Steak, chicken, and even corn really taste great when cooked outside on the grill, but there are some pitfalls you have to be aware of in order to enjoy your outdoor festivities. It’s easy to get a little careless in our food preparation and there are serious consequences, like a food-borne illness. It’s not just a problem in undeveloped countries, either. A restaurant in Richmond made more than 90 people sick with salmonella poisoning in early June. The cause was traced to bad eggs used for French toast.

So you throw a couple of burgers on the grill, and well, you’re starving and your guests are about to riot. Those burgers kinda look done, but did you know that the color of the meat does not accurately reflect its doneness? Our government researchers have found more than one fourth of fresh burger patties and up to two thirds of frozen patties turn brown on the grill before they’ve reached a safe temperature.

It’s better safe than sorry to thoroughly cook those tasty hamburgers, because if you don’t, you may leave e. coli bacteria, which is an extremely nasty little bug that will cause you serious illness. If you want to be super cautious, you can test your burgers or other meats with a thermometer. You can buy a cooking thermometer, or buy a pack of disposable thermometers at the kitchen stores in the outlets.

Here are some guidelines for the temperatures food should reach for safe cooking: whole cuts of beef, veal, and lamb, 145º F. Ground beef, pork, and casseroles with eggs, 160º F. Leftovers or take-out food, 165º F. Ground poultry, 165º F. Chicken breasts, 170º F, and whole poultry and thighs, 180º F.

I’m sure you prepared those burgers and chicken pieces properly. Hopefully, you were careful to clean your kitchen surfaces. Take for instance the kitchen counter or even the sink. You rinsed off the chicken in the sink and cleaned it before you started to put the vegetables in the sink, didn’t you?

If you didn’t, you could have cross-contamination—very nasty. The sink is a prime breeding ground for bacteria. Always wash out the sink with hot soapy water before using it again for food preparation of any kind. Do not re-use the sponge or dishcloth after cleaning up meat spills or juices. Launder the dishcloth and microwave your sponge until steaming hot (sounds tasty). But since sponges are pretty cheap, I toss mine—it’s not worth it.

For even extra protection, the pros suggest that you rinse out your sink, utensils, and even the platter you used with a solution of 2 teaspoons of bleach per quart of water.

Uh-oh—forgot about that cutting board you used to chop up your meats? It’s been shown that bacteria like salmonella can get trapped in a wood cutting board and lie dormant until you’re ready to use it again. It is safer to replace wood boards with hard plastic, glass, or metal boards that don’t develop knife grooves, and are much easier to keep clean as a result. I personally use a plastic cutting board, and give it the same thorough clean-up I give to the sink. Hot soapy water or the bleach treatment will undo those pesky bacteria. A good idea is to have one cutting board for meat and one for produce. This will avoid any sort of cross-contamination.

Now, here’s another safety tip to avoid spoiling your outdoor meal. Always—and I stress this—always wash your hands when handling any types of foods. This goes for meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, anything. Say, for instance, you pick up those raw chicken breasts and give them to your other half to toss on the hot coals, but you then pick up a tomato and slice it for sandwiches or salads. You could very easily spread bacterial contamination from the chicken to the tomato, and since the tomato isn’t being cooked, the bacteria will go right into your system.

You might think that you have to use some expensive, "antibacterial" product to really rid your hands of germs. But you don’t. In fact, many experts fear the accelerating trend of antibacterial household products, because it’s going to cause the same result as the overuse of antibiotics in medicine— drug resistant germs. A recent Washington Post article said soapy water is a better choice in most cases. No matter what you do, you can’t sterilize your home, and you can’t sterilize yourself. Dr. Stuart Levy of Tufts University found that the antibacterial agent triclosan, widely used in soaps, lotions and other household products, sets off a genetic mutation in bacteria that could make them antibiotic resistant.

Be very aware that you need to wash your hands numerous times while you prepare food. It’s a good idea to use paper towels for kitchen and hand cleaning, rather than cloth ones. Since the paper can be thrown out after each use, it won’t spread germs. It may not be the most environmentally friendly way to go, but I’d rather use up a roll of 75 cent paper towels than get salmonella poisoning, wouldn’t you?

So remember, proper preparation and clean up are essential if you’re to have a safe and tasty outdoor cook-out. See you at the beach!