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To wash or not to wash, that is the question... |
This is a question I have answered several times. Lee-Anne, or should I say, Safety Diva Canada, is it safe to wash chicken before I season it? You would think that it's a simple yes or no answer but let me give you a few points to consider.
If you google "washing chicken", you will get quite a few responses, some that make me chuckle. One question was "Why do Jamaicans wash chicken?", I can tell you first off that it's not just Jamaicans, it seems to be a Caribbean thing. Regardless, there are lots of folks who wonder, is it safe or not to wash chicken.
Every year, a large number of people in North America become sick from eating raw. undercooked and/or temperature abused chicken that can often be contaminated by Campylobacter, Salmonella and Clostridium perfringens bacteria. How we prepare and handle chicken is a key step to preventing contamination. So what does this have to do with washing chicken?
Let me break it down for you.
Most information you will read online from very credible sources will say that it is unsafe to wash your chicken for several reasons. Here are a few of those sources.
- Health Canada says, "never rinse poultry before cooking it because the bacteria can spread wherever the water splashes".
- The CDC (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention) says, "Do not wash raw chicken! During washing, chicken juices can spread in the kitchen and contaminate other foods, utensils and countertops". They even made a quick video about it.
- The NHS in the UK says, "Washing raw chicken before cooking it can increase your risk of food poisoning from campylobacter bacteria."
I completely agree with the advice. Yes you can spread chicken juices and what's in the chicken juices could make you sick. Yes you can contaminate other surfaces and your hands and if you're not careful, you will spread germs all over the kitchen. But I was raised to wash my chicken with vinegar and lemon juice and wash it I shall.
- Completely clear the area around the sink so there aren't clean or dirty dishes, the dish detergent bottle or other surfaces nearby. It's just the chicken, and the sink.
- I would recommend using food handling gloves to handle the chicken, before and after wearing the gloves, you will want to wash your hands.
- While rinsing the chicken, be careful how you agitate the rinse water. You want to keep any splashing to a minimum.
- After you've washed your chicken, seasoned it, consider placing the seasoned chicken in a new bowl or other container like a ziploc bag.
- Now you can clean and sanitize the entire sink, counters, the bowl you used to wash the chicken and the cleaning cloth. You can use Lysol wipes for the entire sink, in order for the Lysol wipes to work, let the surfaces air dry for about 10 minutes. The cleaning cloth can be cleaned and then sanitized by letting it sit for at least 2 minutes in water that is 77°C (170 °F) or more. Be careful not to burn yourself handling the hot cloth. After the 2 minute soak, let the cloth air dry. You're better off using a J-cloth type of cloth vs a sponge.