Cooking Non-veg, And Kitchen Sanitisation

Bubbles · Jan 21, 2019

Cooking chicken is becoming a big task - not the cooking per se, but the cleaning up before and after...

Unloading the dishwasher

Emptying the kitchen sink

Clearing the peri sink area (to avoid splashes and cross contamination)

Cut the chicken

Washing the chicken carefully without splashing outside the sink

Soaking the cutting board, knife in super hot water in the sink then loading it in the dishwasher

Securely trash the chicken packaging

Clean and disinfect sink, around sink faucets... cutting area...

Phew... Its exhausting...
Currently, I cook chicken only once a week, but would love to cook more often - but I can't do this every time! Nor is it practical for me to do so much of cleanup immediately after cooking the chicken on a lazy weekend (when everyone gets up late and have late breakfast)..we are usually just waiting to lay our hands on the lunch... but this routine of mine is punishing.

On top of this, I worry that I use only chlorox wipes (without bleach) for disinfecting, after scrubbing down the sink with hot water and dish soap. And worry about the scrub I used for cleaning the sink, and the one I used to scrub the cutting board...should I throw it, or disinfect by boiling?!!! Throwing is not economical esp. if I want to cook nonveg moe often...

Westerners cook meat more often, and I don't think they clean so fastidiously..
Nor do I remember my home kitchen being cleaned so religiously after cooking meat.
I am obviously obsessive, and excessively worried about safety bcoz of the toddler... but is there some way of doing it ie cooking meat safely without it becoming such a big strain?
Please share with me what you people do regarding kitchen sanitisation, in general, and in particular after cooking meat?
P.S: I don't want to use bleach in the kitchen..

Suva203 · Jan 22, 2019

I am a bengali and we eat non-veg food everyday. Fish or chicken.
Your kitchen cleaning routine sounds very exhausting.
As you mention dishwasher, I assume you are in US?
Well, this is how I do things in India -
I do not cut non-veg at home. I get cut pieces of fish or chicken from the market. Once home, I wash them in the sink and put them in containers in the deep-freezer - each container holds the amount that I would cook in one day. No special method of cleaning the sink - just running water and some dishwashing liquid. The water splash and spill around the sink is mopped off with a paper kitchen towel. And a general cleaning of the kitchen at the end of the day's cooking using an all purpose kitchen cleaner and a scotch-bite wiper type thing. That is then cleaned in the sink with dishwashing liquid. In the end the sink is given a scrub with detergent and a sink brush. the sink brush and the wiper
are hung on a hook to dry.
The day of cooking I take out the container fro the deep-fridge and thaw it in the sink for 30 mins. After that I marinate it and then cook. I also cook vegetable dishes at the same time. I make sure to wash my hands with handwashing soap after I handle non-veg.

Our cooking happens at a very high temperature which kills most bacteria.

I have cooked non-veg (almost)everyday from the time my son was born. He is eight now. We have never suffered from food-poisoning.

Bubbles · Jan 26, 2019

Hmmm! Thanks @Suva203 I really needed to hear this.
I was hoping also to hear other viewpoints, but the silence is telling - perhaps most people agree that I am being obsessive, and follow what you do or a modification of it...

MalStrom · Jan 27, 2019

I buy organic chicken. I have separate plastic cutting boards for meat/fish and veg.
I have never washed the chicken before chopping. Many sources say that this can actually help spread germs around. The chicken goes on the cutting board and gets cut or prepped if I'm roasting the whole bird. Packaging goes into trash.
Cutting board goes into dishwasher, knives get washed by hand, I clean the sink and I wipe down the counters with Lysol or Clorox wipes. That's it.

1Sandhya · Jan 27, 2019

Depends where you are purchasing the chicken. Often you can take it to the counter and have them chop it up per requirement. This is there in most grocery stores but not big box like costco. I do that so 2 of your steps are eliminated.

Dishes are done everyday in my home right after dinner so other than a thorough cleaning in hot waster my meat cutting board and knives don’t get any special treatment. Nor do I disinfect every time. My cleaner comes every two weeks and when she cleans my sink she disinfects it also.

I guess it all depends on how long those meat prep dishes sit around before getting washed. If it is for 2-3 days yeah then definitely I would also disinfect immediately afterward. But if it is within the same day I don’t bother. Maybe you can do a weekly disinfect since you have a toddler.