Our job is to ensure the most hygienic environments for our clients so when it comes round to Christmas, we like to share a few expert tips to make sure you can eat, drink and be merry without any worry of spending Boxing Day in bed.
Here’s our quick checklist that will help to keep Christmas happy and hygienic:
Plan Properly
Before you run off to the shops in a flurry of excitement, consider the following tips:
Make room in your fridge: bear in mind you can’t pack the fridge completely as there wouldn’t be space for cool air to circulate and keep your food at the optimal temperature between 1C – 5C.
TIP! Does your fridge come equipped with a thermometer? Great! If not, it might be a good time to invest in one.
- Alcohol and most of the vegetables can live in a garage, garden shed or laundry room. It’s usually cool enough in these spaces and it will free up valuable fridge space.
- Raw meat goes at the bottom of the fridge – this guarantees no drips on the rest of the food on the shelves.
- Get your timings right! Give yourself plenty of time to make sure your Christmas dinner is cooked through and consider chilling / resting periods accordingly.
- Check dates on foods regularly – don’t eat foods past their ‘use by date’ even though they might look or smell fine.
- Stack your fridge in the correct order: cooked and ready to eat foods on the top shelf, raw vegetables and foods in the middle, raw meats with potential to drip at the bottom.
Be smart with your turkey
Whether you’re hosting a small family dinner or a large party, make sure you ask yourself the following questions:
- How many people will be attending? Based on the numbers consider if a whole turkey is necessary as it might put unnecessary pressure on your fridge and on your timings.
- Do not wash your turkey (or any other meat) before cooking – bacteria might splash onto working surfaces and other foods. The cooking process will kill any bacteria, so no need to pre-wash.
- Always cook your turkey (or crown, turkey roll or similar) thoroughly, making sure:The meat is steaming hot all the way through, the thermometer inserted into the thickest part should reach 70C for longer than two continuous minutes.
- No pinkness is showing even when cutting into the thickest part of the meat.
- Juices are running clear when the meat is cut or you press a thigh.
Care For Your Kitchen
- Ensure you clean and disinfect worktops, chopping boards and utensils after each contact with raw meat.
- Keep raw food separate from ready-to-eat food to prevent cross contamination.
- Wash your hands thoroughly before preparing food and after handling raw meat/ raw foods.
- Keep pets out of the kitchen.
- Use a dishwasher if you have one available, they are a great way to hygienically clean the dishes. Otherwise, use very hot and soapy water and let the dishes air dry if you have space – this will help to destroy any harmful bacteria.
Lovely Leftovers
- Cool leftovers quickly (ideally within 2 hours) and put covered up into a fridge – anything left out at room temperature for longer than 4 hours must be thrown away.
- Use within 2 days – reheating thoroughly before eating.
- If you can’t use them up, freeze them up.
- When cooking with leftover meats, you can freeze the new meal (such as turkey curry) as well, ensuring it’s cooled properly.
- When defrosting the leftovers, make sure they are defrosted overnight in the fridge as this will keep them free of harmful bacteria.
- Reheat any leftovers thoroughly, if you use a thermometer this should show 75C in the centre of the portion.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our top tips to enjoy your foody festivities. From everyone at Goss Coatings we wish you a happy (and hygienic) Christmas to you and your family.
One of our most popular products is hygienic wall cladding for the very reason that it can be thermoformed and welded to create cleanable, jointless surfaces, meaning bacteria and dirt do not build up in cracks and crevices.
