Marinating – Marinate raw meat, fish and poultry in the refrigerator – not on the counter. To use some of the marinade as a dip or basting sauce later, set aside a portion before adding raw meat, fish or poultry to it. Don’t re-use the marinade from raw meat, fish or poultry unless you boil it.

Pre-cooking – Partially cook meat or poultry ahead of time to finish up on the grill ONLY if the food goes immediately from the microwave or range to the hot grill. Partial cooking of food ahead of time allows bacteria to survive and multiply to the point that subsequent cooking cannot destroy them.

Cooking Thoroughly! – Use a food thermometer to check for safety and doneness. Roasts, steaks and chops of beef, veal or lamb may be cooked to an internal temperature of 145°F for medium rare and 160°F for medium. Fresh pork and farm-raised game meats such as buffalo and venison should reach 160°F. Whole poultry should reach 165°F as measured in the thigh. Hamburgers or ground meat should be cooked to 160°F, ground poultry to 165°F.

Serving Grilled Food – Serve hot, grilled foods immediately. Put cooked foods on clean plates that were not used to hold the raw meat or poultry. (This is a prime cause of summer foodborne illness.) Perishable foods should be consumed within two hours, one hour in warm weather (90°F +). Discard if these limits are exceeded.

Cleaning Up – Clean the grill after each use. Refrigerate any leftovers promptly in shallow containers. If returning home from an outing and perishables were kept cold AND did not sit out past the recommend time above – leftovers should be safe.