Let’s introduce ourselves to bacteria. As I’m sure your teacher has told you, there are lots of good and bad bacteria. Good bacteria is great for your gut, which makes your tummy feels good.
Bad bacteria on the other hand can have the opposite effect and when too much bacteria gets into your body, it can make you feel ill.
Here at IFJ Junior, we love to hear of children and teenagers getting creative in the kitchen, but it’s so important that right throughout the cooking process, you are really careful. After all, you don’t want to help your parents prepare a delicious burger meal and then have people feeling sick afterwards.
Safefood has lots of good advice on food safety and hygiene in the kitchen and there is no better time than the summer to put this advice into practice. That’s because bacteria and germs love hot weather, so there is more of a risk that they will make an unwelcome appearance.
Keep everything clean
Let’s get ready for a summer party. Before we even start the cooking process, we want a clean kitchen. Not only will this mean more space on your counters to lay out all your ingredients, it means there is less of a chance of nasty bacteria creeping into your food. Even if a counter looks clean, bacteria like Campylobacter can last on kitchen surfaces for up to one hour and E coli can last for up to 24 hours.
So, clean down all the counters with hot soapy water and a good scrub. Make sure you’re using clean cloths and tea towels.
Bacteria loves hanging out in warm, moist conditions, so if you’ve got a cloth sitting there for days in the sun, you’re spreading bacteria all over your countertops. So clean cloths mean clean counters.
Cross contamination
What’s one of the best ways to get rid of nasty bacteria? Cooking it! Bacteria can’t survive when food is heated over 74°C , which is why a meat thermometer is always handy when firing up the flames of the barbecue. But remember, you also have to look out for cross-contamination.
Cross-contamination is when harmful bacteria are accidentally transferred from raw food to ready-to-eat food. So, if you are cooking chicken, you need to store all your raw chicken far away from your cooked chicken. If they touch each other, or even if you use the same knife or chopping board for raw and cooked meat, the bacteria can transfer over.
If you eat the cooked chicken that has been cross contaminated, this could make you really sick. So make sure to keep everything separate.
The five-second rule
We’ve all been there. You’ve dropped a piece of toast on the floor and someone yells ‘five-second rule’! As long as you pick it up quickly, its ok to eat, right? Safefood was determined to find out if this is fact or fiction. Interestingly, this food rule goes back to the time of Genghis Khan, the Mongol ruler of the 1400s.
He implemented the “Khan rule” at his banquets, where if food fell to the floor, it could stay there as long as he decreed. The idea was that food prepared for Khan was so special that it would be good for anyone to eat, no matter what.
But let’s be honest, knowledge of science wasn’t quite as sophisticated in those days. So over the years, various scientists have tested the theory.
Interestingly, the five-second rule affects certain food more than others, and is also impacted by the type of surface on which the food is dropped. Foods which have a high-water content, such as watermelon, are more likely to pick up bacteria when they are dropped, compared to items like gummy bears, probably because it’s easier for bacteria to stick to the moist surface. There is also more chance of picking up bacteria if the item is dropped on wood and tiles versus carpet.
However, throughout all these tests, the food item that fell on the floor picked up some bacteria and as bacteria can cause serious illness, the scientists have concluded that the five-second rule is definitely a myth!
Firing up the barbecue
Time to get cooking at the barbecue! Two of our favourite things to cook on the hot flames are steak and burgers.
You might have heard the waiter at a restaurant ask how someone wants their steak cooked. Rare means that the steak is seared on the outside, but is still juicy (and sometimes a bit bloody) on the inside. Well done means the steak is cooked right through. However, burgers always need to be cooked well done.
Why is this? Why can the beef in a steak be cooked rare, but the beef in a burger must be well done?
That is because when a piece of steak is cut from the animal, all the bacteria exists on the surface. So when you cook a steak on the barbecue, all you need to do is sear each side to kill the bacteria.
When you make a burger, though, the butcher minces the meat. That means they put it through a machine and all the meat gets minced and mixed together into a burger patty.
So, the bacteria from the surface is now spread throughout the burger. Unless the burger is cooked right through, these bacteria can remain alive on the inside and could cause food poisoning.
To cook a burger properly, it’s important is to make sure the juices run clear, the burger is piping hot all the way through and that there is no pink meat.
Safety at the barbecue
Barbecues are great for cooking delicious meals, but they can be extremely dangerous.
Follow these tips to make sure everyone stays safe this summer:
Before the grill is turned on, draw a 4ft kid-free box around your barbecue, ensuring all small children know they must never cross the line. If you are an older teenager helping your parents with the barbecue, there are also a few rules to follow. Never open the barbecue, that’s a job for your parents. If you’re helping out, always follow their instructions. The flames are extremely hot and accidents can happen easily. When cooking food, make sure your parents are using long-handled grilling tools to give plenty of clearance from heat and flames. And again, never pick up the utensils unless your parents are helping you. Wear clothing that isn’t loose, and make sure no clothing has strings or other items that could fall into the grill. Read more
Learning through cooking: cookbooks for kids
Christmas Toys for your Little Farmer
Let’s introduce ourselves to bacteria. As I’m sure your teacher has told you, there are lots of good and bad bacteria. Good bacteria is great for your gut, which makes your tummy feels good.
