Chef and Chop Happy blogger Jason Goldstein suggests following the two-hour rule for charcuterie boards and meats.
Now that it is the holiday party season, do you know how long is too long to keep your food out?
Chef and Chop Happy blogger Jason Goldstein says you have a two-hour window to keep your charcuterie board out until it is unsafe for guests to eat. “After that bacteria forms and your guests can get sick,” Goldstein says.
He suggests setting a timer for an hour and 45 minutes so you have a 15-minute grace period to put your charcuterie board back in the refrigerator.
Goldstein says the two-hour rule also applies to shrimp cocktails, even if the shrimp is on ice.
Reheating meat after it has been sitting out for two hours is not recommended.
“Did you know that if you try to heat things up in the oven after two hours, there’s still bacteria there that are heat-resistant? So you can still get sick, even if you heat it at a high temperature,” Goldstein says.
The chef says to avoid double-dippers, you can create a chip with the dip already on it.
