12 Steps to a Safe and Successful Tail-Gate Party

- [Instructor] During football season, tailgating and home gating parties are quite popular.

In the course of these day long outdoor events, much food is prepared, served, and consumed before, during and after the game.

This creates some particular challenges regarding food safety, especially during the warmer months of the season.

In this video, Penn State Extension would like to offer some tips and strategies to help keep you and your guests safe from potential food contamination during a Tailgate or Homegate Party.

When preparing food for an all day event, begin by wiping down counters and other surfaces with kitchen spray and soapy water before putting anything out on the counters.

Some food items for your tailgate may need to be thawed.

Safe thawing of frozen meat items will keep it out of the temperature danger zone and below 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

The defrosting process can be accomplished in three ways.

In cold water, in a leak proof container, in the refrigerator, or using the defrost function on a microwave.

If you choose microwave defrosting, you must use the food immediately.

Using colored cutting boards and separate knives when prepping raw food and ready to eat food can help prevent cross-contamination.

To keep food at safe temperatures, it would be best to portion out smaller containers so that the majority of the food can remain chilled in a cooler.

Then you can serve small amounts and always have a clean serving container when it's time to replace.

If you are preparing and using a marinade for grilling, be sure to reserve some before adding on to your raw food items.

The reserve marinade is now uncontaminated and can be used for glazing the finished product.

Once everything is prepped and ready to go for the tailgate, pack the cooler last to help keep food items at their coldest.

Here we are at the tailgate.

What a great setup.

The tent provides shade to keep things cool.

Setting up a hand-washing station is crucial to prevent cross-contamination.

It's important to wash your hands before eating and after handling raw meat.

They are really on top of personal hygiene.

Bring extra coolers and leave space for when guests bring food or drink.

Have designated drink and food coolers as well as a meat cooler to protect against temperature abuse from too much opening and closing of the cooler.

Proper cooking is important to avoid a food safety foul.

Place raw meat on the grill, then discard the dirty marinading bag and wash your hands.

This will ensure no cross-contamination.

To get the true internal temperature of the food you are cooking, you'll need to insert a food thermometer into the thickest portion of the meat.

Looks like it's all done.

Use clean utensils and a clean plate to get everything off the grill safely.

Here's the moment everyone came for, serving the meal.

Make a note of the time the food should be discarded.

Grab a fresh container and use new utensils for food safety.

Some people have so much fun at tailgate gatherings, they never actually go into the sporting event.

But that doesn't mean it's safe for food to go unrefrigerated.

Put food away once everyone has finished eating.

You can always get more out of the cooler, but if it's left out for more than two hours, it must be discarded.

For those heading into the sporting event, it's important to wrap everything that can be salvaged and discard everything else.

All saved food should be placed in coolers for later use.

By the looks on their faces, I think the whole team has won.

After the game, some guests may still be hungry.

Remove food from coolers and reheat other foods immediately for a celebratory feast.