Bad bacteria on the other hand can have the opposite effect and when too much bacteria gets into your body, it can make you feel ill.
Here at IFJ Junior, we love to hear of children and teenagers getting creative in the kitchen, but it’s so important that right throughout the cooking process, you are really careful. After all, you don’t want to help your parents prepare a delicious burger meal and then have people feeling sick afterwards.
Safefood has lots of good advice on food safety and hygiene in the kitchen and there is no better time than the summer to put this advice into practice. That’s because bacteria and germs love hot weather, so there is more of a risk that they will make an unwelcome appearance.
Keep everything clean
Let’s get ready for a summer party. Before we even start the cooking process, we want a clean kitchen. Not only will this mean more space on your counters to lay out all your ingredients, it means there is less of a chance of nasty bacteria creeping into your food. Even if a counter looks clean, bacteria like Campylobacter can last on kitchen surfaces for up to one hour and E coli can last for up to 24 hours.
So, clean down all the counters with hot soapy water and a good scrub. Make sure you’re using clean cloths and tea towels.
Bacteria loves hanging out in warm, moist conditions, so if you’ve got a cloth sitting there for days in the sun, you’re spreading bacteria all over your countertops. So clean cloths mean clean counters.
Cross contamination
What’s one of the best ways to get rid of nasty bacteria? Cooking it! Bacteria can’t survive when food is heated over 74°C , which is why a meat thermometer is always handy when firing up the flames of the barbecue. But remember, you also have to look out for cross-contamination.
Cross-contamination is when harmful bacteria are accidentally transferred from raw food to ready-to-eat food. So, if you are cooking chicken, you need to store all your raw chicken far away from your cooked chicken. If they touch each other, or even if you use the same knife or chopping board for raw and cooked meat, the bacteria can transfer over.
If you eat the cooked chicken that has been cross contaminated, this could make you really sick. So make sure to keep everything separate.
The five-second rule
We’ve all been there. You’ve dropped a piece of toast on the floor and someone yells ‘five-second rule’! As long as you pick it up quickly, its ok to eat, right? Safefood was determined to find out if this is fact or fiction. Interestingly, this food rule goes back to the time of Genghis Khan, the Mongol ruler of the 1400s.
He implemented the “Khan rule” at his banquets, where if food fell to the floor, it could stay there as long as he decreed. The idea was that food prepared for Khan was so special that it would be good for anyone to eat, no matter what.
But let’s be honest, knowledge of science wasn’t quite as sophisticated in those days. So over the years, various scientists have tested the theory.
Interestingly, the five-second rule affects certain food more than others, and is also impacted by the type of surface on which the food is dropped. Foods which have a high-water content, such as watermelon, are more likely to pick up bacteria when they are dropped, compared to items like gummy bears, probably because it’s easier for bacteria to stick to the moist surface. There is also more chance of picking up bacteria if the item is dropped on wood and tiles versus carpet.
However, throughout all these tests, the food item that fell on the floor picked up some bacteria and as bacteria can cause serious illness, the scientists have concluded that the five-second rule is definitely a myth!
Firing up the barbecue
Time to get cooking at the barbecue! Two of our favourite things to cook on the hot flames are steak and burgers.
You might have heard the waiter at a restaurant ask how someone wants their steak cooked. Rare means that the steak is seared on the outside, but is still juicy (and sometimes a bit bloody) on the inside. Well done means the steak is cooked right through. However, burgers always need to be cooked well done.
Why is this? Why can the beef in a steak be cooked rare, but the beef in a burger must be well done?
That is because when a piece of steak is cut from the animal, all the bacteria exists on the surface. So when you cook a steak on the barbecue, all you need to do is sear each side to kill the bacteria.
When you make a burger, though, the butcher minces the meat. That means they put it through a machine and all the meat gets minced and mixed together into a burger patty.
So, the bacteria from the surface is now spread throughout the burger. Unless the burger is cooked right through, these bacteria can remain alive on the inside and could cause food poisoning.
To cook a burger properly, it’s important is to make sure the juices run clear, the burger is piping hot all the way through and that there is no pink meat.
Safety at the barbecue
Barbecues are great for cooking delicious meals, but they can be extremely dangerous.
Follow these tips to make sure everyone stays safe this summer:
Before the grill is turned on, draw a 4ft kid-free box around your barbecue, ensuring all small children know they must never cross the line. If you are an older teenager helping your parents with the barbecue, there are also a few rules to follow. Never open the barbecue, that’s a job for your parents. If you’re helping out, always follow their instructions. The flames are extremely hot and accidents can happen easily. When cooking food, make sure your parents are using long-handled grilling tools to give plenty of clearance from heat and flames. And again, never pick up the utensils unless your parents are helping you. Wear clothing that isn’t loose, and make sure no clothing has strings or other items that could fall into the grill. Read more
Learning through cooking: cookbooks for kids
Christmas Toys for your Little Farmer
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