question of time needed to partially bake a breakfast casserole that will be frozen for later use
This recipe is for your standard egg/milk/cooked sausage and soaked bread pieces casserole,which will be frozen for future use.The casserole fills 8x8 inch foil pans 3/4 full . How long should we partially bake these , or should they be frozen entirely raw for future use ? My Church group cooks en masse for those in need, and we want to make these at our monthly cooking day , tomorrow. Any ideas??
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Cook to a proper temperature, rapidly cooldown (not by leaving on the counter), then refrigerate or freeze. That's mighty simple for the Food52 community.
And your point about sickness is key. Most of the food borne illnesses happen exactly in the danger zone of 40-140 degrees, and that's why people need to know that this means most of it happens by improper storage, cooldown, or in a period where things are left out and bacteria grows. Time is critical, in fact bacteria growth takes on logarithmic scale after a few hours-check out the pdf I refer to, it's scary.
I don't disagree about rapid cooling being important. It's just that it's secondary to cooking (and reheating) to the pasteurization point -- and you can't know if you've reached that temperature without an accurate thermometer. (At least not in this case where you can't cook the casserole until it's bubbly.)
When I wrote my answer, I was focused on answering the question ask asked. But, again, you're right, there's much more to the big picture. It's too late for this event but for future reference here are the major points of concern:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/fact_sheets/7_Steps_Community_Meals/index.asp
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/fact_sheets/7_Steps_Community_Meals/index.asp
I highly recommend reading this and learning-its more than just temperatures that matter in food safety. In this instance I fully agree that this should be cooked completely through-but in a restaurant you would also be required to ensure a rapid cooldown prior to freezing or refrigeration to ensure that during the time it takes to get to a bacteria inhibiting temperature, bacteria doesn't grow!
You can never go wrong with cooking elements beyond a temperature that allows for bacteria to grow, and then rapidly cooling them to a temperature that again prohibits bacteria growth. The middle register of temperature and the time your food stays there is the danger.
Of course you're right about safety being about more than just temperatures, but you have to start somewhere. According to the CDC, 1 out of every 6 Americans will get sick this year from foodborne illness. Most will write off the experience as "stomach flu" (not understanding there is no such thing) but 128,000 will end up in the hospital and will 3,000 die. While we do much better than most other countries, fewer than 10% of American households even own an instant-read thermometer. Baby steps.
From a food safety perspective, properly cooking before freezing is your best approach -- 165F on a digital thermometer.
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