Free Guide

Food Safety in the Home Kitchen

I cannot stress enough the importance of food safety when it comes to preparing, cooking, serving, cooling, and storing foods. Contamination can occur during every step of the process. It is important that every person in a kitchen—whether you’re a home cook or an executive chef at a well-established restaurant—has a basic understanding of how food becomes unsafe.

This guide covers preparing and cooking. Cooling, storing, reheating and thawing have their own guide: Cooling and Storing Food Safely.

Food safety has always been my passion, which is why I obtained a Ph.D. in the subject from Purdue University in 2014. When it comes to serving food to the people that we care about (and honestly, even for those we don’t necessarily care that much for), making sure the food they consume that we prepare should be just as important as the meal we are making.

Washing hands

When it comes to cooking, there is no such thing as washing your hands too much. Our hands become contaminated not only by handling food, but also by simply touching our clothes, hair, glasses, and phones. It is important to wash your hands properly by lathering them with soap for at least 10 – 15 seconds, rinsing them off with warm potable (i.e., clean) water, and finally drying them using a clean, dry towel.

The most important thing to remember about food contamination is that it only takes a small number of bacteria and viruses—which are completely invisible to the naked eye—to cause a food-borne illness in many people. Some individuals—including the elderly, young children, immunocompromised people, pregnant people, and people on certain medications—are at the highest risk of getting very sick from food-borne illnesses.

A clean work area

“Clean as you go” is the motto found in almost all professional kitchens and is a great practice to follow in your own kitchen when cooking. In my home I have a number of pots, pans, utensils, and bowls that I REALLY love using, so I keep washing and reusing them as I need them. My current home has a very limited kitchen space, which makes it that much more important for me to keep my tools and work area clean at all times.

The “clean as you go” motto does not just include the wares that you are using to make your culinary masterpiece, but also the counter, stove, and other flat surfaces that you may use during the process. Keeping these flat surfaces clean also helps to prevent cross-contamination.

A good working thermometer

A working thermometer is a must in every kitchen. There are infinite ways that food can become contaminated with bacteria, and one of the most reliable ways of destroying those bacteria is by cooking food to a proper temperature. The only surefire way to ensure you reach that temperature is with a thermometer. I keep an inexpensive digital one (which I picked up at Walmart for about $3) in my kitchen at all times.

Every recipe in Doc Bear’s Comfort Food Survival Guide includes a cooking temperature where one matters, and so does every recipe in the app. The table below is the short version, for when you just need the number.

Cooking temperatures

Anything stuffed goes to 165°F, and you measure the filling

That is not just stuffing cooked inside a bird. It is stuffed pork chops, stuffed peppers, stuffed cabbage, stuffed manicotti and stuffed shells. The outside of a stuffed pepper reaches temperature long before the middle of the filling does, and the filling is where the risk is.

Two recipes on this site are worth reading with that in mind: Mom’s Homemade Stuffed Peppers and Doc Bear’s Southern Chili Manicotti. Both are stuffed, and both want 165°F in the filling.

Why pork came down to 145°F

For decades home cooks were taught 160°F, and a lot of people still cook pork that way out of habit. Three things changed.

Commercial pigs are no longer fed raw garbage or slop, which broke the life cycle of the Trichinella parasite. The three-minute rest after the meat leaves the heat lets the internal temperature hold steady or rise slightly, and that final stretch of time at temperature does real work against anything remaining. And modern pork is far leaner than it was; at 160°F you dry it out and lose the flavor for no safety benefit at all.

Frying oil best practices

There are six items that will break down frying oil. These items are (1) oxygen/air, (2) salt, (3) soap, (4) heat, (5) carbon buildup, and (6) water.

• Oxygen and air

  Exposure to air can impact the flavor profile of the oil. It is best to keep the oil covered when not in use.

• Salt

  The salt shortens the life of oil. Try to avoid salting food before frying and do not salt directly above the oil.

• Soap

  The soap causes foaming and smoking of oil. It also causes the oil to darken and develop an odor. Avoid using soap when cleaning the fryer.

• Heat

  Although heat is needed to cook the food, it’s best to avoid excessive heat. I tend to cook almost all fried foods at 330°F; it does take a little longer for foods to cook, but I believe the quality increases as well.

• Carbon buildup

  Make sure to clean your fryer regularly and do not allow the burners to accumulate carbon buildup.

• Water

  Make sure that the foods you cook have as much moisture removed as possible. Frozen foods should not have ice crystals on them. Water ultimately causes the oil to darken and smoke.

Keep it in mind every time

Remember, food safety is something that should be on your mind every time you are working in the kitchen. It is estimated that contaminated food results in tens of millions of illnesses a year, hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations, and thousands upon thousands of deaths. Keep your food safe, so that you and your friends and family can enjoy delicious meals without the risk of getting sick.

Adapted from the food safety chapter of Doc Bear’s Comfort Food Survival Guide, Volume IV.