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Better barbecuing
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We’re not just talking about the food: Pathogens and substances hazardous to health can spoil the joy of feasting together. What’s important for a barbecue?
Salads and vegetable skewers, sauces and dips, meat and fish – and a sweet dessert to finish. Barbecuing and a tasty selection of dishes are key to a perfect summer’s day for many people.
However, there can be a few pitfalls, both when preparing food and during the cooking itself, but also when choosing the grillware.
To ensure that the barbecue doesn’t leave an unpleasant aftertaste, a couple of things should be considered.
Avoid charring
Turn away from the grill for just a second and it’s already happened: Your bratwurst and steak are a little charred. You can just scrape off the black parts, right? Ideally it should not get that far in the first place. It’s not only the taste that suffers. Charring can lead to formation of harmful, carcinogenic substances, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) or heterocyclic aromatic amines. To avoid this, the food should be barbecued from all sides slowly at low heat – not directly above the glowing coals.
It depends on the tray
If you like marinating your barbecue foods in tasty marinades or oils, you should use a barbecue tray – preferably one made from stainless steel or ceramics. This ensures the liquids are captured and do not drip onto the hot coals or electrical grill’s heating rods. This is beneficial for the taste and for your health: It reduces the occurrence of harmful substances which could otherwise transfer to the barbecue foods via the smoke. While aluminium barbecue trays are also available in shops, salt or acidic marinades can release aluminium from the tray and transfer it to the food.
Through eating, aluminium ends up in the body. If aluminium is consumed in high amounts, it can damage the nervous system and also cause damage to the kidneys and bones. Therefore, if food destined for the barbecue is prepared in an aluminium barbecue tray it should only be salted and seasoned after barbecuing. Or trays made of stainless steel and ceramics should be used instead. For the same reason, the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment) recommends not wrapping or storing acidic or salty foods such as marinated meat, cheese, or cut fruit in aluminium foil.
Stop germs
On warm summer days illnesscausing germs such as Salmonella can quickly multiply due to the high temperatures. In the worst-case scenario the barbecue ends in an infection with nausea, diarrhoea or vomiting. Very young children and people with weak immune defence due to old age or pre-existing medical conditions, for example, are particularly at risk. Salmonella is especially found in raw or insufficiently heated meat as well as in eggs or egg products. However, it can also lurk in plant- based foods, for example in cut unrefrigerated melon.
You can easily avoid an infection by following a couple of tricks. Perishable foods, such as raw animal products, salads, cut fruit, and desserts, require adequate refrigeration. This is also true during transport and outside. Deep-frozen food products for the barbecue can be best defrosted in the refrigerator. They should be stored and prepared separately so that pathogens do not transfer from the raw animal food products to other dishes. When preparing poultry, meat or fish, illness-causing germs such as Campylobacter can be transferred into the marinade, onto the hands, cutlery or surfaces and contaminate meals.
It is therefore advisable to use different cutting boards and plates as well as separate cutlery for raw and cooked food products. Separate utensils should also be used for salads and vegetables as well as for meat and fish. Kitchen utensils that have come into contact with raw food products should be thoroughly cleaned. And don’t forget your hands – wash them thoroughly with water and soap after each preparation step. Although pathogens like warmth, they die in heat. So, be sure to cook the barbecue food thoroughly.
To be on the safe side in warmer temperatures, you can avoid using raw eggs for homemade sauces such as mayonnaise or in desserts. Thankfully, tiramisu also tastes excellent without eggs. Enjoy!
