Tips for Cooking

• Wash your hands with soap and warm water for 30 seconds before and after you make or eat food.
• Keep raw meat, seafood, and poultry away from other foods. Don't let their juices drip onto other foods.
• Don't use leftover sauce or marinade from raw foods on cooked foods.
• Always wash fresh fruits and vegetables in cool running water before you eat them.
• Wash the lids of canned foods right before you open them to keep dirt from getting into the food. Clean the blade of the can opener every time you use it.
• Use cooked leftovers within 3 days.
• Keep one cutting board for raw meat, poultry and seafood and a different one for ready-to-eat or cooked foods. Use plastic cutting boards rather than wood. Cuts in wooden boards can hold bacteria. Clean cutting boards with a bleach and water solution after each use.
• Buy a food thermometer so that you can check the temperature inside of the food you are cooking. If you don't have a food thermometer, try buying meats that have pop-up thermometers or buy disposable temperature sticks.
• Beef should be cooked to at least 150ºF, pork to at least 160ºF, and poultry to at least 165ºF.
• Hot food should be kept at 140ºF or hotter. Cold food should be kept at 40ºF or colder.
• Don't leave food out for more than 2 hours, 1 hour if the room temperature is above 90ºF. Bacteria that can make you sick grow quickly at room temperature.
• Put leftovers into shallow containers in the fridge or freezer as soon as you are done eating to cool quickly. Cover them up once they have cooled down.