Food Safety

[WadePatton]

At a buffet, you need to assume that they use it. First bite usually tells you if it is there. Sake is a cousin of beer. Gotta love sake. Dont get me started on shochu.

"no msg" is printed on the menu at a place where i've seen others get msg-reactions.

hey what's with the chilled sake? just the other night i ordered a sake that was a couple bucks more than house brand and it came chilled. i'm used to drinking it warm...in the situation i didn't inquire directly, but would have otherwise.

and the tuna...o my, 20# of mackerel later (with more to go)....i need to catch a flippin tuna...dayum.

[maunahaole]

Some kinds of sake come chilled. It is different and off putting at first, but it is also good.

What kind of tuna? There are several....we got those here. But more likely to catch mahi or wahoo on a charter. Neither of which sucks.

[WadePatton]

Some kinds of sake come chilled. It is different and off putting at first, but it is also good.

What kind of tuna? There are several....we got those here. But more likely to catch mahi or wahoo on a charter. Neither of which sucks.

the exact color of watermelon.

i enjoy other textures and levels of fishiness, but this was a magnificent balance of both. it was "chef's choice" and he gave me some bottom and top level stuff, very little in the middle. but i'm half ignorant as i don't get to eat sushi often and have never lived near salty water. others in the party said it was tuna.

the other most interesting flavor was incredibly fishy-but no so much as to put me off (and was not "off"). it would certainly stop a newb in his tracks. tasted like a fish cleaning station at the dock smells. variety yo.

hey this aint the sushi thread! i'll have to moderate me.

[maunahaole]

Sounds as though you had ahi, which can be either yellowtail or bigeye. Ahi is the Hawaiian word for fire. It is used because the fish pulled so hard when hooked that they made the lines smoke on the rails of the boats. The winter catch is actually better, as the fish, which is naturally lean, is a little fattier and as such, has a smoother mouth feel.

You have to come and visit. We can have some fish, poi, and beer. The poke counter at the beer store is something to behold.

Tamura's Poke | Yelp

[RIHans]

I gotta post on this one.
I hold current licences for both National (FDA), and State (RI Dept of Health), and ServSafe Certifications to teach and produce for profit.

There are two conversations here...what you make at your house in your kitchen, and pro kitchens.
Pro kitchens have guidelines for cook and hold, minimum cooking temps for ground beef, 4 hour hold, egg and dairy, and so on and on.
HACCAP plans rule and are required.

At your house...Common sense rules.
Know what cross-contamination is. Clean really well after working with raw product.
HOT soapy water is your friend. Make a diluted bleach spray, see the web. Kills the salmonella bugs.
Keep hot food hot, cold food cold. The rule chefs use is...

When in doubt, throw it out.

And use the plastic cutting boards, no cross contamination!

[summilux]

hey what's with the chilled sake? just the other night i ordered a sake that was a couple bucks more than house brand and it came chilled. i'm used to drinking it warm...in the situation i didn't inquire directly, but would have otherwise.

The good stuff is served cold. The stuff that found its way to North America prior to recently was served hot so you wouldn't know that it was crap. Try sake over ice with a slice of cucumber in it. Very nice. It's an artisanal product if you can find a liquor store that stocks the good brands. If you see the word Junmai or Ginjo anywhere on the label, the sake will be of high quality and meant to be drunk cold. Junmai Ginjo is top of the sake heap.

[Chance Legstrong]

I gotta post on this one.
I hold current licences for both National (FDA), and State (RI Dept of Health), and ServSafe Certifications to teach and produce for profit.

There are two conversations here...what you make at your house in your kitchen, and pro kitchens.
Pro kitchens have guidelines for cook and hold, minimum cooking temps for ground beef, 4 hour hold, egg and dairy, and so on and on.
HACCAP plans rule and are required.

At your house...Common sense rules.
Know what cross-contamination is. Clean really well after working with raw product.
HOT soapy water is your friend. Make a diluted bleach spray, see the web. Kills the salmonella bugs.
Keep hot food hot, cold food cold. The rule chefs use is...

When in doubt, throw it out.

And use the plastic cutting boards, no cross contamination!

talk about bringing food down in temp before storing in refrigeration

[Lost in Stockton]

talk about bringing food down in temp before storing in refrigeration

It's basically a good idea, if you can do it quickly. Hot food, bugs can't grow, no problem. Cold food, bugs grow very slowly, no problem for several days. In between is where bad things happen. The longer the food takes to get from hot to cold the more chance there is for bacterial growth.

If you put a huge pot of hot chili in the fridge, the whole fridge will warm up until the pot can cool down. Not good for everything else stored in there. Better to use a cold water bath to cool the pot quickly, then let the fridge take it down the rest of the way.

In my college food micro class (Food Science, UC Davis, 19somethingtoolongago) they told us stories of epic food poisoning. Like the pot of chili at a picnic that everyone thought was hot because it was bubbling gently. The burner under it had gone out hours before. Clostridium perfringens produces gas and an enterotoxin as it grows. Bad things ensued.

Bill

[WadePatton]

In my college food micro class (Food Science, UC Davis, 19somethingtoolongago) they told us stories of epic food poisoning. ...

Bill

they told me stories in law school too. let us not degenerate our discussion into "stories" and other unverifiable/inadmissible evidence.

40-140F avoid having foods between these temps for any length of time. you can hang a hat on that.

my beef is now that the companies have penetrated all governmental regulatory bodies, that the more complicated, specialized, and dangerous they (the companies under the guise/authority of regulatory agencies) the more likely is it that you buy their processed products rather than relax and enjoy preparing and consuming foods where they make less if any profit.

there are some really stupid "rules" about eating (home) canned goods out there now. too stupid to repeat.

I'll never use plastic when i have a choice. as a non-pro it's pretty easy to choose.

And i get real serious about "time at temp" considerations when it's my BBQ being choked down by 50 or so old/young and otherwise.