Do you want to give homemade food gifts but aren’t sure where to start with food safety? Follow these four food safety tips and your family and friends will stay healthy and happy while enjoying all the delicious treats you serve!
Four Food Safety Tips for Gift-Giving Success…
1. Separate
Separate means to limit cross-contamination between foods. A big one is cutting raw meat on a cutting board and then using that same board to cut raw veggies. This is a no-no! However, you can switch these steps and be just fine. Or, wash the cutting board between uses. I prefer a plastic cutting board to wood for easy cleaning and because it’s nonporous.
Another way to separate food is to make sure that raw meats don’t drip on other foods when stored in the refrigerator. Put bags/packages of raw meats in a bowl or on a plate to keep those meat “juices” (blood) from contaminating other items on different shelves. It really is best to store meat on the lowest shelf in the refrigerator for this reason. And keep everything else well covered in the refrigerator!
2. Cool
Just like this implies, keeping cold foods cold is important for keeping the little foodborne illness beasties from making others sick. Your refrigerator should be set around 37°F. Your freezer should be 0°F or colder. These temperatures only slow down the reproduction of foodborne illness causers…they don’t stop or kill them! This is important! I stick to the rule that if food is out of the refrigerator for two hours, I throw it out. At that point, the food has warmed to the point that the sickness-causing bacteria are having a great time and reproducing quickly!
When serving food that should stay cool, placing it in a bowl of ice will help keep the temperature lower. When transporting food, be sure to use a sturdy cooler and lots of ice and/or reusable ice packs. Keeping items incredibly cold not only makes the dish more appealing, but it is a great food safety tip!
3. Cook
Cooking food to the proper internal temperature will keep food safe as well. Knowing the correct internal temperatures for all types of food will allow your friends and family to enjoy your food gifts safely. If you only can remember one temperature, remember 165°F. At this point, all meat is considered well-done, casseroles and leftovers should be heated to this temperature, and most foodborne illnesses will be killed. Now, some meats will be overcooked at 165°F, but most of us aren’t taking cooked fish to others as a gift! This is my favorite instant-read thermometer that I use all the time.
Also, a part of cooking, is keeping those hot foods hot once they are served! One of my favorite methods of taking hot food to others is to use my Pyrex food carrier. It does a great job of keeping everything piping hot, and I can literally take a dish straight out of the oven and stick it in this carrier.
Another trick is to use a crockpot to keep foods nice and hot. I prefer this type, as it has a “warm” function and will keep foods from getting overcooked and crusty. I also like the knob…It’s not fancy, but when our power blipped one day and turned off my digital slow cooker, thereby ruining an expensive beef roast, I no longer use my “fancy” crockpot unless I’m going to be home.
Wanna go old school? Wrap your gift container in a thick layer of newspaper, secure it with masking tape, and take the dish to its intended location pronto. The dish will stay warm.
4. Clean
This might be the most important of the four food safety tips! If you don’t have clean hands, clean work surfaces, clean everything, you won’t be able to fix food that will be safe for others to consume. No one wants to take a gift to others and make them sick!!!
Having a sink of hot soapy water makes clean up a breeze! It allows you to clean your cutting boards, wipe down countertops, wash gift-giving containers, etc. Feel free to use food-safe gloves for packaging and always pull back your hair when working in the kitchen.
Clean might be the easiest of the four tips for food safety to follow! 🙂
Follow these four food safety tips, and you’ll be a kitchen boss in no time! In my opinion, there is nothing more important than food safety…these simple steps help keeps us all safe and able to enjoy our food bounty!
So, are you ready to share your homemade goodies with others? I’ve written a post on why we should give the gift of homemade. Read it here. If you are just setting up your kitchen and aren’t sure what kitchen equipment you might need to go homemade, you can read my suggestions here and here. Everything on these lists are items I use. Almost.Every.Day.
For more information on food safety and recalls within the United States, visit Foodsafety.gov.
If you’d like to see what products I use for these food safety tips in my kitchen, please see below. Please know, these contain affiliate links. This means I earn a small commission on any sales, at no extra cost to you. The income I earn helps to pay for maintaining my blog. Thank you so much for your support!