Safe grilling with MCHD sanitarian Rob Dillon

Jul. 1, 2026

By Mary Wade Burnside

When Rob Dillon grills, anything can be on the menu. Steaks, burgers, chicken, foil-wrapped corn on the cob or trout, wild turkey breast or deer steaks or rabbit.
“There’s nothing we don’t eat,” Dillon said.
Dillon is not only a grill master of the highest order, but he’s also a sanitarian at Monongalia County Health Department.
MCHD Environmental Health inspects restaurants and trains food safety workers, making sure that foods are cooked, held and stored at correct temperatures and that hands, grills, surfaces and just about everything else are clean and sanitized.
That makes Dillon a great source for a discussion about safe grilling ahead of the Fourth of July weekend and with summer in full swing.
But with grilling comes great responsibility. And you don’t have to be an expert to know that a picnic table full of mayonnaise-based salads, casseroles and melty desserts under a hot July sun is not a good combination.
Dillon is a big proponent of a good digital thermometer, consulting food temperature charts, safe refrigeration, using a bleach and water solution to clean and, of course, handwashing.
“I really want to stress proper handwashing, especially after touching any raw meat and before being able to cross-contaminate everything else you may touch,” he said.
For the digital thermometer, he recommends using one with a thin probe.
“A thermometer is a must if you are going to do proper barbecuing,” Dillon said. “Undercooked meats can lead to getting sick, especially with chicken and pork.”
Of course, what is being grilled matters when it comes to temperature. StateFoodSafety.com, which informs Monongalia County Health Department’s food safety training classes, offers this easy guidance:
145°F: whole cuts of beef, pork, lamb, veal and fish
160°F: hamburgers and other ground beef
165°F: all poultry and pre-cooked meats, like hot dogs
But there is more to this equation than just grilling temperatures. Correct holding temperatures also must be observed. If you make a plate of burgers for later, they need to be kept at the proper temperature. The same goes for cold items.
Hot holding temperatures should stay above 135°F; cold holding temperatures should stay below 41°F. The space in between those two figures is called the “danger zone” for a reason.
And everyone knows that cleanliness is important, but there are some issues and spaces that not every home cook might consider.
For instance, if you have a wooden or plastic cutting board that develops a deep groove or scoring, no matter how hard you try, it’s difficult to clean in that space.
“Just because you are scrubbing with a bleach and water solution doesn’t mean it’s going to go away,” Dillon said.
That area is then prime for listeria, he noted.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, listeria is a type of bacteria that can contaminate food and cause illness. Unlike other foodborne illness-causing bacteria, listeria thrives in cool and damp environments, according to information at www.fsis.usda.gov.
Sanding a cutting board down to remove the scoring will help it get cleaner.
Another bacteria that can contaminate food is E. coli. Ways to avoid it include using proper cooking temperatures, avoiding cross-contamination, washing leafy greens well and choosing pasteurized foods.
Also, do you keep your can opener blade clean? If not, it’s a good practice to adopt.
“If you have old food residue on it and then puncture the next can, and it’s been as little as four hours since you used it last, the bacterial growth can be injected into the can,” Dillon said.
Also, sanitize cooking utensils and the probe of the digital thermometer before moving on to another type of food on the grill.
“All the meats are safe as long as you meet the proper temperatures and sanitize everything property,” Dillon said.
So fire up the grill and take advantage of summer while staying safe!

Mary Wade Burnside is the public information officer at Monongalia County Health Department.