The Cook’s Kitchen

I have a new friend and her name is Karen. Karen is from the government and she is here to help us.  Really.  She works for the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service.  I met her on the USDA website and her bio should read something like this:  Hi, my name is Karen and I’m a virtual representative.  I have been trained to answer your questions about the safe storage, preparation and handling of meat and poultry products. I can also answer questions about the prevention of food borne illness and disease. My turn-ons are spotless kitchens, cold refrigerators, well done steaks and guys with clean fingernails.  My turn-offs are e. Coli, salmonella, people that double dip at cocktail parties and hard boiled eggs left out at room temperature.  My hobbies include microbiology, shopping for disinfectants, arranging my perishable foods by expiration dates and growing organic vegetables.  Click HERE to ask me a question.  Oh yeah, I never sleep, so I’m available to help you 24/7.

Karen does not run a chat room or anything, she just provides a one-on-one question and answer kind of thing.  When you ask a question, she provides an answer or at least gives you some related subjects to help narrow down the answers.  She will sometimes even suggest links to other web sites. Karen is very straight-forward, so you can’t ask super detailed or compound questions. 

For example, when I asked Karen “What are giblets?” I got this response:

“Giblets (pronounced JIBB-letz; also GIBB-letz) are defined as the heart, liver, and gizzard of a poultry carcass. Although often packaged with them, the neck of the bird is not a giblet. The word comes from Middle English giblet, which in turn came from gibier — Old French for game. The English altered the word to giberet, and it formerly meant a game stew.”

Hey Karen, good answer !!!!

Not sure what types of questions to ask Karen? Here is a list of frequently asked questions to help get you started:

• Should I use a food thermometer when cooking meat?
• How long does food stay safe during a power outage?
• What are the safest ways to thaw foods?
• Should I use a wooden cutting board or a plastic one?
• How can I tell if chicken is spoiled?
• If food has mold, is it safe to eat?

What subjects does Karen know best? The following is a list of the question categories that Karen is comfortable with. To know what specific questions Karen can answer within each category, type the category keyword in the question field. For example, upon typing “labeling” in the question field, Karen lists the labeling-related questions that she can answer.