Kitchen Safety Tips for Cooking Dinner (Without Serving a Side of Salmonella)

Roast on cutting board with meat thermometer.

You've planned the menu, shopped for groceries and set the table. The last thing you want to serve your family is a side of food poisoning.

Here's the tricky part: you can't see, smell or taste most of the germs that make people sick. Proper cooking kills most of them, but they can spread around your kitchen long before dinner ever goes in the oven. These kitchen safety tips for cooking will help you keep germs in check, from the cutting board to the leftovers.

The short version:

Wash your hands before and after handling raw meat, poultry, fish or eggs.
Keep raw meat away from everything else, including cutting boards and platters.
Cook food to a safe temperature, and use a thermometer to check.
Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours.
Thaw food in the fridge, in cold water or in the microwave, never on the counter.

Wash Your Hands (Yes, Really)

The single most important thing you can do to protect your family is wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds (two rounds of "Happy Birthday") before you start cooking and after touching raw meat, poultry, fish or eggs.

Otherwise, you'll spread those germs onto the refrigerator door, cabinet knobs and countertops, where they'll lie in wait for the next person who reaches for a leftover slice of pizza.

How to Prevent Cross-Contamination

Chef chopping chicken on kitchen countertop.

Cross-contamination is a fancy way of saying "germs from raw food got on something that won't be cooked." Here's how to stop it:

Use separate cutting boards: one for raw meat, poultry and seafood, and another for produce and bread. Either plastic or wood is fine, as long as you keep them clean. Replace boards with deep grooves, where bacteria can hide.

Wash everything raw meat touched, including knives, cutting boards, platters and utensils, in hot, soapy water (or the dishwasher) before using it again.

Never put cooked food back on a plate that held raw meat. That goes double at the grill: use a clean platter for the finished burgers.

Don't wash raw chicken or meat. Rinsing it just splashes germs all over your sink and counters. Cooking kills the bacteria; washing spreads them.

Store raw meat on the bottom shelf of the fridge, so it can't drip onto anything else.

Clean and Sanitize Your Kitchen Surfaces

If raw meat juice touches your counter, clean it up with hot, soapy water and paper towels, not the sponge you use for everything else.

Then sanitize. For counters and cutting boards, mix 1 tablespoon of unscented liquid chlorine bleach in 1 gallon of water. Flood the surface, let it stand for several minutes, then rinse and air dry or pat dry with paper towels.

Or use a kitchen disinfectant and follow the label. (Never mix bleach with other cleaners.)

Your sponge is part of the problem. Sponges and dishcloths stay damp, and germs love damp. Wash dishcloths often in hot water, sanitize sponges regularly (a run through the dishwasher works), and replace sponges every week or two. If it smells, it's done.

Cook Food to a Safe Temperature

Food

Beef, pork, veal, steaks, roasts

Fish and shellfish

Ground meats (beef, pork, veal, lamb)

Egg dishes

Poultry, including ground poultry

Leftovers and casseroles

Safe minimum internal temperature

145°F, then rest at least 3 minutes

145°F

160°F

165°F

Handle Leftovers Safely

Packaged food and leftovers inside refrigerator.

Follow the 2-hour rule. Don't leave cooked food (including cut fruit) out for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour if it's above 90°F, like at a summer picnic. When in doubt, throw it out.

Keep your fridge at 40°F or below.

Date your leftovers and eat them within 3 to 4 days. You can't tell if food is safe by sniffing it; the germs that make you sick usually don't change how food looks or smells.

Don't taste-test questionable food. Even a small bite can make you sick.

Refrigerate eggs, and toss any with cracked shells.

Rinse produce under running water before you eat or cut it (no soap needed), so you don't drag germs from the peel onto the part you eat.

How to Thaw Food Safely

Never thaw meat on the counter. The outside warms up into the germ danger zone long before the middle thaws. Instead, choose one of these three safe methods:

1. In the refrigerator. The safest method. Allow about a day for every 4 to 5 pounds (so plan ahead for big cuts and holiday turkeys).

2. In cold water. Seal the food in a leak-proof bag, submerge it in cold water and change the water every 30 minutes. Cook it right away once it's thawed.

3. In the microwave. Use the defrost setting, then cook it immediately.

Kitchen Fire Safety

Germs aren't the only kitchen hazard. A few habits keep dinner from turning into a call to the fire department:

Stay in the kitchen when you're frying, boiling or broiling.

Turn pot handles toward the back of the stove, out of reach of little hands.

Keep a lid nearby. If a pan of grease catches fire, slide the lid on and turn off the burner. Never use water on a grease fire.

Keep towels, pot holders and paper away from the burners.

Keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen, and make sure everyone knows how to use it.

Kitchen Safety FAQs

What temperature should chicken be cooked to? 165°F for all poultry, measured with a food thermometer in the thickest part.

How long can cooked food sit out? No more than 2 hours, or 1 hour if the temperature is above 90°F.

How long are leftovers good in the fridge? 3 to 4 days.

Should I wash raw chicken before cooking? No. It spreads bacteria around your sink and kitchen. Cooking to 165°F kills them.

Is a wooden or plastic cutting board safer? Either is fine if you keep it clean and replace it when it gets deeply grooved. Use separate boards for raw meat and for produce.

Keep Your Kitchen Clean in 15 Minutes a Day

A clean kitchen is a safer kitchen. My book The Daily Home Reset includes a simple 15-minute kitchen reset, so counters get wiped, the sink gets cleared and the sponge doesn't become a science experiment.