash your hands again. Does your dog follow you around the kitchen like mine? Do you unconsciously pat them on the head, like I sometimes do? Yep, wash your hands again. Sometimes you have to touch the garbage can while cooking, wash your hands after that too! These seem like no brainer things but a lot of time we simply do not think while cooking. When washing your hands you should always use a good soap and warm water. Rub your hands together to make a good soapy lather. Be sure that you get the backs of your hands and between your fingers and the very commonly missed wrist area! It is recommended that you rub your hands with that soapy lather for at least 20 seconds. (if you need help with that then sing the alphabet to yourself) Rinse your hands and dry with a clean towel or paper towel.

2.) BEFORE cutting vegetables or fruit wash them.

You would be amazed at the number of people I know who do not wash their fruits or veggies! All those pesticides and dirt and bugs…. Ick. Think about the fact that all of those contaminants get onto your knife that is now slicing through the part of the food you intend to eat! Now your food is contaminated with everything that was on the outside of your vegetable or fruit! Even if you plan to peel the vegetable or fruit, wash it first. If you are peeling a potato for example, you are holding the potato and peeling away the skin. You are touching the dirty skin of the potato and when you handle the now peeled potato you are putting all of those germs right back onto the potato!

3.) Make sure you read the bags of your bagged Veggies!

Not all bagged salad greens or other vegetables are washed! We usually assume they all are but they aren’t all prewashed. I prefer to rinse all my bagged veggies just in case there is some cross contamination somewhere. Better safe than sorry.

4.) WASH cutting boards, counters, and utensils with HOT water and soap after working with raw meats.

This is pretty obvious, but worth mentioning. You could use an antibacterial spray on the counters but they are not a good idea for wooden cutting boards or you utensils. Wooden cutting boards are great and I love them. However you should have one that you cut meat on and one that you cut everything else on. Wooden cutting boards have natural grooves from the wood grain and absorb some of those meat juices. Bacteria can grow in the natural grooves and in the grooves caused by cutting on the board! Never wash a wooden cutting board in the dishwasher or leave it to soak in water! (The same goes for wooden spoons) The water will cause the wood’s cellulose to expand and as it dries the wood can crack, ruining the appearance of your board (or spoon) and allowing even more space for bacteria growth. I recommend oiling your board with olive oil every now and then to help seal the wood and keep it looking great. (Oil those wooden spoons too!) Cutting boards not made of wood can be put in the dishwasher. However please remember that glass, marble, or granite boards are hard on your knives!

5.) Keep your prepped food separate.

If you are like me you like to complete all your prep work before you start cooking. This means you should keep your raw meats away from any vegetables or pastas or anything else you are prepping. I read a good tip once that you should have two different colored cutting boards in your kitchen to help you remember; a red cutting board for meats and a green cutting board for vegetables. While I am not that extreme it is a good idea if you have trouble remembering which board you use for which product. This will help you avoid cross contamination!

6.) Refrigerate promptly!

If you don’t plan to use the prepped food right away put it in the refrigerator to keep it chilled and inhibit any bacteria growth. Harmful bacteria can double in number in as little as 20 minutes; avoid the “danger zone” of 40 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. *Most refrigerators are set at or below 40 degrees* (or they should be) Always remember that raw meat should always be stored on a tray on the lowest shelf; this keeps any juices from contaminating other food products.

7.) Use a Meat Thermometer!

Cooking your food to the proper temperature ensures that all dangerous bacteria is killed. E-coli, salmonella, botulism, and hepatitis are dangerous and potentially deadly. Double check that your food has met the recommended core temperature. (I have included a chart)

Remembering these simple guidelines can keep you and your family healthy and keep germs and bacteria out of your kitchen!

 

 

Sources:

http://foodsafety.osu.edu/consumers/dont-spread-germs/

http://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/

Lesson Learned

I learned an important lesson this week; one I had surprisingly never “taught” myself. Though aware of the potential consequences I never ran into it personally. While slicing bell peppers for the corn chowder I was making I became distracted by someone speaking to me and I nearly added the tip of my thumb to the recipe! Naturally cutting myself with a serrated knife was not pleasant. Three things occurred to me at that moment, well after the cursing was over, I had gotten the bleeding stopped, and a bandaged applied: 1. these great new knives I have are sharper than any knife I have ever used 2. Cutting myself really, really hurts 3. I can do a blog on knife safety skills and review them myself. (Then, of course, I told myself how clever I was for thinking that up.)

