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American Morning

Outdoor Grilling Safety Tips

Aired May 27, 2002 - 08:53   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Time for that morning "House Call." It is Memorial Day and that means grilling time for many of us today. We don't want to spoil your fun or your appetite, but there are a few things you should know if you want to keep the grilling easy and safe and healthy.

And somehow Elizabeth Cohen has talked somebody into letting her use their backyard on this holiday.

Elizabeth, good morning.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Actually, we convinced the Venetian Pools Club (ph) in Decatur, Georgia, to use their entire area. It's quite beautiful here. You're missing a beautiful day being up there in New York.

As you said, Memorial Day, a special day people go out and grill. You don't want to end the day clutching your stomach. So even before we get to the grilling, let's talk about the four basic steps of food safety.

First of all, it starts when you go shopping. Put the meat in plastic bags, and don't put any lettuce or carrots or anything else in there, because the juice could get into them, and then you're not going to cook that salad, so keep the meat all by itself.

And then when you marinate, you need to marinate in the refrigerator. And the reason for that is you don't want the meat sitting out there on the counter; you want it in the fridge.

When you travel to your beach or your pool or your final destination, put the meat in a cooler, don't just put it in the bags.

Finally, the reason we're here: grilling. Use a thermometer when you grill. Get those burgers to 160 degrees. Poultry, chicken breasts need to go up to 170 degrees.

Now let's talk about that last one there. The USDA has been saying for about three years now, come on, guys, use a thermometer. Make it cooked all the way through. Do not eat medium rare hamburgers. Again, use a thermometer when you cook.

Well, guess what? They've been doing these advertising campaigns for years now, and only about 3 percent of the American public is listening. People apparently just aren't listening. They're still cooking their burgers and their chicken the old-fashioned way, sort of doing it by the eye.

Now let's take a look. We have our friend, Pat, here. Pat's claim to fame is that she's never made anyone sick...

PAT: Yes.

COHEN: ... so we invited her -- we invited her to be with us. And we have some chicken and we have some burgers. We also have some thermometers.

I want to show you: This is sort of the old-fashioned kind that uses the mercury, but you don't have to use that kind. It's fine, but you don't have to. You can also use these that are new, these that have an actual temperature on here. These change color when you stick them in and they're done. And Pat has a really cool one there that actually tells you -- it pops up whether or not it's done. And hopefully, we'll see a light go on here soon, and that way you know -- see it says medium rare: not good; you want it up to poultry. Now that chicken looks really done, but it's not. Use a thermometer.

So again, the message here for Memorial Day is have fun, enjoy yourself, use a thermometer when you're cooking -- Bill.

HEMMER: Hey, Elizabeth, how often do you find people actually using a thermometer, especially with the burger? Maybe six ounces of meat there, can't you just look at it and judge by its color and say you know what, it looks pretty good right now about?

COHEN: That's right, it might look pretty good, except it often isn't. First of all, the meat might have oxidized so it looks brown, but it's completely uncooked. And if you did marinating in something like, let's say, teriyaki sauce, it's really going to look brown, but it's not. So don't use your eye, use a thermometer. Only 3 percent of us do.

HEMMER: We like teriyaki sauce, too.

Thanks, Elizabeth.

COHEN: It's OK to use it, just don't let it trick you.

HEMMER: So -- we'll do.

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