Do you always check foods temperature?

One thing that my mother always instilled in me was that foods had to be a certain temperature in order to consume them safely.  She worked at a school cafeteria where they still cooked everything from scratch, and it was one of the things that they always triple checked.

Meats should especially be checked while cooking the first time, but one of the things that always seems to happen is it gets put in to the fridge and re heated later, when you do that it is so very important to check the temperature again.  This is one of those places where it is forgotten about and it can make people sick.  When reheating leftovers, be sure they reach 165° F. Always use a food thermometer to check the internal temperature of the food.

I am such a stickler about this in my house that I have thermometers all over the place, one on top of the microwave, one by the grill, one in the utensil holder and one even in my flatware drawer, in my house there is never an excuse for not checking the temp.

When cooking different foods, follow the chart below and make sure that you are at least to that temp, the tricky part is to not let meats get to far over the temp or they often become dry and flavorless.  The only way to possibly do this safely is use a quality thermometer, there are lots of cheap ones out there, that are really no better than not checking at all.  You can check your thermometers accuracy in a glass of ice water as it should be 32 degrees when in the water not touching the sides, this is an important test to do.

When you are grilling the best thermometer I have used is the Cave Tools Thermometer, it is so quick and always accurate, in all of the time I have had the Cave Tools thermometer it has never missed on my check in ice water, and I have confidence that I can count on it for my family to use.  If you are grilling meats it’s so important to keep them from fresh vegetables on the grill and to check the inner  part of the meats from the sides instead of the top on steaks and chops, it is really the only accurate way to get a correct temperature.

Spring is less than a month a way and all of are going to be having parties and grilling outside more, do not forget the most important part of any get together, keeping people safe from food borne illness.  Keep cold food cold and cook food thoroughly.  Remember the best parties are the one where people have fun and don’t get sick.  If you would like to purchase your own Cave Tools Thermometer use code LH58KB66 for 15% off!

This post was sponsored by Cave Tools, visit their website, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest!

Picture from: http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/food/fs/tempreq.html