To wash or not to wash, that is the question!

[bill ace 350]

https://www.cdc.gov/features/salmonellachicken/index.html

 

[PolishDeli]

Yes, I wash raw meats before seasoning and cooking them. It’s not to disinfect. It’s to remove miscellaneous surface contaminants. For example, I don’t necessarily trust the people who last handled that meat to have had clean hands.

The argument about splashing contaminated water around the kitchen? With that logic, it can be dangerous to wash dirty hands and dishes. Besides, splashing water can be mitigate by (1) washing the meat in a pre-filled bowled, and (2) wiping down surfaces once you’re done.

Grounds meats, on the other hand; no I don't wash those.

 

[johnmeyer]

This has been brought up before and I absolutely disagree with the advice. The "don't wash because you splash the juices all over the place" is really dumb because it neglects the fact that as you take the chicken out of the bag(s) (they want you to double-bag it) you will splash juices. When you pull the skin off (if you do), you will whip juice all over the place, especially if you slip (it is tough to grip chicken skin, even with a paper towel). When you cut up the chicken, juices go everywhere. The cutting board has juice all over it and as you move it into the sink, juices goes everywhere.

I can go on, but having watched a full-length industrial training movie on how chickens are processed, I very much want to wash off the remains of the liquid they are rinsed in during that process. I rinse using a slow stream of water, and whatever gets splashed around is absolutely positively no worse than the other things I just mentioned. I am able to remove not only the residual stuff from the slaughter, but also some of the innards that often don't get completely removed.

The people that produce these advisories are the same ones that go around swabbing doorknobs and telling us about the massive levels of pathogens that live in all these common places around us. In that case, as in this one, they are probably right, but they fail to put it in perspective, and they overstate the risk without taking into account all the benefits.

 

[bill ace 350]

To wash or not to wash, that was the question.

I wash too, common sense telling me to exercise caution, disinfect area afterward etc.

I'm not trying to tell anyone what to do.

 

[motolife313]

Yes i wash most the times. Not pressure washing just rinse. Good looking steaks that look dry I don’t tho

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

Yep, I rinse as well. Common sense tells us that when rinsing meat, don't have other food items sitting around where the meat is being rinsed and prepped and a good cleaning with hot soapy water or disinfectant of all prep surfaces. I aslo wash my cutting board and prep area before prepping meats.

 

[jokensmoken]

Sometimes I do, sometimes I dont...
It depends on what the meat looks like when I remove it from the packaging and how much additional processing I'll be doing...loose hanging fat or skin and/or overly bloody looking liquid...I rinse...
If it's well trimmed and clean looking; sometimes I dont.
What I dont ascribe to is the ideology that rinsing is bad because you're likely to spread yucky stuff everywhere and increase the risk spreading or creating additional contaminants...
In essence I felt I was being told
Dont rinse your meat because you're a slob and to lazy or stupid to adequately clean up after yourself...
How condescending.

 

[bill ace 350]

Sometimes I do, sometimes I dont...
It depends on what the meat looks like when I remove it from the packaging...loose fat and/or overly bloody looking liquid...I rinse...
If it's well trimmed and clean looking I dont
What I dont ascribe to is the ideology that rinsing is bad because you're likely to spread yucky stuff everywhere and increase the risk spreading or creating additional contaminants...
In essence I felt I was being told
Dont rinse your meat because you're a slob and to lazy or stupid to adequately clean up after yourself...
How condescending.

That is exactly how I felt, like I was too stupid to consider cross contamination.

 

[chef jimmyj]

I saw some program where the tested various household surfaces for bacteria. The Sink and Kitchen counters along with the Toilet Seat, ranked Low. The top three, TV Remote, Cell Phone and Computer Keyboard!
People regularly Clean and Disinfect, toilets, sinks and kitchen counters but rarely clean there Electronic contact surfaces. Eating a Sandwich while surfing SMF can be more risky than carefully washing a chicken and cleaning up afterward...JJ

 

[bill ace 350]

Yup. Some dirty stuff.

