Lunch meat safety

[Pastachef]

I'd like to again ask about the safety of lunch meats and deli sliced turkey. I say that turkey is good for three to five days in the fridge. But what about the prepackaged turkey and chicken? Does it last longer because it is treated with preservatives? I noticed that the stale date is often a month after purchase.

[Suzanne]

If you have pretty fast turnover, you probably don't have to worry. But, alas, there are so many preservatives added to processed cold cuts... As always, keep what you need out in the smallest possible quantities; keep EVERYTHING out of the danger zone as much as possible; ROTATE CAREFULLY; track everything you use. And, of course, once stuff starts looking sort of greenish, chuck it!

[Pastachef]

This is my situation - I cook for a sorority house and have been there for 11 years. The girls prefer deli sliced turkey breast, and rarely eat anything else. When I slice it, I put it in closed containers in the refrigerator. In order to make sure that it is safe through the weekend, I cut it up on wednesday or thursday. If I can't do that, I thaw out precut packaged turkey and ham. I am wondering if the lunch meat with the preservatives is safer and lasts longer. I've never seen a green piece I've never kept it that long. I've noticed that when the packaged kind is thawed, it feels sticky. The girls are cautious about its freshness. I thaw it only under refrigeration, so I know its safe. Food poisoning terrifies me. Nobody has ever had i since I've been working there, but I got it from the cook before me. On turkey breast, of all thngs. I am also wondering how long a plastic wrapped turkey breast, (original wrapping) lasts in the refrigerator before it is opened. If I don't get time to slice it on a particular day, (within a time fame of three - five days, I am afraid to use it. I am concerned aout waste as well as answering the girls questions.

[kuan]

Pastachef,

I had the same problem as you before. What I did was to portion the turkey in 3oz packages so they wouldn't get their hands on every darn piece of turkey and leave the package open in the fridge all weekend. Also I gave up buying bottles of ketchup and mayo and just got PC's.

They also say they only eat lo-fat stuff, but put out a tray of cookies at night and see how fast they disappear And tell me, how much skim milk do you go through each week?

Kuan

[Pastachef]

I go through two cases of cookies along with several cases of other types of junk food every week. The rid me of fifteen gallons of milk a week It used to be skim only, but now its 2%. This new group of girls actually eat everything! The only thing they balk a little about is the turkey. I've had the low fat groups who count the fat grams of food and drink beer all nght. Do you work in a sorority house, Kuan?

[kuan]

Not anymore, but I used to work in a sorority house, KKG. It lasted a whole year. It can be one of the easiest jobs but also one of the toughest. My girls only counted fat grams when I was there, when I wasn't there, it was all about cookies and ice cream. Ours was a non-alcohol house so they had to go elsewhere if they wanted to get drunk, and you could tell every Saturday and Sunday morning too!

Kuan

[Pastachef]

Hi Kuan, How come you left after a year? I got hooked on the kids and stayed. I probably wouldn't have had the 'mothering' attitude if I were younger though. Ours is a no alcohol house too. Unless I'm cooking with it. They do go out to bars and parties. What state was your sorority in? I'm in Maryland at KAO. It's sure nice to meet someone who knows what it's like

[kuan]

KKG=Kappa Kappa Gucci

Actually I really liked the job. The hours were great and the girls really appreciated real food. Problem was it didn't quite fit my career path, that's all. Other than that it was a great place to work. I was at the University of Illinois, typical college town, kinda nice midsized small town.

Kuan

[Pastachef]

Kuan, did you have cleaning help in the kitchen? And did you have to cook for a bunch of special events? How about Rush? That's an incredible time, isn't it? I'm always looking for a short cut or a better way of doing things.

[kuan]

Yes I had help cleaning the kitchen and dining room. The girls didn't even have to bus their own tables at that house. They don't do it at home so why should they do it there right? I hired some Evans scholars, but I didn't pay them in dollars I did it in food, which was quite a good deal because they had to show proof that they worked.

Rush was a not too bad because all they really needed was snacks and stuff. The tough times are when they have initiation or pledge night and you can't be in the house but still have to figure out some way to make lunch for them.

I actually made more work for myself because I really liked them, and they liked me (I think). I even cut out my bread supplier and made all the bread myself. Sometimes if I needed time off I would bargain with my friend Rob across the way at the Sammies so he'd make lunch/dinner today and I'd make lunch/dinner for his guys the next day.

Mom's day/Dad's day was a big brunch. I did some kinda nice things for the girls like carved Turkey and Roast Beef, Shrimp cocktail, that kind of stuff.

Kuan

[Pastachef]

It sounds pretty much the same, Kuan. Except that I don't have any cleaning help for the kitchen or dining room. Didn't you have to do food for Peference and for the times other houses were invited to dinner? How big was your sororiy? Things never seem to be the same. Every year they find more occasions to have big dinners. I often complain that my stove is too small.

[kuan]

Our house was 60 girls, and yep, I forget about the times when the "boys" come over You didn't have cleaning help for the kitchen and dining room? Goodness! I hope your girls bus their own dishes, how about the dishes? I hope your girls do dishes too, at least a little?

I only had a four burner stove, tiny, but I also had a steam kettle, a steamer, and best of all, double stack convention ovens. One good thing about a sorority is you always know that one of your dishes is going to be pasta, whether it's day or night, they always eat pasta. So you make pasta only every other day. Actually all of the girls pretty much ate the same thing. There was always a salad bar day and night, the food was always lo-fat, and if they didn't like any of that there was always 14 differerent kinds of cereal, plus Turkey in the fridge!

Kuan

[Pastachef]

No, I don't have any help. The girls don't help with anything, but they do avoid messes. I have a really good group this semester. And after 11 year, I've got the job down pat with time to spare. It's the monday nights with 130 people that are killers. Then the giant food order on tuesday. I have the best sales rep in creation through Sysco. Yes, it sounds like home. Forty kinds of turkey and twenty kinds of chicken We DO hire frat boys to clean the dining room at night and put away the food. That's after I go home.

[marmalady]

Pastachef, about that 'slick, slimy' feeling on the thawed meats' I've felt that too, and I wonder if it isn't just the preservatives? When I thaw out preservative-free turkey, that feel isn't there.

[Pastachef]

That's what I think it is too. It's definitely not on the fresh turkey. I am wondering if the turkey that is treated with the preservatives isn't safer than the fresh turkey.