3 Ways to Handle and Prepare Food like a Pro

With the recent stories of E.Coli outbursts in Taco Bells through the Eastern seaboard, it is more important than ever to prepare our foods the right way. Whether you own a restaurant with 300 patrons daily or cook in the confines of your own home, food handling is a small science that should be mastered. Salmonella and E.Coli poisoning doesn't typically strike fear into the hearts of cuisine buffs, but could strike with the smallest transgression. Here are three tips to handle and prepare food like a pro.

The first tip is to keep everything clean! Wash your hands for at least 30 seconds in hot water prior to handling food. Make sure your kitchen utensils are as clean as a whistle, and try to separate raw food from cooked food. This especially applies to fish and poultry. One overlooked item that doesn't get cleaned as often as it should is your cutting board. Cutting boards breed more bacteria than 90% of your kitchen items when left unwashed, so pay attention. You should also own two cutting boards - one for raw and one for cooked foods. Keep cooked and raw food utensils away from each other as well!

Another tip to maintain healthy food is to defrost properly. Many people have the misconception that throwing your frozen met under hot tap water is enough to unfreeze it. This is not right, as foods must be fully defrosted before you cook them. One idea is to leave frozen meat out to thaw in the morning so that when you come back from work, it is ready to cook. After thawing has started, never try to refreeze it again as this will only spoil the food.