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There are many ways you can keep yourself and the people you serve safe from food-borne illness when cooking beef. We'll be covering them with guidance from the foodsafe guidelines of British Columbia, Canada.




Preventing cross-contamination

First things first, let's cover some safety.


There's three connected ways that you can contaminate your food. Those are

  1. Food handler
  2. Environment
  3. Food


Food handler

We are going break down this section into personal hygiene and proper food storage.


Personal hygiene


Steps for proper hand washing
1. Wet hands with warm water.
2. Apply liquid soap and lather for at least 20-30 seconds.
3. Scrub backs of hands, wrists, between all fingers under nails.
4. Rinse under running water, hands pointing down towards the drain.
5. Dry with a paper towel.
6. Turns off taps & open bathroom door using a paper towel.

-Wash your hands thoroughly after contact with any possible contaminant.

-Avoid wiping your hands or your apron or clothing when you are working with food.

-Avoid touching your mouth or nose when working with food.


Environment


Proper beef storage


It's important to separate your beef from other foods in your fridge to avoid cross contamination, here are some things you can do:


1. Wrap and cover your beef. Use only food grade containers and do not re-use empty containers to store food.


2. Always store your beef on the bottom shelf of the fridge (below any non-meat produce).


Food


Receiving food


Only accept shipments from approved sources like a super market, butcher, or wholesaler.


Make sure to reject any shipments if the vehicle is dirty or if you suspect there might be pests.


Buy your beef from a reputable source such as a super market or a butcher. It couldn't hurt to read some reviews of the company before buying their beef to see if they have a history of selling expired beef.


Make sure to double check the "best before" or "use by" date and make sure you are buying well before any of those dates.


Take a look at the vehicles cargo temperature and confirm if the fridge is 4°C or below and if the freezer is -18°C. Reject your shipment if the vehicle's cargo is below the mentioned temperatures.

Storing Beef

Properly storing your beef will ensure it remains safe to eat for as long as possible, below are the guidelines to follow for storing beef in a fridge or freezer.


In the fridge

Keep your beef refrigerated for a maximum of 5 days.


In the freezer

Your beef will stay fresh in the freezer for 4 - 12 months.

Thawing beef

If you decide to freeze your beef, you must follow the following thawing methods to protect yourself from foodborne illness.


In the fridge

A steak fresh out of the freezer will take at least 24 hours to be fully thawed.


In cold water

Make sure your beef is in a waterproof and leak proof packaging.


Submerge the steak in cold tap water and change the water every 30 mins as the steaks thaw.


In a microwave

If you have a small or thin steak then you can use the microwave method to defrost. Keep in mind that sometimes the steak will not defrost evenly.

Cooking temperature for beef

According to Health Canada these are the internal cooking temperatures the following types of beef need to reach to be considered safe to eat.


Reaching a safe temperature


Steaks and roasts

The minimum temperate a piece or whole cut of beef must reach in order to be considered safe is 63°C (145°F)


Ground beef

Ground beef must reach a minimum temperature of 71°C (160°F)


How to cook beef

There's many ways that you can cook beef. The method you choose is going to be based on the cut of beef and the quality of beef your are working with. Some examples of cooking methods are:


- Sous vide

- Frying pan

- Over a grill

- Roasted in an oven


For more information on how to cook beef feel free to take a look at The Steakout. There you can learn about all things beef and steak, from cow breeds all the way to garnishing your steak.

Cooling beef

Improper cooling is one of the leading causes of foodborne illness. So it's important to reduce the amount of time beef is sitting in the "danger zone".


Within 2 hours of cooking

Beef must be cooled from the temperature it was cooked to 20°C (70°F).


Within the next 4 hours

Then cool your beef from 20°C to 4°C (70°F to 40°F) as soon as possible.


Reheating beef safely

Not reheating food properly is one of the causes for foodborne illness outbreaks.


Make sure to quickly reheat your beef to a minimum temperature or 74°C (165°F). Then hold at above 60°C (140°F) unless it is served immediately. 

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