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Burgers reign supreme

July 01, 2009|By Jennifer Howard

With the holiday weekend approaching, grills will be heated up for outdoor grilling. Did you know that hamburger is the most popular food for the grill, followed by steak and chicken? One out of every five times a backyard grill in America is fired up, it's to cook a burger.

While hamburgers reign supreme, grillers need to be careful. Ground beef is highly perishable because of the greater surface exposed to air. This permits drying out, loss of flavor and increased bacterial growth in the meat.

Be sure to use ground meat within one or two days after purchase, unless stored in the freezer. Frozen ground beef will keep much longer if it is stored in moisture-proof and vapor-proof packages at 0 degrees.

Other tips to safely handle ground beef include:

— Put ground beef in the refrigerator immediately after you return from the store, and use or freeze it within one or two days. Refrigerate cooked meat and use it within four days. Uncooked, frozen meat needs to be used within four months.

— Ground beef is safe when the center reaches a temperature of 160 degrees. Hamburgers should be cooked until the center is a grayish-brown, not pink. Use a thermometer to ensure that the meat has reached a sufficient internal temperature.

Juices dripping from the meat should be clear.

— Keep grilled meat hot until ready to serve by putting it to the side of the grill, but not directly over the coals. You can also use a warming tray to keep the meat hot until ready to serve.

— When you've finished eating cooked ground beef, immediately refrigerate leftovers.

— Always wash all utensils, cutting boards, counters and plates or platters that came in contact with raw meat during preparation and cooking. Never put cooked meat on a plate that previously held raw meat.

Jennifer Howard is the Clark County extension agent for family and consumer sciences. For more information on safe food handling, contact the Clark County Cooperative Extension Service at 744-4682.

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