Are you supposed to rinse raw meat before cooking?

[Deleted User]

I'm one of the old fashioned ones on here and I have always washed and patted dry meat before cooking.A chicken I turn the tap on and open up its neck end and t'other end and run cold water through its innards then pat dry with kitchen paper.I always have and touch would have never suffered any ill-effects.I think it came from when I was a little girl and we kept our own chickens for eggs then eating eventually at Christmasand after my Dad had wrung the cluckers neck Mum would clean and raw the chicken after she had made my brothers and I de-pluck it of its feathers.once cleaned out with much cold water she would take a candle stub and burn the rest of the stumpy bits of the feathers off the bird to make sure there were none left when it was cooked on Christmas day.I never tasted turkey until I was about 19-20 and I must say I'm not that keen on it at all,I'd rather have a large chicken for Christmas day's dinner

Hiddenidenity

I always wash mine too. I don't really see how I'd contaminate any toher area becuase I am abit ocd with the dettol behind me

I also "rinse" my mine once its browned off

aliasojo

I'm a washer.

Not because of germs but I'm a little freaky about how the meat has been handled by others before it got to me.

Mojisola

Washing meat was normal for previous generations. When you brought home meat from the butcher, it could well have fly eggs, fly vomit and digestive juices on it and, of course, anything that the flies had previously walked on. If your butcher wasn't into washing his hands regularly, there's a whole list of other stuff that might have been on the meat.

madnotstupid

lollipopsarah wrote:

Nowadays you can cook beef/mice from frozen but always thaw pork and poultry carefully.

never cook mice from frozen myself ..... only fresh:D

bargainbetty

I'm in the 'if it looks a bit slimy/gritty, then rinse it' brigade, but to be honest, it's rarity. I tend to assume the oven will kill any germs or nasties and since I've done this for more than 20 years of cooking for myself, whatever else I've ingested hasn't caused a problem.

HeadAboveWater

I've always washed chicken fillets or pork chops before chopping and cooking.

But yet in saying that, if we've burgers or mince or 'peppered' anything, I don't wash them.

Hmmmmm... 'food' for thought....