A well-prepared brine or marinade can add moisture and flavor to any restaurant dish or prepared meal, but food-borne illnesses can occur if these brines or marinades are not handled according to ServSafe MN standards. This week, we’d like to examine some of the hazards of marinades and how to ensure that marinated proteins are safe to eat.
ServSafe MN and Marinades
Many restaurants use marinade for some meat items on their menu. While these marinades can create outstanding flavors, they can also create genuine risks. The first important thing to remember is that marinades can potentially generate a cross-contamination hazard. It’s important to take simple preventative steps to keep marinated foods free from harmful contaminants.
- Never reuse brines or marinades
- Do not brush used marinades onto cooked or cooking foods
- Always date marinades
Can we reuse brines to reduce food costs? Unfortunately, this is not a good idea, and reusing a marinade can increase the risk of illness. Raw proteins contain bacteria that will mix with your marinade as your meat soaks. As your marinade ages, this bacteria will multiply and become more dangerous. If you add new proteins to an old marinade, the existing bacteria will inevitably contaminate the latest product, posing a significant threat to food safety.
It makes sense to glaze or coat your meats in the same flavors they were marinated in. If you do this, you must use a fresh marinade or glaze that has never come into contact with raw animal product. If you use the brine that your food has previously soaked in, you are essentially glazing it in the bacteria present in your raw product.
Remember To Assign A Date To Your Marinades
Finally, your marinades must always be dated with the date the marinade was created and the date the food product began to marinate. The longer a piece of meat sits in a marinade, the more time bacteria have to grow. Make sure that you know the shelf life of your raw proteins and cook them before they expire. It is crucial to refrigerate marinades made with perishable food. Something as simple as leaving a marinade on a counter overnight and using it the next day can seriously risk your guests’ health.
Do you use a marinade or brine for any of your dishes? If so, we’d like to know your favorite one. Without exposing your secret recipes, comment below about your best-marinated dish.
