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Clean, separate, cook and chill safely
Lesson 1 of Safe Food at Home. Anyone can read this lesson with no account. Every lesson after this one is for students.
Cook and serve safely
Map clean and raw-food zones, check your refrigerator, and learn the two-hour rule that the rest of the course relies on.
After this lesson you can lay out your kitchen so germs from raw food do not reach ready-to-eat food, check that your refrigerator is cold enough, and apply the two-hour rule. Later lessons refer back to these rules instead of repeating them.
1What you need
A food thermometer, a refrigerator thermometer if you have one, paper, and your usual handwashing supplies.
2Clean
- Wash hands with soap and running water for at least 20 seconds before cooking, and after touching raw meat, eggs, garbage or pets.
- Wash cutting boards, utensils and counters with hot soapy water after each use.
- Rinse produce under running water. No soap on food.
- Do not wash raw poultry. Splashing spreads germs around the sink and counter.
3Separate
- Keep raw meat, poultry, seafood and eggs and their juices away from foods that will not be cooked.
- Store raw meat in a sealed container on the bottom refrigerator shelf so drips cannot land on other food.
- Use one cutting board for raw meat and another for produce, or wash the board between uses.
4Cook
Cook to the safe internal temperature, checked with a food thermometer. Color and cooking time are not reliable. The lesson Cook meat, eggs and fish to safe temperatures covers the chart.
5Chill: the rules this course uses everywhere
| Rule | Number |
|---|---|
| Refrigerator | 40°F (4°C) or below |
| Freezer | 0°F (-18°C) or below |
| Perishable food out of the refrigerator | 2 hours maximum |
| ...when it is above 90°F (32°C) | 1 hour maximum |
| Keeping cooked food hot | 140°F (60°C) or above |
The clock counts all the time food spends out: prep, travel and serving. Putting food back in the refrigerator does not reset it.
6Worked example
A potato salad leaves the refrigerator at noon for a picnic. It travels 40 minutes and sits on a table until 2:15 p.m. That is 2 hours 15 minutes out, past the limit. On a 95°F day the limit was 1 hour, reached at 1:00 p.m. The salad should be thrown out.
A cooler with enough ice to keep the salad at 40°F or below changes the answer. A cooler bag with no ice does not.
7Practice: check your refrigerator
- Put a refrigerator thermometer (or your food thermometer in a glass of water) on the middle shelf. Leave it overnight with the door closed.
- Read it in the morning. It should be 40°F or below. If not, turn the dial colder and check again tomorrow.
- Sketch your kitchen. Mark a raw-meat zone, a ready-to-eat zone, the sink and the trash.
- Check where raw meat sits in your refrigerator. Move it to the bottom shelf if needed.
Expected result: a temperature reading, a kitchen sketch and raw meat on the bottom shelf. Work only with packaged food; no raw meat handling is needed today.
8Self-check
1. Should you rinse a raw chicken before cooking it?
Show answer
No. It spreads germs.
2. A casserole sat out 2 1/2 hours on a mild day. Can you refrigerate it now?
Show answer
No. Throw it out.
3. What is the outdoor-temperature cutoff that shortens the limit to 1 hour?
Show answer
Above 90°F.
9Keep for your binder
Save the sketch and your refrigerator reading. Next lesson cooks grains and beans, including the step that makes dry kidney beans safe.
- USDA: Steps to Keep Food Safe
- USDA: Leftovers and Food Safety
- NDSU Extension: Thermometers and Safe Food, refrigerator and freezer targets.
Continue with the full course
This free preview is lesson 1 only. Enroll to open the rest of Safe Food at Home.