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| Enjoy your barbecues by taking a few simple steps to ensure that the food you cook is safe to eat. |
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| When cooking alfresco, it's harder to keep hot foods hot, cold foods cold, and everything clean. The two key things to remember are that you need to minimise the opportunities that you give bacteria to multiply, and avoid cross-contamination. |
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| The threat of E.coli 0157 comes particularly from beef products (such as burgers), and the risk of salmonella and campylobacter particularly from chicken. Bacteria flourish in warm temperatures and double in number every 20 minutes. But the good news is that if you handle your food with care and cook it thoroughly, you can avoid them all. |
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Light the barbecue well in advance to ensure that it's as hot as possible before you start cooking. This will help avoid the problem of your food being charred on the outside and raw on the inside - not very tasty or safe! Use enough charcoal and wait until the coals are white and glowing red before you start to cook.
Only pre-cook chicken in the oven or microwave if you can take it straight to the barbecue to finish it off. If half-cooked chicken is left hanging around, any bacteria will multiply. Always make sure that chicken is cooked through, there are no pink bits inside and the juices run clear. |
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| Cook burgers, sausages and anything containing minced or chopped beef until they are piping hot through and have no pink bits. Never eat these processed meats rare - but it's OK to cook a beef steak as rare as you like. |
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| Defrost frozen meat and poultry thoroughly before cooking. Defrost in a microwave or in the fridge - not at room temperature. |
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| Keep raw meat away from cooked or ready-to-eat foods to prevent cross-contamination. Don't handle cooked foods with the same utensils that you're using for raw meats. |
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| Store marinating meat in the fridge or a cool bag with ice to help prevent the growth of bacteria. Don't baste the cooking meat with the marinade that the raw meat was sitting in; avoid contamination by using a fresh marinade to baste. |
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| Keep hot food hot - make sure meats are thoroughly cooked and piping hot. |
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| Keep cold food cold - leave all perishable food in the fridge until you are ready to serve or cook. If you're having a picnic, store it in an insulated cool box, and try to eat within a few hours of it leaving the fridge. |
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| Clean the barbecue well after you've used it. |
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 And as well as all the specific barbecue issues, remember basic food safety tips to avoid food poisoning:
In the fridge store raw foods separately from ready-to-eat foods. Keep raw meat and fish at the bottom so the juices can't accidentally drip onto other foods. |
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| Use different utensils, and ideally different chopping boards when preparing raw and cooked foods. Failing that, ensure you wash them thoroughly between handling different foods. Also clean work surfaces as you go. |
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| Wash your hands before and after preparing both raw and cooked foods. |
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| Keep pets away from areas where you prepare food. |
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Allow leftovers to cool, cover with clingfilm and put them in the fridge as quickly as possible. Eat them within a day. Even if they look and smell all right they may still cause food poisoning. If in doubt - throw it out!
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more common sense safety tips
- Keep children and pets away from the barbecue. Even after cooking the barbecue remains hot.
- Long hair should be tied back.
- Don't wear loose or flammable clothes.
- Keep a bucket of water or sand on standby in case of a fire.
- Clean up: food left stuck to the cooking grids is a health hazard and will affect the taste of your next meal. Let it burn off, then, wearing thick rubber gloves, and while the barbecue is slightly warm, clean the grid with a wire brush. If necessary, wash it with hot, soapy water and a scouring pad.
- Dispose of barbecue ashes carefully, especially when you are cooking in the countryside or on the beach. You should take any spent fuel home with you – carefully wrap it in foil, place on a tray or in a pan and pour water over to cool it before you take it away with you.
- Leave the barbecue to cool completely before packing it away.
- Don't worry if rain threatens to stop play at the last minute. Most food that can be barbecued can also be cooked under a medium grill, on a griddle or in a preheated oven at 200°C, gas mark 6. So even if the English weather lets you down, enjoy!
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