Staying away from the 'danger zone': Keeping your food safe on Memorial Day Weekend
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A word of caution as you prepare for your Memorial Day Weekend gatherings and cookouts: a good time can end miserably if you are not careful with the food.
No one wants to get sick, and you can without even realizing you are doing something wrong.
First things first – you need to know about the "temperature danger zone."
"The temperature danger zone, which is where bacteria grows very fast, that doubles every 20 minutes between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit," said Mary Alice Geddings, a food safety expert from Penn State Extension.
She said to keep your foods out of that 40-140 range as much as possible because if that bacteria grows and gets inside of you, it could lead to vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and chills.
"The hamburgers need to be cooked to 160 degrees," she explained.
That means you'll want a thermometer and keeping them hot is a challenge.
"Find out how many people want hamburgers, how many people want hot dogs, and then have a couple of extra, but don't make a whole lot and just leave them sitting around," Geddings said.
She added that the clock starts ticking as soon as the spread is laid out and that you can really only allow foods in that "danger zone" for about two hours. That can be extended to side dishes by putting ice under them.
"If you have it on ice and you cover it, you're going to keep the cold in and you're also going to keep the bugs off," she cautioned.
As for chicken, it's a little bit more complicated.
"Oh, it's alright if you have that chicken out for about two hours if it's around that 80-degree temperature, but if it gets up to about 90, you want to get it in within an hour," Geddings explained.
So, layout the spread indoors if you can, and after two hours, get into a refrigerator. If that's not possible, make sure to throw it out.