topic Re: Washing Chicken? in Kitchen

Washing Chicken?

buddylou — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 06:54:56 GMT

As I was watching the tsv (NuWave) being presented by Mary Beth and Jan Mueller, he told her to never wash chicken before cooking. I was shocked and even Mary Beth told him she didn't know that. I wash all meat before cooking except ground meat.

It just seems unclean to take anything out of the wrapper and start the cooking without washing.

I went to a cookout one time and saw the host take steaks out of the wrapper and plop them on the grill. I couldn't eat a bite and made an excuse that I was having some tummy problems.

I know I am old school but for what reason would you not wash chicken before cooking?

Re: Washing Chicken?

betteb — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 07:01:45 GMT

I always wash meat, and nobody would ever convince me not to.

Re: Washing Chicken?

JeanLouiseFinch — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 07:32:02 GMT

I don't wash beef of pork, but always rinse chicken. What was Jan's reasoning for not rinsing?

Re: Washing Chicken?

BeckiWV — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 07:39:52 GMT

I read quite some time ago that experts are now saying NOT to the rinse poultry before cooking it, that the rinsing might spread those germs around more than if you just cook it out of the package, the theory being that the cooking will kill the germs.

Maybe so, but the last time I cooked chicken, I rinsed it anyway, I just couldn't cook it out the package.

Re: Washing Chicken?

BeckiWV — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 07:44:26 GMT

Here's something from stilltasty.com. If you google "rinsing poultry" all kinds of info comes up. Apparently the USDA is against it, so I dunno.

Question: Are you supposed to rinse raw chicken before cooking it?

Answer: No — in fact, it's not a good idea at all.

The United States Department of Agriculture advises against the practice of rinsing poultry or meat before cooking it. The problem is that when you rinse raw chicken, you’re allowing the bacteria that is present on the surface of the poultry to spread to everything else that’s nearby — including sink and counter surfaces, kitchen utensils and any other foods that might be within spattering range of the rinsing water.

And as the USDA also points out, any bacteria present on the chicken’s surface will be destroyed if you cook the poultry properly and thoroughly.

From chow.com:

Not only is there no need to rinse or wash beef, pork, lamb, chicken, or veal before cooking it, says the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, but cooks who do increase the risk of cross-contamination. Any bacteria lurking on meat when it comes out of the package will die during cooking. Sadly, you can't say the same for your sink, counters, utensils, or cutting board, all of which should be washed with hot, soapy water, rinsed, and then air- or paper-towel-dried after being in contact with meat.

Another reason not to rinse: Excess moisture on meat's surface thwarts the Maillard reaction, the intricate chemical process that occurs when carbohydrate molecules react with amino acids, yielding the coveted sear on that steak. The interchange between the two produces hundreds of different chemicals, explains Harold McGee in his book On Food and Cooking: "pyrroles, pyridines, pyrazines, thiophenes, thiazoles, and oxazoles," which give a brown color to the meat along with rich, complex flavors. The Maillard reaction begins at approximately 230 degrees Fahrenheit. Water, which turns to vapor at 212 degrees Fahrenheit, simply won't get hot enough to allow the Maillard reaction to occur. That means a watery piece of meat won't start browning until all the water is cooked off, but by that time your T-bone might already be well done.

So no, don't rinse meat. In fact, once you lift it out of the butcher paper or wrench it from the shrink-wrap, you should dry off any existing moisture carefully with paper towels before putting it in the pan to brown. Then throw the towels away. And wash your hands really, really well, for a full 10 seconds.

Re: Washing Chicken?

ennui1 — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 09:01:16 GMT

On 3/23/2014 betteb said:
I always wash meat, and nobody would ever convince me not to.

And now you know your whole kitchen is contaminated.

Re: Washing Chicken?

Loves2save — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 09:13:28 GMT

I used to rinse chicken only until reading up on this. Never rinsed other meats no reason to.

Re: Washing Chicken?

betteb — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 09:33:20 GMT

On 3/23/2014 ennui1 said:
On 3/23/2014 betteb said:
I always wash meat, and nobody would ever convince me not to.

And now you know your whole kitchen is contaminated.

Not if I rinse it carefully, in a sanitized sink, then directly from the sink to the pan, and then sanitize the sink again

Certainly if you splash everywhere and then drag the dripping meat across the counter on the way to the pan, that would be a problem.

If you had ever been in a meat packing plant, you would know why I do it

Re: Washing Chicken?

jackthebear — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 12:34:29 GMT

On 3/22/2014 buddylou said:
As I was watching the tsv (NuWave) being presented by Mary Beth and Jan Mueller, he told her to never wash chicken before cooking. I was shocked and even Mary Beth told him she didn't know that. I wash all meat before cooking except ground meat.

It just seems unclean to take anything out of the wrapper and start the cooking without washing.

I went to a cookout one time and saw the host take steaks out of the wrapper and plop them on the grill. I couldn't eat a bite and made an excuse that I was having some tummy problems.

I know I am old school but for what reason would you not wash chicken before cooking?

That would be a rather unexciting steak with no seasoning,

I rinse chicken, not quite buying this, unless you are spraying the water and tossing the chicken around . Rinse the chicken, don't reuse the utensils you just used and wipe up.

Re: Washing Chicken?

Lacey1 — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 12:45:16 GMT

I rinse/wash everything from the store. I soak my veggies in water/vinegar and I rinse my meats. I know the proper way to deal with meat so the kitchen is not contaminated. It's not that hard and involves common sense. I won't even put containers from the store directly in the fridge without wiping them down first.

Bone chips, plastic, hair, feathers, and unseen bacteria can be found on packaged meat. Just because they run it thru a metal detector doesn't mean there's not other stuff in the package.

Re: Washing Chicken?

