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- #11
Like I said in my intro many of us are a lot older and have been cooking for decades and we have ingrained common sense and yet also prejudices.
I remember how skeptical I was when a production class chef insisted to us that you should NEVER stuff a turkey when you roast it, better to roast the bird empty and making a stuffing separately in a casserole dish. For decades I stuffed my birds and never got sick, yet now I am reluctant to do it. I was taught not to stuff the bird in every production class we had and doggone it that lesson stuck.
This recent listeria outbreak just goes to show you how many different ways we can get food borne illness from things other than raw meat or poultry. I got a cantaloupe at WalMart last week, it went from the plastic shopping bag into a sink of hot soapy water and I washed the whole melon skin with a scrubby. Then hand dried the melon with a linen towel that went straight into the laundry basket. Obviously I drained that sink of water and cleaned it with a bleach spray.
And I remember when I was in my senior quarter how word got around in the school that some green freshman in Garde Manger made caesar's salad dressing (that got distributed to the school dining room) from eggs that had not been coddled in boiling water, thus making many people in the school sick, students and school staff. That kind of stuff makes you stop and be a little more cautious.
It only takes a little education and a few minutes to do things food safe. It's for your safety and the safety of your guests and loved ones.
Squishy, you follow your inner voice, if it says be careful then be careful.
I remember how skeptical I was when a production class chef insisted to us that you should NEVER stuff a turkey when you roast it, better to roast the bird empty and making a stuffing separately in a casserole dish. For decades I stuffed my birds and never got sick, yet now I am reluctant to do it. I was taught not to stuff the bird in every production class we had and doggone it that lesson stuck.
This recent listeria outbreak just goes to show you how many different ways we can get food borne illness from things other than raw meat or poultry. I got a cantaloupe at WalMart last week, it went from the plastic shopping bag into a sink of hot soapy water and I washed the whole melon skin with a scrubby. Then hand dried the melon with a linen towel that went straight into the laundry basket. Obviously I drained that sink of water and cleaned it with a bleach spray.
And I remember when I was in my senior quarter how word got around in the school that some green freshman in Garde Manger made caesar's salad dressing (that got distributed to the school dining room) from eggs that had not been coddled in boiling water, thus making many people in the school sick, students and school staff. That kind of stuff makes you stop and be a little more cautious.
It only takes a little education and a few minutes to do things food safe. It's for your safety and the safety of your guests and loved ones.
Squishy, you follow your inner voice, if it says be careful then be careful.
