Food safety practices at home?

[bookgeek97]

Question (especially for those who work in a commercial kitchen)-- At home, how stringent are you about cross contamination with meat? Here are two common situations I'm curious about:

1) Say your hands contact raw meat, do you clean/wipe them before using another item in the kitchen? e.g., handling raw chicken and then needing to use a peppermill. (or do you go so far to prep _everything_ you need prior so this is moot?)

2) Let's say you do use a rag to dry/wipe your hands after handling raw meat, do you then change rags to avoid subsequent cross contamination? (e.g., would you use that same rag to then wipe other surfaces, your knife/etc.)

Would love to hear your thoughts!

 

[Bensbites]

I am a lowly home cook, and probably one who is more careful than most.

If I handle raw protein, I then wash, not wipe my hands. If I use tongs on the raw protein, those are designated to raw protein and will be cleaned afterwards.

I have eaten several times my body weight in raw cookie dough and similar batters, never been sick. I still try to limit that cross contamination.

 

[boomchakabowwow]

I’m a home cook. I’m also a hand washing fool. I would hate to make my someone I care about sick.

In that situation, I would wash my hands w soap and water. Dry with a clean paper towel and toss it.

 

[daveb]

I practice pretty much the same stuff at home as I do in pro kitchen. Except I don't do the stupid sh!t at home.

I wash hand frequently and between tasks. With raw meat I usually wear gloves. I do not wash hands before putting on gloves when changing them (stupid sh!t) I'll use a board for all veg then protein then wash it. I don't use pretty colors. Any towel that is used to clean up after raw protein goes in laundry. I don't use towels to clean my hands. Dry them yes. I label stuff at home more so I don't forget than safety concerns. At my age, product is the only thng I get to date With stuff stored in cambros I don't give 2f's which product is on top and if something is 6" off the floor. I do pay attention to my fridge and freezer temps, I don't keep a log with 4 hour entries.

 

[Paraffin]

It's a timely topic, especially regarding what I'd consider the highest-risk food we deal with as home cooks, and that's raw chicken:

https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/infantis-10-18/index.html

For chicken, which I'm usually buying as skinless boneless breasts or thighs from the supermarket ("organic" but that doesn't mean anything), I follow the guideline not to rinse raw chicken ahead of prep, to avoid spreading bacteria. I use a Hi-Soft cutting board (synthetic rubber) for all meat, and soft wood Hinoki boards for veg, keeping the two types of food prep separate.

I cut chicken with carbon knives, and rinse and wipe down with disposable paper towels. That's probably safer than wiping with a wet towel that could transfer to other knives used for veg prep for the same meal. I use separate knives for meat and veg, more for blade size and profile than sanitary concern, it just works out that way. Long petty knives ("mini sujihiki") for meat, and nakiri for veg.

You can get bad bacteria from fresh vegetables, so that's mainly a question of where you buy, and how carefully you wash. Chicken, bought in pieces, is my main concern. I don't worry too much about beef or pork because I'm careful with cutting and much of the time I'm using sous-vide so I know the meat is cooked just right, and I only have to be careful with the cutting prep.

As a final note, I keep meaning to order a spray bottle of Alpert D2 sanitizer, for spritzing the Hi-Soft board after cutting meat, especially raw chicken parts. Should probably go ahead and do that. I try not to be too fanatic about this aspect of home cooking, but I just turned 65 this year, and I'm starting to realize that my immune system ain't what it used to be!

 

[RonB]

Home cook here. I do wash hands after handling raw protein, and I have a set of plastic cutting boards so I can do veggies on one and protein on another, etc.

However, the reason I'm replying to this topic is to tell the story of visiting my grandparents in MS every summer from the mid '50s to the early '70s, (and MS in the summer is always very hot). They always had their big meal for lunch, and ate the leftovers for supper. After lunch, they would just take a tablecloth and cover the food left sitting on the table. My grandfather was born in 1880, and that's the way they handled food all his life, and no one ever got sick from this. He died at 95 from pneumonia.

