8mm Forum: Do you wash your chicken ?

This is topic Do you wash your chicken ? in forum General Yak at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Dominique De Bast (Member # 3798) on June 29, 2014, 03:47 AM:

It was said in the news on Belgium television that it is not advised to wash a chicken before cooking it as this may spread the bacterias. But it was also said that this recommandation applies to UK as it seems that half of the British wash their chiken before putting it in the oven. What a strange habit. What's the purpose of doing that as at the high temperature needed for cooking a chicken you are 200 % sure that no bacteria will survive. Do members do that? And is it also a common habit in other Anglo-saxon (or other) countries ?

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on June 29, 2014, 05:43 AM:

Dominique,

We don't wash our chicken, but this is the best topic title ever to appear on this (or maybe any) forum!

(Maybe this is left over from the days when five minutes ago the thing had a head and feathers on it!)

Posted by Dominique De Bast (Member # 3798) on June 29, 2014, 05:48 AM:

I'm happy you like the title ;-)

Posted by Mal Brake (Member # 14) on June 29, 2014, 06:47 AM:

I 'washed' my print of Laurel & Hardy's "Chicken(s) Come Home" in Thermofilm. Does that count? [Smile]

Posted by Alan Rik (Member # 73) on June 29, 2014, 07:24 AM:

I thought the title was a metaphor for something else...oops! [Eek!]

I wash my chicken, my mother washed her chicken, my father didn't, and I had a discussion the other day with a lady from Mexico about how sometimes chicken can have a 'funky' flavor to it. She said that she always washes chicken before she cooks it.

Posted by Jean-Marc Toussaint (Member # 270) on June 29, 2014, 09:12 AM:

Laugh of the day! Thanks Dominique.
I understand the seriousness of the topic but I can't help it. Hihihi. Sorry.

Posted by Mark Todd (Member # 96) on June 29, 2014, 09:44 AM:

I`m English I wash chicken, well rinse it under the tap before cooking. Then clean up with anti bacterial spray in the sink.

I think its suggested as a good idea as bacteria can build up on the surface while stored etc.

Best Mark.

PS do it with fish too.

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on June 29, 2014, 10:09 AM:

That's the thing, raw chicken is loaded with bacteria. The danger, as Mark points out, is not the cooked chicken, but the handling and preperation of the raw chicken prior to cooking. If you dont wash it first, you are going to spread bacteria all over your kitchen surfaces, sink, and other items. My wife always throroughly rinses the chicken in the sink and then drains it and places it into the cooking pan. She then scrubs the sink with Ajax and wipes off the counter top with anti-bacterial spray, and then scrubs her hands.

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on June 29, 2014, 11:31 AM:

what about choking me chicken? or is that another subject [Big Grin]

Posted by Mark Williams (Member # 794) on June 29, 2014, 11:36 AM:

I thought that was a euthamism too [Smile]

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on June 29, 2014, 02:17 PM:

or is it chimp?

Posted by Janice Glesser (Member # 2758) on June 29, 2014, 02:18 PM:

Great topic [Smile]

I haven't cooked a whole chicken in years...and when I did I don't remember washing it. These days I buy my chicken in pieces neatly individually frozen and ready to defrost and cook on the grill. I don't wash these pieces either, however every thing the chicken touches gets put in the dishwasher and I do wash my hands.

Posted by Clay Smith (Member # 4122) on June 29, 2014, 03:02 PM:

Marissa says we do not wash our chickens because it can spread bacteria. And yes, this should be nominated for topic of the year in the General Yak category. (If there was an awards thing.)

Posted by David Ollerearnshaw (Member # 3296) on June 29, 2014, 04:33 PM:

We always wash our chicken that is not frozen. On the labels it sometimes says "packed in a protective atmosphere" I think that means some sort of gas to keep it 'fresh' longer.

I do wonder if some people know what a real chicken looks like?

Story the other day about taking kids round a farm. One asks "what's that?" the farmer replies "A cow" kid says "What's a cow" Farmer "Where you get milk from" Kids freaks out "Never having milk again"

Our food is now too sanitised been pre-packed and some people seem to think its really like that.

Go to Thailand a lot I would say the food is like it was here 50 years ago. I mean a chicken is still a chicken. There last year wife gone to see some family. Me still in house brother-in-law asks what do I want to eat Green Chicken Curry, so off he go's and kills one of the chickens.

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on June 30, 2014, 02:22 AM:

Of course you wash the inside of a chicken. Have you seen what was removed?

Posted by Lee Mannering (Member # 728) on June 30, 2014, 03:39 AM:

Dom We had this on British TV. They washed the cluck over a sink also having the chick covered in UV gunk. This splashed on the window and under light you could see the bacteria on the window. Personally I would never cook any solid meat which had not been washed first under a very slow running tap to avoid splashing.

Posted by Dominique De Bast (Member # 3798) on June 30, 2014, 06:36 AM:

I guess habits have not always a rational base. In Belgium, we belive probably that tap water will not kill bacterias as efficientely as high temperature will. Also, water on meat may affect the taste. Seen from outside, some things done look strange. That's the case here (or with the other strange British habit of hiding the hands under the table when eating !). I suppose British think strange that one can eat snails (which I do).

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on June 30, 2014, 07:22 AM:

I love snails when I'm abroad, but they are rarely seen on a British restaurant menu.

Posted by David Ollerearnshaw (Member # 3296) on June 30, 2014, 09:44 AM:

I can send you many snails from our garden. The little sods are eating our plants.

It is amazing what different counties do eat, and other countries go yuk.

Back to Thailand the first time seeing them eating grasshoppers and silk type grubs I went YUK YUK. Then I tried them and what do you know they weren't too bad. They are fried of course.

