Tips on Thawing Food

• In the refrigerator. Do it one or two days before you will cook the food.
• In the microwave. Use the "defrost" setting. Then cook the food right away.

Raw meat, raw poultry, raw seafood, and raw eggs can make you sick. Cook them until they are done.

• Use a meat thermometer for poultry and meat, if possible.
• Use a meat thermometer, if possible, when cooking hamburger. Cook hamburger to a temperature of 160 degrees F. If you don't have a meat thermometer, don't eat hamburger if the meat is still pink.
• Dig a fork into cooked fish. The fish should flake.
• Cooked egg whites and yolks are firm, not runny.

If the food is left out for two or more hours, germs can grow.

So put leftovers into the refrigerator or freezer as soon as you finish eating. Put them into shallow dishes so that they cool faster. Eat them in the next few days, before they go bad.