I wipe my cell phone and computer keyboard daily with disinfectant wipes, just before I use them during lunch at work.

 

[johnmeyer]

Eating a Sandwich while surfing SMF can be more risky than carefully washing a chicken and cleaning up afterward...JJ

Exactly!

 

[forktender]

Every single piece of meat, fowl or fish I cook gets the same treatment.
I fill a stainless steel bowl full of water add up to a 1 cup of kosher salt and either let them soak or a simple dunk in the salt water then pat dry with paper towels.

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

I saw some program where the tested various household surfaces for bacteria. The Sink and Kitchen counters along with the Toilet Seat, ranked Low. The top three, TV Remote, Cell Phone and Computer Keyboard!
People regularly Clean and Disinfect, toilets, sinks and kitchen counters but rarely clean there Electronic contact surfaces. Eating a Sandwich while surfing SMF can be more risky than carefully washing a chicken and cleaning up afterward...JJ

That is the truth.

 

[smokerjim]

I person ally don't rinse meats, I figure unless your washing with water hot enough to kill bacteria your not washing it off the meats your just spreading it around, again my opinion.

 

[chef jimmyj]

I person ally don't rinse meats, I figure unless your washing with water hot enough to kill bacteria your not washing it off the meats your just spreading it around, again my opinion.

On the surface, this makes sense. But when you consider that according to First Aid and other Medical training programs, Cleaning a Wound with Saline or flushing with Plain Water is recommended over the use of Antiseptics like Hydrogen Peroxide or Alcohol. These can damage the skin and inhibit healing.
I always chuckle when watching TV and a woman is about to give birth. Suddenly the person taking charge start yelling for someone to, " GET SOME BOILING WATER AND TOWELS!!" The Nurses washed my Newborn Daughter with a squirt of Johnsons Baby Wash in some warm water. What Exactly is the Boiling Water for?...JJ

 

[smokerjim]

On the surface, this makes sense. But when you consider that according to First Aid and other Medical training programs, Cleaning a Wound with Saline or flushing with Plain Water is recommended over the use of Antiseptics like Hydrogen Peroxide or Alcohol. These can damage the skin and inhibit healing.
I always chuckle when watching TV and a woman is about to give birth. Suddenly the person taking charge start yelling for someone to, " GET SOME BOILING WATER AND TOWELS!!" The Nurses washed my Newborn Daughter with a squirt of Johnsons Baby Wash in some warm water. What Exactly is the Boiling Water for?...JJ

i think that's from the old days when they did that to keep the husband busy while the birth was going on, had nothing to do with the birth itself

 

[smokerjim]

On the surface, this makes sense. But when you consider that according to First Aid and other Medical training programs, Cleaning a Wound with Saline or flushing with Plain Water is recommended over the use of Antiseptics like Hydrogen Peroxide or Alcohol. These can damage the skin and inhibit healing.
I always chuckle when watching TV and a woman is about to give birth. Suddenly the person taking charge start yelling for someone to, " GET SOME BOILING WATER AND TOWELS!!" The Nurses washed my Newborn Daughter with a squirt of Johnsons Baby Wash in some warm water. What Exactly is the Boiling Water for?...JJ

I think flushing wounds with water will clean the dirt out of wounds not sure about the stuff we can't see with our eyes. my guess that's where antibiotics come in

 

[Jonok]

I think flushing wounds with water will clean the dirt out of wounds not sure about the stuff we can't see with our eyes. my guess that's where antibiotics come in

A guy might think so, but it really turns out that (from an infection/contagion standpoint); Dilution is the solution to infectious agent pollution..
(With apologies to Dr. Osterholm, who drilled the mantra into our heads whenever possible)

 

[sigmo]

What ever happened to "Rub some dirt on it, and walk it off!"? ;)

 

[Jonok]

The guys that used to say that aren’t able to anymore ‘cause they all got lockjaw....