Do's and Don'ts of Grilling Out on Memorial Day

CLEVELAND - If you’re planning to grill out for Memorial Day or really any day this summer, it’s important to make sure you’re practicing food safety.

Every year, millions of Americans get sick from food poisoning.

“The most important thing when you're preparing meat for a grill is making sure that you marinate your food ahead of time in the refrigerator. Don't leave your food out sitting at room temperature while you're marinating it. If that means marinating it the night before, the day of, but just making sure that if you are marinating anything, you're going to make sure that you keep it in the refrigerator,” advised Beth Czerwony, RD, registered dietitian at Cleveland Clinic.

Czerwony said when food is kept out at room temperature for too long, it makes it easier for bacteria to multiply which can be dangerous.

The same goes for cross-contamination.

You don’t want to use the same cutting board or knives for raw meat and vegetables.

It’s also important to make sure you’re cooking meat to the right temperature.

According to the USDA, beef, steaks, chops and roasts should be heated to 145 degrees before resting for at least three minutes.

Ground meats should be cooked to 160 degrees and ground poultry to 165 degrees.

“Hot dogs themselves are already pre-cooked, but you want to make sure that when you are doing hot dogs on the grill, that it's cooked all the way through, it's heated all the way through. So, using a meat thermometer might be something that you want to invest in if you're not quite sure,” she said.

Czerwony said sometimes people will get nervous about the char on meat while grilling.

She said to help avoid that, be sure to pre-clean your grill and avoid cooking meat right over the flame.