Page 4—Farm and Home Section, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 18, 2000
Family Living
Focus
Margaret R. Malehom
Cumberland Co.
Extension Agent
Cook It Safely
Cook food to the “T”-
temperature that is.
You can improve the quality
of food, as well as safety, by
using a thermometer. Judging
“doneness” by how a food looks
works fairly well with scrambled
eggs and some fish, but it
doesn’t work well for hamburg
ers, roasts, turkey, chicken,
meat loaves, and egg casseroles.
It is important to cook food to
an internal temperature that de
stroys harmful bacteria. If you
don’t, you could get sick.
Hamburgers are a good exam
ple. In a study by the U.S. De
partment of Agriculture, 25
percent of the hamburgers
tested turned brown before they
reached a safe internal tempera
ture.
On the flip side, some patties
remained pink on the inside
even when cooked well above a
safe temperature. This is partic
ularly true of frozen, pre-formed
patties. The conclusion: color is
not a good indicator of doneness
or safety. As a result, USDA re
commends using a thermometer
to test the doneness of hamburg
ers, as well as other meat and
poultry products.
In a consumer food safety
survey last year, fewer than half
of those interviewed owned a
food thermometer. Only three
percent used one on a regular
basis when cooking hamburgers.
Don’t own a food thermome
ter? Have one but it doesn’t
work, or you can’t find it?
It’s time to think about get
ting one. Besides making sure
that food gets cooked to a safe
temperature, thermometers take
the guesswork out of cooking
and can prevent over-cooking.
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The most common and versa
tile food thermometer is the bi
metallic stemmed thermometer.
These are available at most
kitchen or grocery stores for less
than $5. Check the range of the
thermometer on it. Meat and all
purpose thermometers generally
read from 0° to 220° F. Candy
thermometers measure above
the temperature of boiling
water.
If you are into gourmet kitch
enware, you might want to
invest in a digital thermometer.
These measure temperatures
through a metal probe or sens
ing area, and display the results
on a digital readout. They come
in many sizes and are priced
from $lO to $35. Because the
sensor is located in the tip of the
probe, they are ideal for measur
ing the temperature of thin
foods such as hamburgers and
chicken breasts.
How do you know if your
thermometer is accurate? The
best way is to use the ice water
test. Fill a large glass with finely
crushed ice. Add clean water to
the top of the ice and stir well.
Immerse the thermometer stem
at least two inches into the mix
ture. The thermometer should
read 32° F after 30 seconds. If it
doesn’t, adjust the calibration
nut to the correct temperature.
What temperatures are rec
ommended for safety’s sake?
USDA recommends cooking
to the following internal tem
peratures:
Ground Beef -160° F
Roasts and Steaks -145° F
Poultry (chicken breasts) -
170° F
Whole poultry (turkey,
chicken)-180° F
Leftovers, at least 165° F
If A Tree Falls In Your Neighbor’s Yard,
UNIVERSITY PARK
(Centre Co.)-Poetry readers
know there is nothing so lovely
as a tree. Unfortunately, poetry
goes out the window and accu
sations can get pretty ugly when
trees are involved in legal
disputes, said a community for
estry expert in Penn State’s Col
lege of Agricultural Sciences.
“Most homeowners expect ev
eryone to love their trees be
cause they do,” said Bill
Elmendorf, urban and commu
nity forestry program coordina
tor and instructor in the School
of Forest Resources. “In reality,
a neighbor downwind may hate
raking the tree’s leaves, the tree
may have invasive roots or it
may block views. If the tree is
falling, it may fall on houses,
cars or people.”
Elmendorf explains that few
homeowners understand the
laws and legal rights that apply
to trees. In addition, most
people have no idea that orna
mental trees can have a mone
tary value that can be recovered
in court should anything happen
to it.
“Some trees can be replaced
easily for about $5OO to $2,500,”
Elmendorf says. “An older or
landmark tree, believe it or not,
can have an assigned value of
When food is not cooked hot
enough to stop bacteria growth
or kill the bacteria that are
present, you put your self at risk
of becoming ill. Why take the
chance? Learn more about food
safety by contacting your county
extension office.
Does It Make A Lawsuit?
$25,000 to $60,000, based on
size, species, condition and loca
tion.”
Homeowners should know
several key points about trees
and the law;
•Who owns the tree? If a
tree’s trunk is entirely on a
homeowner’s property, the tree
belongs to that homeowner. If
the tree straddles the boundary
between two properties, the tree
is owned jointly by both land
owners. “You can’t remove it or
prune it without the other
owner’s permission, and you
can’t prune it to the extent that
it will damage the community
property of the tree,” Elmendorf
says.
•Can you trim your neigh
bor’s tree? Property owners have
the absolute right to trim back a
tree’s branches and roots that
reach over into their yard. “The
property owner only can prune
up to the boundary line. Hope
fully the pruning will be done
correctly,” Elmendorf says. t
•When am I responsible for
damage or injuries caused by my
trees? Homeowners are respon
sible for maintaining their prop
erty’s trees. “Ignorance is no
excuse,” Elmendorf warns.
“The landowner has two duties:
reasonable inspection and care
to make sure the tree is safe.”
•If my tree falls down, is it an
act of God? Elmendorf cites the
book “Arboriculture and the
Law”: ‘An act of God represents
some inevitable event that could
not be prevented by human care,
skill or foresight, but which re-
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suits exclusively from nature’s
cause, lightning, tempest and
floods.” Does that mean a
homeowner is liable? “All these
laws are open to interpretation,”
Elmendorf says. That’s why we
have lawyers and courts. The
key is to act as a reasonable
person should act.”
•Can someone remove a tree
from my property? No, unless
the tree is an imminent hazard
to people or property. If a neigh
bor or a person working for the
neighbor removes a tree from
the homeowners property, the
neighbor may be found liable for
replacing the value of the tree.
“A qualified arborist can esti
mate the value of a tree accord
ing to a formula created by the
International Society of Arbor
ists,” Elmendorf says.
•If my neighbor’s apple tree
extends into my yard, can I eat
the fruit? The fruit of a tree be
longs to the owner. Although
laws are unclear about fallen
fruit, a landowner cannot pick
fruit from a neighbor’s tree.
“Neighbors also cannot prune
branches in order to get the
fruit,” Elmendorf says.
“The best course of action in
any dispute involving trees is
direct communication,” Elmen
dorf says. “Go and talk with
your neighbor first and try to
work out a solution. If you have
to go to court, because of the
high value an ornamental tree
can have, make sure you have a
good lawyer and a good arbor
ist.”