10 tips for keeping your football tailgate feast safe from harm (2024)

QUESTION: What's the best way to keep food safe at your tailgate?
ANSWER: This is a question with an answer that needs repeating over and over to avoid any food-borne illness penalties. The No. 1 rule in the tailgate playbookis to keep hot foods hot (above 140 degrees) and cold foods cold (40 degrees or below).

More: These tailgate recipes will score with both Wolverines and Spartans

When it comes to tailgating indoors, here are 10 tips that will help keep the food at your tailgate party safe.

• With hot foods, keep them heated in warming trays with Sternos if you can.
• Use disposable foil trays. At warehouse clubs, you can buy a package of 30 for less than$10. They're ideal for indoor and outdoor tailgating, and they stack nicely in a cooler if you’re transporting food.
• At home or if you have electricityat your tailgate, rely on slow cookers (aka Crock-Pots) and warmers to keep food hot.
• Follow the two-hour rule. Cooked foods should not be left away from a cooler, refrigerator orgrill or oven for more than twohours. If the outdoor temperature is above 90 degrees (we don’t see that happening Saturday), the timeshortens to one hour.
• If tailgating at the game, make or prep as much food as you can in advance. Wrap it well and keep it refrigerated. Use insulated coolers packed with ice or ice packs to keep foods cold while you transport it.
• If you’re transporting hot food, use foil trays and wrap them with towels or double-wrap them in foil. Use a cooler to store the hot food as it will trap the heat and keep the food hot.
• Always keep raw foods like meats and poultry separate fromcooked perishable and nonperishable foods.
• Keep onecooler for food and a separate cooler for beverages and ice.
• Pack a box of food-safe gloves for handling foods,especially raw foods.
• Have plenty of paper towels, hand sanitizeror wipes for washing hands.

Source: Free Press Test Kitchen and fsis.usda.gov.

Have a question? Contact Susan Selasky at 313-222-6872 or sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter.