Safe Grilling

Your meal should go off without a hitch if you make sure everything else is ready before you put the food on the grill.

• Start by setting up a small table next to the barbeque so you'll have a place to put plates, hot pads, food, and utensils.
• Make sure you have long-handled utensils (spatula, tongs, fork) for the barbeque to avoid splatters and burns. 
• Use plastic or sturdy paper plates to avoid disasters brought on by floppy paper plates.

Lastly, put someone else in charge of setting the table, getting the side dishes ready, herding the children, pouring the drinks, etcetera, so you have nothing to concentrate on besides making perfectly grilled food. Grills are hot, and the temperature is difficult to control with much accuracy, so the best way to ensure flawless food is to tend to it constantly.

Bacteria thrives and multiplies in food between the temperatures of 40 degrees F and 140 degrees F (4 degrees C to 60 degrees C), so make sure to keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold, and never leave perishable foods out for longer than two hours (this includes preparation time). Also remember ready-to-eat foods should never be placed on a plate that held raw meat.
Foods most prone to cause illness if left unrefrigerated are:

• raw and cooked meat, poultry, and fish;
• salads made from starchy ingredients such as pasta, potatoes, and grains;
• anything containing raw or cooked eggs such as homemade mayonnaise, cream pies, and 
• anything else containing dairy products.

If you're serving appetizers that will likely be sitting out for a while, stick to foods that don't need refrigeration such as veggie platters, fruit skewers, breads, and chips. If serving sour cream or mayonnaise-based dips, be sure to keep the bowl on a bed of ice and avoid direct sunlight.

If cooking at the park or some other remote location, bring a cooler full of ice and keep all spoil-able foods cold until they are ready to be cooked or eaten. If possible, use two separate coolers--one for drinks and snacks, which people will be dipping into frequently, and a second one for meat and other dishes that will not be needed until it's time to sit down for the meal.