Knife skills are not something that only professional chefs should know. I am not suggesting that you go out and learn to chop in that super-fast method you see on cooking shows. I cannot do that and I would not expect most average people to be able to it either. What I am saying is that there are some basic skills to know and remember anytime you pick up a knife.

Remember the mantra “a sharp knife is a safe knife”! Trying to force a dull knife through whatever you are cutting can make the knife slip. If you were to cut yourself; it is better to do it with a sharp knife because the wound will be cleaner and heal faster, with less care needed than if it were jagged from a dull knife.

Make sure your cutting surface is appropriate! Glass, metal, or marble surfaces can damage blades and are not ideal for true cutting boards. Wooden cutting boards are great but difficult to keep clean. Keep an eye out for the reasonably priced space age plastic type boards. I love mine! Make sure that your cutting board either has non slip feet on the bottom or set it on a damp towel to prevent the board from slipping.

It seems obvious but never reach to grab a falling knife. Instinct causes us to reach for things that are falling. Try and make sure that knife handles are always away from the edges of counter space so that it is less likely to be knocked off. If a knife does get knocked off your work surface, for whatever reason, do not grab for it and step back so you do not impale your foot! Let the knife fall and then deal with any damage. This sounds totally obvious when I say it, but as previously mentioned instinct works against you here; this is not something you think about first. Not reaching for falling items in the kitchen is something you have to retrain your brain for.

When chopping anything it is better to go slowly and proceed with caution. It is best to cut away from your body. For me this takes some thought because I tend to pull knives towards me when I am preparing foods. I have to stop and remind myself to turn the food or my body so I can pull the knife away from me. Incidentally I was not turned away from my body when I cut myself. I was chopping though, so I was not pulling the knife but even then this is a no, no!

When cutting something always keep your eyes on the blade. I broke this cardinal rule and nearly gave the tip of my thumb for my efforts! The kitchen always seems to be the Grand Central Station of the home, the hub of activity. Whenever I have people over or go to someone’s home we always seem to end up in the kitchen! Think about it, the food and the liquor are usually in the kitchen so that is where parties end up. (That’s why I always say your kitchen should be immaculate, screw the rest of the house.) Even with all this activity you cannot take your eyes off what you are doing, even for a moment! If someone speaks to you or distracts you in some way pause your cutting! It makes sense if you think about it; you are not likely to cut yourself if you are watching what you are doing.

When you are carrying your knife through your busy kitchen always carry it with the blade pointed down and turned towards you. It seems obvious but it is also a bad idea to go skipping through your kitchen swinging your arms, at any time but especially with a knife in hand. With the knife pointed down and the blade towards your leg you are probably not going to slice someone, including yourself.

NEVER put a knife in a sink full of soapy water! Never submerge your knife in soapy water because it hides it from view. I have reached into sinks before and felt the knife sitting at the bottom of the sink; fortunately for me it was the dull, crappy, knives I grew up with so cutting actual flesh was not an issue. Soaking your knives in water is probably not that great for them anyway so just wash them well with a good scrubby sponge and put them away.

Curl your fingers under as you cut. This will feel weird and a bit awkward at first but with practice should become easier. Curling your fingers under helps to lessen the chance that you will lose the tip of any of your fingers. Obviously I wasn’t following this rule either. I have yet to personally master this one, but I am working on it.

The tip of the knife should never leave the work surface. Unless you are using a serrated knife to cut bread the motion you use to cut should be a rocking motion. The tip of the knife should rest on the cutting surface, only the back end of the knife lifts up to accommodate the movement of your other hand feeding the cutting process. This lends stability to the knife; think of those giant paper cutters that your teachers used in grade school!

Make sure you are using the right knife for the job. Again, I did not heed this rule. I was using a serrated knife to chop up vegetables. I should have been using a chef’s knife but I was lazy and just used the knife that was most available at that moment. Try to keep your knife block within reach of where you do most of your cutting and prep work. Keeping knives close to you helps discourage the inclination to just use what knife you can reach.

I know what mistakes I made and I hope that you can learn from my mistake and not have to “teach” yourself like I did. Prep work, in the kitchen, is often not the most enjoyable part of cooking but avoid the temptation to rush through it. As they say, slow and steady wins the race.

Sources:

http://cafe-la.lausd.net/Chef%27s_Corner/Knife_Safety

http://busycooks.about.com/od/howtocook/a/kitchenknife.htm