Quality Checklist & Thawing Raw Meats Safely

Last week I had to develop and implement a quality checklist in the kitchen here at Mon Gen.  A quality checklist is a checklist that goes over certain food safety standards which you can base off of the USDA Food Safety Guidelines or ServSafe.  I grouped my checklist criteria into several categories:

• Storage
• Thawing
• Preparation
• Serving
• Leftovers
• Safety

Click on the link if you are interested in checking it out: MG Quality Checklist

While my quality checklist was geared towards a larger food establishment, you can certainly conduct the checklist in your own kitchen at home.  When you make sure you are handling your raw meats safely, keeping temperatures of the fridge and freezer above 40° and below 0°F respectively, throwing out leftovers after 4 days, storing cleaning products away from food items, and using proper hand washing techniques, you can greatly reduce your chance of eating something contaminated with bacteria and coming down with food poisoning.  With the summer in full-swing, which means grilling chicken, hamburger, and more, I thought I’d leave you with some tips on how to thaw your raw meats safely.

How to Safely Thaw Raw Meats, Seafood, and Poultry:

• Refrigerator: The refrigerator allows slow, safe thawing.  Thaw meat, poultry, and seafood in containers or on a plate to prevent meat juices from dripping onto other foods. The top-to-bottom order for storing different raw food in the same refrigerator is ready-to-eat foods, raw seafood, raw whole meats, raw ground meats, and raw poultry.

In original plastic, in a glass dish, and on a bottom shelf. Great!

• Cold Water: For faster thawing, place food in a leak-proof plastic bag. Submerge in cold tap water. Change the water every 30 minutes. Cook immediately after thawing.

In plastic & submerged in cold water

• Microwave: Cook meat and poultry immediately after microwave thawing.

Meat should be cooked immediately after thawing in the microwave