User manual

23
HELPFUL HINTS WHEN BUYING AND PREPARING FOOD
Care must be taken when handling foods in the home.
Always follow the basic rules of food hygiene to prevent
bacterial and microbial growth and cross contamination
when preparing, reheating, cooking, cooling, defrosting
and freezing foods:
1. Always ensure food you purchase is of good quality
and in prime condition. Shop at a reliable source and
buy the 'freshest' looking package - avoid shopworn
labels or produce covered in dust.
2. Avoid buying chilled or frozen products if you cannot
store them straight away. The use of an insulated
container when shopping is advisable.
3. Buy and consume foods prior to the 'Sell by' or 'Best
Before' date.
4. When you arrive home, place perishable foods in the
refrigerator or freezer immediately.
Ensure they are well covered to prevent them drying
out and to prevent any possible cross contamination
with bacteria from raw to cooked foods.
5. Follow the cooking instructions on packets of
prepacked and cook chill foods, but be prepared to
adjust cooking time and temperatures to suit your
particular oven. For example, the fan oven generally
requires 20-25°C lower temperature than
conventional ovens.
6. Always ensure that cook chill foods are thoroughly
re-heated until they are piping hot throughout.
7. It is preferable to defrost frozen foods slowly in the
refrigerator. Alternatively, a microwave cooker or the
defrost function on your oven may be used.
8. Always cook defrosted foods immediately after
thawing. Thawed food should never be refrozen.
9. Joints of meat and poultry should be thoroughly
defrosted before cooking.
10. Cook meat thoroughly - use the meat probe, which
penetrates the joint to check that the centre tem-
perature has reached the required temperature
(see table below).
MEAT TEMPERATURES
Beef Rare - 60°C
Medium - 70°C
Well Done - 80°C
Pork Well Done - 80°C
Lamb Medium - 70°C
Well Done - 80°C
11. If not eaten straightaway after cooking, food should
be cooled as quickly as possible (within one hour)
and then refrigerated or frozen as required. (Do not
put hot food into a Refrigerator or Freezer).
12. In the kitchen keep work tops, chopping boards
and utensils clean with hot soapy water between
preparation stages. Ideally, keep one chopping
board for raw meat and another for other foods.
Keep your dish cloths and tea towels clean.