7 culinary habits that can be dangerous

Cooking at home has many benefits. Research shows that eating homemade food more often helps you meet all your essential dietary needs. However, it is very important to follow certain guidelines to keep your food safe.

We decided to dive deeper and find out what common mistakes we all make when cooking.

Dangerous bacteria cannot be recognized either by their appearance or taste. However, even a small amount of these bacteria can lead to serious food poisoning. To avoid this, throw away any food if you have any doubts that it might be spoiled.

7 PHOTOS

1. Defrosting meat outside the refrigerator.

The range of temperatures considered risky for food storage is 5 ° C to 60 ° C. At this temperature, harmful food bacteria can grow rapidly. This is why you should always only defrost meat in the refrigerator or microwave.

2. Washing raw meat.

Washing raw poultry, beef, pork, lamb, or veal before cooking is not recommended by experts. This is because bacteria from meat can easily spread to other foods, surfaces, and utensils.

3. Chilling food before putting it in the refrigerator.

This rule is explained by the same reason that defrosting meat outside is a bad idea: bacteria grow quickly at temperatures between 5 and 60 ° C. This is why it can be very dangerous to leave perishable food out of the refrigerator for more than an hour or two.

4. Taste food to see if it has spoiled.

Dangerous bacteria cannot be recognized either by their appearance or taste. However, even a small amount of these bacteria can lead to serious food poisoning. To avoid this, throw away any food if you have any doubts that it might be spoiled.

5. Taste raw dough.

You should never eat raw eggs in any form. There is a high chance that they contain a bacteria known as salmonella, which is quite dangerous to humans. Also, do not try raw dough, even without eggs, because flour can contain E. coli, which can cause various infections.

6. Marinating meat or fish outside the refrigerator.

This is another more common cooking mistake that can lead to food poisoning. Again, always be aware of the risky temperature range for bacterial growth. Leaving marinated meat outside the refrigerator is breaking this rule.

7. Do not wash your hands before cooking.

Bacteria live on all surfaces, even our hands. Imagine how many things you touch during the day, and when you start cooking without washing your hands, you can transfer all of that bacteria to your food. And don't forget to wash your hands when you're done.