I wash chicken well before cooking. However, I've read time and again that it is not necessary to do so, and doing so is more harmful as it causes spreading of germs via droplets everywhere. I'm in US, and we usually buy chicken from the supermarket, prepackaged (fresh, not frozen). While I agree that washing is going to be ineffective in really reducing the germ load, I wonder if it helps wash away at least some of the preservatives used in packaging? Is it a fact or myth that the chicken skin retains a lot of preservatives, and is better discarded before cooking? (I know people even bake chicken with skin on, so I'm puzzled here) If you do wash your chicken before cooking, how do you sanitise your sink, sink faucet, soap dispenser cap etc after handling the raw chicken? What about the used cutting board and knife and the bowls used? I currently rinse the chicken gently, and put the cutting board and knife in the sink with super hot soapy water. Then the vessels, knife, board, ladles all go into the dishwasher. The sink gets hot water rinse and some dish soap/vinegar spray and scrub immediately after. Sometimes I wipe it with chlorox wipes. I wipe the counter with the vinegar spray followed by chlorox. The faucets also get a chlorox wipe down. Is this going over the board?? Because my MIL hardly bothers.. no extensive clean up session.. washes hands for a few seconds with soap and she's done. And back in India, there aren't any dishwashers. And we all grew up eating chicken without too much hungama..Whereas, I now don't let anyone else handle meat 'coz they are not sanitary enough! And I break my head over cross-contamination Please share your practices on chicken / meat handling and clean up.. P.S: Kitchen is a typical apartment kitchen, no separate islands or food prep areas.
We buy organic chicken, and if we are going to grill it we always get the one with skin and leave it on during cooking so the meat stays moist. I will pat it dry with paper towels but I never rinse or wash beforehand. Everything goes into the dishwasher as usual except for the knives which I always hand-wash.I just swab the counters with Clorox wipes. I do have dedicated cutting boards for meat and vegetables.
Till many years ago, I used to wash chicken and sea food thoroughly before marinating or dividing into portions and putting away. Stopped it due to having less time for cooking and cleaning. What I do is when we get it home, I prep it and put it in ziploc bags with amount enough for one time cooking. I take it out of the freezer the night before, and it thaws, so I just empty it into the cooking utensil. During the prep, it is a little elaborate. I cover the kitchen counter with a plastic like a trash bag. The knives and cutting boards used go in the dishwasher, and I usually run it right away. The sink gets cleaned with bleach and I empty the garbage as soon as possible. This is not a weekly process, more like once a month.
