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Occasional Contributor
Posts: 9
Registered: ‎03-25-2014

I think chicken needs to be rinsed in cold, fresh water, but I never wash steaks, roasts, etc.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,997
Registered: ‎03-25-2012

When they had that grill/bake machine as a TSV, the vendor took a completely store-wrapped frozen chicken from its wrapper and stuck it in the machine to cook. I was really astonished. Wrapped chickens have to be washed, the cavity opened, and all the paper-wrapped guts taken out of the cavity, including the neck, the organs, etc. He just stuck it in there as it came out of the wrapper and obviously MB thought there was nothing wrong with that . . . although she probably wouldn't be allowed to say anything anyway even if she did. That was a disgusting display, IMO.

Formerly Ford1224
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Elie Wiesel 1986
Valued Contributor
Posts: 886
Registered: ‎12-30-2010

I'm sorry but if the reasoning for not rinsing the chicken is because you might contaminate something else in the process and be stupid enough not clean up after that maybe you shouldn't preparing meals to begin with....

Honored Contributor
Posts: 32,621
Registered: ‎05-10-2010

I can see why someone doing a demo on tv would take a chicken out of the plastic and jump right to cooking. Time constraints. Yes, I always wash my chickens. I wash all meats. You have to wash chickens, you have to take the neck and gizzards out of the cavity. I do anyway.

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Trusted Contributor
Posts: 3,874
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

I rarely wash meat or poultry of any kind before cooking. Cooking will kill any germs on the surface, and rinsing meat just presents an unwelcome opportunity to spread and splatter bacteria all over the sinks, countertops, backsplashes, hands, arms, clothing, and the rest of one's self and kitchen. I'd rather not.......plus it's simpler and easier to skip the unnecessary step and the clean-up that follows. The one exception is preparing a whole chicken or other poultry, in which case I do carefully remove the innards and rinse out the cavity before seasoning and cooking.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,997
Registered: ‎03-25-2012

Just the thought of all of those innards and coagulated blood inside that chicken makes me nauseous. Would someone actually eat that stuff?

Is the chicken ever washed at any point in the process? Does the processing plant wash them? Are they cleaned after the feathers have been removed? The distributor? Obviously not the store since it's frozen. At what point are these chickens sanitized? Is the answer that they never are?

Formerly Ford1224
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Elie Wiesel 1986