Preparing Food Wash your hands. Get the food to be fixed from storage, the stove, the cooler or freezer. Take a little food out at a time, and keep the rest hot or cold until you are ready to work with it. Prepare potentially hazardous foods just before you need them. Cooking Food Use a metal stem thermometer to check temperatures while cooking food to make sure that it gets done all the way inside.
Different foods have to reach different temperature degrees to be done or safe.
The metal stem thermometer measures the inside, or internal, temperature of the food. The only way you can be sure that the food is cooked enough is to use a metal stem thermometer placed in the center of the food, even if you also use a thermostat to control the temperature in the oven. You must place the thermometer in the thickest part of the meat or in the center of the food to get a true reading. This includes all kinds of hamburger such as taco meat and meatloaf, as well as hamburger patties. No raw meat is really safe to eat.