With the heat we have here in Brisbane, it’s so important to handle our food and leftovers safely in the holiday season. The last thing we want at this time of the year is a tummy bug. Here are my food safety tips for Christmas in a hot climate.
The same could be said for anywhere in the world really and knowing how to save those leftovers without anyone getting sick will be worth it.
General Food Safety Tips for Christmas
A couple quick tips before I mention specific foods:
- Remember not to overload your fridge too much. It will take longer for food to cool down if your fridge is overload. Make sure there is adequate space around food containers and packages to ensure adequate cool air flow.
- Use eskies or coolers with ice to store drinks allowing more room in the fridge. If you put them onto ice early in the morning, they will be nice and cold by lunch time. (My mum used to line the laundry tub with an old hessian sack then cover the drinks with ice and another hessian sack. Kept the drinks super cold.)
- Instead of ice cubes to keep drinks cold, think about freezing water filled plastic soft drink bottles, wine bladders or large plastic containers. The more solid the ice, the less time it will have to melt.
- To keep food cool when serving (like seafood), lay the serving platter on top of a dish filled with ice and sprinkle salt on top of the ice which will reduce melting time.
- A general ‘rule of thumb’ is to not keep food that has been left out longer than 4 hours if the temperature has been between 5 deg C and 60 deg C.
Food Safety for Seafood
One of the easiest and quickest things to go ‘off’ in the heat is seafood.
Things like prawns, crabs, bugs etc. (Oysters and mussels should be served as soon as possible after being shucked.)
Remember to serve it over ice if you can (as above) otherwise, keep an eye on the time you served it and don’t leave it out for any longer than 1 hour if the temp is around 30 deg C.
Return to the fridge immediately and use within 2 days.
Ham, Turkey & Other Cold Meat
- Put leftovers in the fridge as soon as possible after everyone has finished eating. Any longer than 4 hours should be disposed of.
- Use up leftovers from the fridge within 3 to 4 days otherwise freeze straight from the table.
- Cut larger pieces like chicken, turkey, roast meats into smaller pieces to allow cooling quicker.
- Eat within a couple days otherwise freeze straight from the table.
- To store your whole ham, soak a ham bag, tea towel (that’s all I ever used) or pillowcase in 4 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of vinegar. Wring out excess water and store ham in fridge wrapped in the bag/towel. Resoak bag every couple of days to avoid ham being dried out.
Salads & Cooked Vegetables
Salads will become very slimy if dressed.
To save any leftover salads, serve them ‘undressed’ with dressing on the side. Remember to be aware of how long salad vegetables have been out of the cold fridge. If it’s been too hot, dispose of any uneaten vegetables.
Cooked vegetables can be frozen and used up in frittatas, quiches etc as needed. Also be mindful of how long they’ve been out in the heat.
Any longer than 2 hours for salad or cooked vegetables on a hot day and they should be disposed of. (See rule above.)
Cold Desserts
Cold desserts that have had cream in them like trifle or pavlova should also observe the ‘rule of thumb’ above. Return them to the fridge as soon as possible after serving, if serving in hot conditions.
People can always go back for more if it’s safely served in the fridge.
Fresh Fruit
If serving fresh fruit at Christmas, remember the general rule of thumb above.
Cakes, Sweets, Nuts, Chips etc
If your place is anything like mine, these things seem to get eaten first. Remember, if you’re serving charcuterie, cheeses, dips etc to observe the rule. Rather put out small amounts and keep topped up as they run out.
Half your luck if you can enjoy your celebration inside air conditioning but if you’re stuck outside, observe these simple rules for food safety in a hot climate so everyone will have any enjoyable Christmas meal and no upset tummies.
