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| Script: Microwaving
Convenience Foods Safely |
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Intro:
Welcome to USDA's Food Safety and Inspection
Service "Food Safety At Home" podcast series, featuring topics
for the safe handling, preparation and storage of meat, poultry
and processed egg products. So, sit back, turn up the volume and
listen in.
The microwave oven is one of the great inventions of the
20th century. More than 90% of homes in America have at least
one. It makes cooking faster and easier. But do people always
make sure food cooked in a microwave oven is safe before eating
it?
Not always – especially when microwaving frozen convenience
foods. A couple of years ago, Salmonella bacteria in frozen
convenience foods made quite a few people sick. The problem was
that a frozen chicken product was breaded and looked fully
cooked. Some consumers didn’t read the label that indicated
these products should not be microwaved. So they became sick a
few hours after eating an undercooked product.
Microwave ovens can cook food just as well as other cooking
appliances do. However, no all foods can be safely cooked in the
microwave oven. To make sure, check the product label. How do
you know when the microwaved food has reached a safe
temperature?
The same way you can test food cooked using ovens, stoves,
outdoor grills, and small appliances – by using a food
thermometer.
But that’s the last step in getting food from the microwave to
the table safely. Safe food starts with reading the package
directions and following the recommendations.
If a range of times listed on the package says 3 to 5 minutes,
it’s because some microwave ovens have a higher wattage than
others. Higher wattage ovens would take 3 minutes, and lower
wattage ovens could take 5 minutes. If your unsure of your
microwave oven wattage, check out the FSIS podcast titled
“Microwave Wattage.”
It’s always best to microwave the product for the shortest time
given. If it hasn’t reached a safe temperature, you can always
add more time. But if you overcook and ruin the food, you can’t
take time away.
Microwave ovens can cook unevenly and leave "cold spots" in the
food where harmful bacteria could survive. Halfway through the
cooking time, open the door and turn the dish so the food
cooks more evenly.
The center is the last part of the food to reach a safe
temperature. Microwaves penetrate the food to a depth of 1 to 1½
inches. In thicker pieces of food, the microwaves don't reach
the center. That area would cook by conduction of heat from the
outer areas of the food into the middle.
When you think the food is hot enough, use a food thermometer
and push the tip into the center of the food. Test the
temperature there and in several other places to be sure it has
reached the temperature recommended on the package. Then eat and
enjoy!
Check your steps at
FoodSafety.gov to see how you can decrease your risk of food
poisoning.
Outro:
Thanks for listening to this Food Safety At Home podcast. Let us know what you think of this podcast by sending
your comments to
podcast@fsis.usda.gov.
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Last Modified: September 21, 2011 |
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