Food transport as important as grilling for tailgating

Tailgating and football are traditional American fall activities. Last week, my column was about tailgating, and several of you have sent me tips and questions in response to that column.

Reader tailgating tips

One of the very best tips is a technique that works in areas of life: team up with your friends and make a game plan — delegate responsibility. When the party tasks are shared, everything gets done and creates a successful tailgate party.

Here are other useful tips from our readers:

* If you are using a slow cooker, the disposable liners make for easy clean-up.

* Be sure to bring along plenty of napkins and paper towels. There may not be water on site, so pack some moistened disposable towels for wiping hands and cleaning up.

* Chips and bread often get smashed. Pack them in a basket instead of a bag. The sturdy sides of a basket will protect the delicate items en route.

* A great way to transport drinks and bottled water to a tailgate party is to put them in a large bucket or other waterproof container. Upon arrival, add ice to the bucket, and soon you will have chilled drinks.

* Do much of the food preparation in advance. Cut or chop all vegetables, cut the bar cookies, split the buns, marinate the meat, form the hamburger patties and other similar tasks in advance. Have everything wrapped or packaged appropriately and ready to use.

Tailgating questions

Then important questions arise that pertain to food safety.

Q: What is the best way to transport hot food?

A: Hot foods may be transported two different ways. If you have a grill or way of reheating food at the game, it is fine to cook it and chill the food in your refrigerator and pack it in a cooler with ice.

Then reheat the food at the game. It needs to reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees farenheit.

The other way would be to pack hot food in a thermos. To keep foods like soup, chili or stew hot, pack in an insulated container. Fill the container with boiling water and let it stand for a few minutes. Empty the water and immediately pack in the piping hot food. Keep the insulated container closed to keep the food hot.

Q: Which foods are critical to pack in the cooler now that we have cooler weather?

A: Perishable food such as raw ground beef patties, sausages, chicken and similar items must be kept chilled, 41 degrees farenheit or below. Transport them in an insulated cooler packed with frozen gel packs or containers of frozen water. Perishable cooked foods such as potato salads and pasta salads must be kept chilled, as well.

Wrap raw meat and poultry securely to prevent any juices from cross-contaminating ready-to-eat food. All protein and moist foods are high risk and must be kept chilled.

This story was originally published September 21, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Food transport as important as grilling for tailgating."