Barbarainnc — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 12:49:54 GMT

I use to rinse off my chicken, but never did beef or pork. But now I just cook it. Cooking to the proper temp. will kill the germs. When you rinse poultry off, poultry "germs" go who knows where.

Thinking back when you watch cooking shows, they just open the package and cook it, no rinsing.

Re: Washing Chicken?

Judaline — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 12:55:45 GMT

On 3/23/2014 betteb said:
On 3/23/2014 ennui1 said:
On 3/23/2014 betteb said:

Not if I rinse it carefully, in a sanitized sink, then directly from the sink to the pan, and then sanitize the sink again

Exactly.

Re: Washing Chicken?

Ranchergal — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 12:58:41 GMT

Apparently, bacteria spreads (splashes off) chicken when it's washed causing more harm than good by spreading to the sink, faucet, and counter top. I've never washed chicken or meat. Never saw the point if I was going to cook it to the proper temperature.

Re: Washing Chicken?

jackthebear — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 13:04:04 GMT

On 3/23/2014 lacey1 said:
I rinse/wash everything from the store. I soak my veggies in water/vinegar and I rinse my meats. I know the proper way to deal with meat so the kitchen is not contaminated. It's not that hard and involves common sense. I won't even put containers from the store directly in the fridge without wiping them down first.

Bone chips, plastic, hair, feathers, and unseen bacteria can be found on packaged meat. Just because they run it thru a metal detector doesn't mean there's not other stuff in the package.

Common sense, yes not used much,

Re: Washing Chicken?

Sooner — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 14:24:23 GMT

On 3/23/2014 jackthebear said:
On 3/22/2014 buddylou said:
As I was watching the tsv (NuWave) being presented by Mary Beth and Jan Mueller, he told her to never wash chicken before cooking. I was shocked and even Mary Beth told him she didn't know that. I wash all meat before cooking except ground meat.

It just seems unclean to take anything out of the wrapper and start the cooking without washing.

I went to a cookout one time and saw the host take steaks out of the wrapper and plop them on the grill. I couldn't eat a bite and made an excuse that I was having some tummy problems.

I know I am old school but for what reason would you not wash chicken before cooking?

That would be a rather unexciting steak with no seasoning,

I rinse chicken, not quite buying this, unless you are spraying the water and tossing the chicken around . Rinse the chicken, don't reuse the utensils you just used and wipe up.

I NEVER season steak other than with salt. To me any seasoning ruins a good steak. I want to taste the meat, not other things. Maybe a little butter on at a steak house, but nope, a good steak is all I need.

I don't wash meat because you can't get a good sear on damp meat.

Re: Washing Chicken?

VaBelle35 — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 14:29:22 GMT

The guidance on chicken changed a while ago.

I read a lot of cooking magazines and health magazines and they all follow this guidance now.

Re: Washing Chicken?

bluejeansluvr — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 14:50:51 GMT

Personal preference I guess. I don't wash meat before I cook it. I don't feel it's necessary. I have been cooking for 30+ years and I have never had a problem, never had an experience with food poisoning or anyone getting sick on food from my kitchen. I'm very particular when it comes to cleaning my countertops off before meal prep. I do wipe down the packages from the grocery with a Clorox wipe, when I get home, then I put them in the fridge. Other than that, I just cook the meat directly from the package.

I do think most cooking shows I have seen don't wash meat before they cook it. It's just not necessary when you think about it, any bacteria in or on the meat should be killed by the high temps when you're cooking. That's why it's so important to use a meat thermometer to make sure your meat is prepared to the correct temperature.

Also, ground meat likely has the most bacteria of any meat for sale, because it is ground up in a machine. Who knows how they clean the machine or if they do. They just put the beef in the chopper and turn it on and out it comes ground, they wrap it up in the package and then out for sale. Not being rude or anything but I think it's kind of funny to me that someone would wash all meat except their ground beef, when that meat probably has more bacteria than any other meat they buy. (sorry buddylou I still love you tho.!)

Re: Washing Chicken?

evelyner — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 14:53:15 GMT

I don't wash meat.

Re: Washing Chicken?

Perkup — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 14:56:27 GMT

I am not quite sure about the chicken, but I am glad to know that Jan Mueller is up to date on the things he's telling us. I have always felt he is a well informed vendor, and this more or less confirms my thinking about him. So many folks give such questionable advice.

Re: Washing Chicken?

bluejeansluvr — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 14:59:26 GMT

On 3/23/2014 Sooner said:
On 3/23/2014 jackthebear said:
On 3/22/2014 buddylou said:
As I was watching the tsv (NuWave) being presented by Mary Beth and Jan Mueller, he told her to never wash chicken before cooking. I was shocked and even Mary Beth told him she didn't know that. I wash all meat before cooking except ground meat.

It just seems unclean to take anything out of the wrapper and start the cooking without washing.

I went to a cookout one time and saw the host take steaks out of the wrapper and plop them on the grill. I couldn't eat a bite and made an excuse that I was having some tummy problems.

I know I am old school but for what reason would you not wash chicken before cooking?

That would be a rather unexciting steak with no seasoning,

I rinse chicken, not quite buying this, unless you are spraying the water and tossing the chicken around . Rinse the chicken, don't reuse the utensils you just used and wipe up.

I NEVER season steak other than with salt. To me any seasoning ruins a good steak. I want to taste the meat, not other things. Maybe a little butter on at a steak house, but nope, a good steak is all I need.

I don't wash meat because you can't get a good sear on damp meat.

I don't season steaks either. I usually use a little salt and sometimes a dash of onion salt. That's it. I know people who marinate their steaks. Again personal preference but I think then all the steak tastes like is the marinade, so why do that. DH likes some steak seasoning on his and usually he will go and sprinkle that on his while it's cooking but I tell him leave it off of mine.