Thread: The DANGER ZONE
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Old 05-22-2006, 01:21 AM   #1
bbqjoe
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Default The DANGER ZONE

There are at least six things required in order for bacteria and some other harmful elements to survive and reproduce.

One of the most important is temperature.

Heat will kill most bacteria but not necessarily their toxins.
Super extreme cold over a period of time will kill alot of bacteria. But average refrigeration only slows down the growth.

Compare the concept to baking bread. Once the yeast (A living organism) is intoduced to the medium, ( Food, sugars,starch, etc.) The growth begins. Given the right temperature range, yeast will double rapidly, consuming sugars and food and your bread will rise.

Too cold a temperature and the yeast will remain relatively dormant.
But once warmed again it will go back into accelerated growth.
Once placed in the oven the heat stops further growth and the living yeast cells are pretty much destroyed.

Most bacteria act pretty much in the same way.

So there is a range in which it is not too cold nor too hot for bacteria to reproduce effectively. This is called the "Danger Zone"

When cooking meat, or reheating most foods, it is important that the food passes through this range as quickly as possible to get to the upper or "safe" end.

IMPORTANT:This also applies to the cooling of foods as well.

Foods taking too long to chill have the same dangers as food taking too long to heat.

(Times will be up and coming) Leave alone!!!

The question is this: What do you think the temperature danger zone is?
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The answer is B 41*-135*

Last edited by bbqjoe; 05-23-2006 at 12:51 AM..
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