How to keep meat fresh and foods safe when barbecuing, picnicking and camping

Barbecuing, picnicking, entertaining for a crowd, even camping can pose a challenge when it comes to keeping food fresh and safe. Keep our tips in mind and you’ll keep your food in optimum condition.

Food safety when barbecuing at home

• Always keep raw and cooked meat separate.
• Keep meat in the fridge until you are just about ready to put it on the barbecue. Steaks can be taken from fridge to loose a little of its chill before cooking. Be mindful of the temperature of the kitchen or the heat of day. Around ten minutes is enough.
• Keep raw and cooked meat covered to protect it from contamination.
• Never use the same plate for raw and cooked meat. Have a clean plate and clean utensils ready to place the cooked meat on – not the ones that were used for the raw meat.
• Never stand meat in direct sunlight for any length of time.
• When cooking burgers or sausages there should be no pink meat visible and the juices should run clear. They must be cooked right through to the centre.

A word on marinades

Refrigerate marinating steaks unless you’re going to cook them within 20 minutes or so. Don’t pour marinade mixtures over the steaks while they’re cooking, it makes the meat stew and causes flare-ups. Never pour raw marinade mixture over cooked meat

Tips for the barbecue cook

Make sure the barbecue cook doesn’t mix up the cooking utensils. Preparation boards, knives etc, must be washed between handling raw and cooked meat. Never handle cooked and uncooked meats together. Do not cut them up on the same boards or with the same utensils.

Food safety when picnicking, barbecuing away from home or when camping

• Put meat into a cooler when travelling. Meat juices can easily leak onto pre-prepared foods, so pack with this in mind.
• Remove the meat from its original packaging (it’s usually too flimsy to survive a trip in a cooler) and place in a rigid container. Place the container on the bottom of the cooler, other foods like ready-to-eat salads can be packed on top.
• Pack plenty of frozen bricks or frozen gel packs and ice around the food. 
• When camping the golden rule is never save leftovers. Cook only enough for your meal and discard the rest.

As tempting as it may be to store cooked foods while camping the risk that food will remain in the temperature danger zone for long times and that bacteria will begin to multiply is high.

When you entertain consider these party food rules

• If food has been out for less than 2 hours refrigerate it or use immediately.
• Between 2 hours to 4 hours it should be used immediately.
• If food has been out of refrigeration or cooked and standing for more than four hours the food must be thrown out to avoid potential food poisoning.

Enjoy these delicious barbecue ideas

Barbecued cumin rubbed beef with tabouli





Lamb chops with feta, tomato and asparagus

Also, read more on:

• How to buy and cook goat meat
• How to cook the perfect steak
• How to cook sausages just perfectly
• How to defrost meat using the microwave
• How to freeze and defrost meat
• How to marinate meat 
• How to match red meat cuts with best cooking methods
• How to purchase and store fresh meat
• How to reheat meat dishes in the microwave
• How to store cooked meat dishes
• How to tell when meat is ready or 'done'
• How to barbecue