We always wash meat, salads and vegetables. Mainly to try to get rid of all the chemicals they use on food stuffs.

Didn't see the TV when they washed it, but did they use a slow running tap? or for dramatic effect fast running so it went everywhere.

Posted by Dominique De Bast (Member # 3798) on June 30, 2014, 10:47 AM:

David, we also wash salad, vegetables and fruits for the reason same you mentionned but meat is not supposed to have received after having been cut any chemicals that you could remove with tap water. If there is anything wrong with the meat, it will be inside it and not around and if so, the high temperature is supposed to kill the bacterias.

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on June 30, 2014, 11:15 AM:

After a busy day of strutting about and all that clucking and such, our chicken regularly takes himself off into our shower and gives himself a damn good scrub, he even uses a shower cap!

Now we just need to teach our dog to do the same after his long walk in the woods!

Posted by Dominique De Bast (Member # 3798) on June 30, 2014, 11:22 AM:

Put that on youtube and it's a guaranteed buzz ;-)

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on June 30, 2014, 11:50 AM:

Definitely wash your chicken, as Salmonella is certainly a re-occurring problem! My wife and I got terribly sick once from some cold deli fried chicken. Man, I don't want to go through THAT ever again!

(yes, we heated it up in the microwave before we ate.)

Posted by Dominique De Bast (Member # 3798) on June 30, 2014, 12:09 PM:

The problem with the microwave is that the heatness is not spread everywhere at the same level (if that sentence is correct English). You may have a very hot part and beside an almost cold one, even with a turning dish system (that most of machines have). I had that several times with microwave.

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on June 30, 2014, 12:13 PM:

Well...

Other than the splash thing, there is no harm in washing the "boyd", but even if you really thoroughly wash the thing using some kind of anti-bacterial soap (Yyyyum!) you won't actually kill all the critters, even if you got all the nooks and crannies you can't get very far beneath the surface.

BTW: I stand corrected: My wife does wash poultry. I asked "why" and she said "Because my Mom did."

(Cook 'em! Cook 'em long, cook 'em hot!)

What's interesting is when I was little, Mom decided to fatten me up by mixing raw eggs into my milkshakes. Apparently by modern standards I'm lucky to be alive now.

OK: does anybody wash beef or pork?

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on June 30, 2014, 01:19 PM:

Maurice, thank Gawd for that, Snails, yuck, give me KFC any day, ohhhh, hang on, should I wash KFC? [Big Grin]

Posted by Roger Shunk (Member # 2836) on June 30, 2014, 02:06 PM:

I'm a vegetarian so I don't eat too much cooked food mostly 80% raw & 20% cooked. Tom quit eating KFC chicken it's full of antibiotics & growth hormones! Mostly all chicken is except for free range chickens which are the best! [Smile]

Posted by Lee Mannering (Member # 728) on June 30, 2014, 02:07 PM:

E Tom [Big Grin]

Wash everything especially your hands before and after touching raw meat. No jokes Tom honestly... [Smile]

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on June 30, 2014, 02:16 PM:

I read something interesting recently, it said that in many ways we are now too clean and this is hindering normal development of our immune systems.

A century and more back many people were basically immersed in their own filth 24 hours a day(1) and died off in droves, so they wisely decided to clean up. Apparently somewhere along the line it's gone a little too far.

-of course it's kind of hard to figure out how far to go back...

Notes:
(1) "He must be a king." "Why?" "He hasn't got s*** all over him." (Monty Python and the Holy Grail)

Posted by David Ollerearnshaw (Member # 3296) on June 30, 2014, 03:22 PM:

A few years ago in Sheffield the local KFC was temporarily called KFM [Mad]

Go on google and type in chicken producers frightening.

Wonder if Cuthbert J. Twillie washed his chicken [Wink]

Posted by Jon Addams (Member # 816) on July 01, 2014, 12:01 AM:

And what are the "experts saying...

Don't wash chicken before cooking it, warns Food Standards Agency

BBC News: Food safety: Raw chicken 'should not be washed'

Should I wash raw chicken? Experts say no as new deadly bug is found

Don’t Wash Your Chicken

Stop washing raw chicken

...And the list continues.

[Smile]

Happy reading [Smile]

Jon

Posted by Lee Mannering (Member # 728) on July 01, 2014, 12:39 AM:

Smacks a bit of another Edwina Currie eggs foul up to me

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on July 01, 2014, 03:46 AM:

Foul up, or fowl up?

Posted by David Ollerearnshaw (Member # 3296) on July 01, 2014, 07:27 AM:

Always thought it was Eggwina Currie.

Now could be getting into the political bit now, but out of billions of eggs only a very small amount were a problem. This was greatly exaggerated, due to something else that needed covering up. Think water in Cornwall

Curried Eggs anyone?

Posted by Joe Vannicola (Member # 4156) on July 01, 2014, 09:47 PM:

I'm getting a little off topic here, but speaking of raw eggs; does anyone remember in the 70's and the 80's when your ordered an Orange Julius, you could have them blend in a raw egg ( they charged extra for that)? I always felt it gave the drink an extra frothiness as well as an added flavor. I was disappointed when Orange Julius discontinued this option.

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on July 02, 2014, 09:38 AM:

A fun topic but with very serious issues, ur right about KFC, very very rare I do take away these days,

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on July 02, 2014, 11:48 AM:

I tried it, but I must have skipped a step somewhere!

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on July 02, 2014, 01:14 PM:

You need to get him to put his shower cap on Steve, like mine! ha ha

[ July 02, 2014, 04:41 PM: Message edited by: Andrew Woodcock ]

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