 

[Jon-cal]

Wash hands after handling raw meat and anything else that could cross contaminate. The only time I’ve ever had problems, and this is completely unrelated to meat handling practices, is not completely cooking root veggies in a turkey soup followed by not cooling down quickly enough. Not pretty. I still can’t look at turkey soup the same way I used to haha...

 

[Xenif]

Home cook and I cook for very young children (1.5yrs old x 2, a 3 yr old and a 4yr old), so I have to be pretty careful. I start each day with making sure my finger nails aren't too long and won't trap crap underneath.
For 1) you knife hand never touches raw protein, get a single hand operated pepper/salt mill -- problem solved!
But always wash your hands after touching anything raw.
I use two end grain boards, none dedicated for cooked or raw. I just wash them very well, wipe well, air dry. Kitchen towels (wipes clean hands, knife or board) are changed daily, and disinfected. For high risk cleaning/wiping use disposable paper towels.

 

[Paraffin]

However, the reason I'm replying to this topic is to tell the story of visiting my grandparents in MS every summer from the mid '50s to the early '70s, (and MS in the summer is always very hot). They always had their big meal for lunch, and ate the leftovers for supper. After lunch, they would just take a tablecloth and cover the food left sitting on the table. My grandfather was born in 1880, and that's the way they handled food all his life, and no one ever got sick from this. He died at 95 from pneumonia.

One big difference from your grandfather's era is that bacteria in the modern age have been co-evolving along with increasing use of antibiotics in the food chain. As a society, we've been way too profligate in use of antibiotics when raising animals, as well as market-driven antibiotics for things like hand soap, over-use of antibiotics for mild illness, etc.

That's how we've ended up with things like "multidrug-resistant Salmonella" from that link above. It means if you get sick, they can't treat it with the usual full-spectrum drugs. The bacterial environment isn't the same as when your grandpa and mine were alive. Mine died of natural aging in his 90's too, but I'll bet he never ate an animal treated with antibiotics either.

And again, I'm not rabid about this stuff... but it pays to be aware of how things have changed over the years in how food arrives on that cutting board.

 

[Ryndunk]

Yes. Obviusly always be careful not to cross contaminate raw proteins. I keep a whole drawer full of towels and don't hesitate to grab a clean one. Handwashing and cutting board cleanliness are the easiest ways to do this.

Also emperate control is often overlooked by home cooks. As dave said periodically check your refrigerator temperatures. Don't just check the ambient air. Use a probe thermometer to check food items are below 41 degrees. Also getting food down to temp quickly is important. Placing a large batch of hot soup or roast directly into the refrigerator will do 2 things. 1. Not cool in time to prevent bacterial growth. And 2, Raise the temperature in the refrigerator and place the other food items at risk.

Time temperature control is just as important as cross contamination. Be careful especially if you are feeding the little ones or the elderly.

 

[bookgeek97]

This is super great feedback folks, thank you all for sharing. How about a slightly alternate scenario: would you treat touching raw eggs the same way you do with touching raw meat?

 

[Ruso]

I follow a simple rule to wash with soap anything that touched raw protein.
Plastic cutting boards go to dishwasher.

Wash the vegetables before cutting. Mainly to ensure that no dirt is attached.

 

[RonB]

One big difference from your grandfather's era is that bacteria in the modern age have been co-evolving along with increasing use of antibiotics in the food chain. As a society, we've been way too profligate in use of antibiotics when raising animals, as well as market-driven antibiotics for things like hand soap, over-use of antibiotics for mild illness, etc.

I agree, but I suspect another factor is that people of that time most always cooked everything very well done. My parents were the same - if the chicken didn't suck the moisture out of your tongue upon contact, it wasn't cooked enough.

 

[boomchakabowwow]

I’ve been to a few homes during catered parties. The hired gun chef had a bucket of “disinfectant” in the sink. Hands go in, clean water rinse, paper towel dry. Never did ask the guy what was in the bucket.


You know an official hand wash last 20 seconds. Mine feel,faster. Hmmm

 

[daveb]

Boom, almost certainly multiquat sanitizer. Some goes with me to every catered event.

Stuff may not be clean but by god it's sanitary[emoji41]