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Do you rinse off your meat before cooking?

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2Fategghead
2Fategghead Posts: 9,624
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I rinse off my poultry and some of my pork under cold running water then pat dry with paper towels. Tim

What do you do to your meat if anything before cooking? :huh:
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,759
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    chicken and anything cryovaced, hate that cryo smell
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • Smokin' not stirred
    Smokin' not stirred Posts: 301
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    I rinse everything, including fish from the local fish market.
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  • 2Fategghead
    2Fategghead Posts: 9,624
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    I threw away three slabs of BB ribs that had that cryo smell. Sense then I learned to rinse them off and the smell will go away. :blush:
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  • NC-CDN
    NC-CDN Posts: 703
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    Rinse everything.
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  • BigA
    BigA Posts: 1,157
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    fresh fish i rinse, poultry i rinse and that is it, pork and beef go right on! :)
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  • CrimsonTideGirl
    CrimsonTideGirl Posts: 130
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    I rinse EVERYTHING, especially pork. When meat is cut at the store, sometimes there is little pieces of bone stuck to it and I don't want to eat it.
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  • cocktails42
    cocktails42 Posts: 45
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    This caught me by surprise, because I like to rinse and pat dry all poultry:

    http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/Does_Washing_Food_Promote_Food_Safety/index.asp

    The USDA says not to rinse/wash meat/pork/poultry (they don't mention fish in this article).

    hmmmm.....

    Well, it appears that their primary concern is cross contamination. I'm already very careful about that.

    So why am I so driven to rinse and dry my poultry? I think its a very old habit I learned from my dad..and I'm not sure why I do it other than it just feels 'right'.

    I've never been interested in rinsing steaks, roasts, ribs, pork, etc.
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  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
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    Yeah, I was surprised when I came across something similar not too long ago. The article said washing just spreads any contamination over a larger area.

    Nevertheless, if there's and ooze around the meat when unwrapped, I rinse it just 'cause its more pleasant to handle.
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  • lowercasebill
    lowercasebill Posts: 5,218
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    i rinse poultry and cryovac stuff and anything with blood or slime
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  • THA
    THA Posts: 198
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    hmmm, spread it around?? It is the same amount of contamination and it seems that if you spread it around, you give more of it to the other guy who eats some of it therefore giving you or him less than if it was in same spot.
    besides if the contamination does spread or move, then some of it should be removed by the water.

    Cooking should take care of contamination but it seems that if spread it
    round the product, it would be easier for the heat to kill any bad bugs.
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  • Fidel
    Fidel Posts: 10,172
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    why?
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  • 2Fategghead
    2Fategghead Posts: 9,624
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    Hey Rod, I spatchcock my chicken and remove the keel bone and trim some of the extra fat and skin and then I place it under cold running water. When I do so I rinse off loose fat and bone fragments and some of the innards that were not removed during processing.

    When I buy a ten pound pack of leg quarters they are usually swimming in some kind of liquid. I usually trim the excess skin and fat off them and sometimes separate the thigh from the leg. I then place each piece under cold running water and pat wry with a paper towel.

    When I open up a cryovac of butts or ribs I trim and place under cold water and pat dry. Tim
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  • EggNorth
    EggNorth Posts: 1,535
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    This is just my opinion - no medical facts:

    I never rinse. (agree with the above)

    Probably doing more harm than good by rinsing. What is being done by rinsing is that you are spreading everything all over the place instead of cooking and taking care of any germs there.

    off-topic:
    Also don't use gloves in the kitchen either. Unless you are going to change gloves several times nothing is accomplished. I always chuckle seeing someone with gloves handle meat then vegetables etc, which is OK right? For them maybe.

    Thanks
    Dave
    Cambridge, Ontario - Canada
    Large (2010), Mini Max (2015), Large garden pot (2018)
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  • lowercasebill
    lowercasebill Posts: 5,218
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    they are referring to cross contamination and spreading it around means it gets on the faucet handles and the sink and drain board etc and that increases the risk of contaminating other foods and utensils.. if you turn the faucet on with wet chicken blood hands and then wash and grab the wet yucky faucet handle you wasted your time washing .
    i rinse the meat , wash my hands then spray the sink, faucet, countertop etc with disinfectant then turn off the faucet , i also wipe the handles , door, dish and trash compactor, if i touched them with bloody hands.
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  • 2Fategghead
    2Fategghead Posts: 9,624
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    ditto
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  • Gator Bait
    Gator Bait Posts: 5,244
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    Hey Tim

    Short answer: :)
    I wash my ribs or anything cryovaced.

    Long answer: :huh:
    When I do Baby Back Ribs I do everything out on my patio table where I can make a mess and not have to worry about it. My BB Ribs come from Sam's and are cryovaced 3 racks to the package. Everything I ever had that was cryovaced was like it had a slim on it almost. Out on the patio the first thing I do (my patio is just a concrete slab where my porch used to be before Hurricane Charlie) when I open the ribs is to hose them off well and dry with paper towels. They are much nicer to work with when clean and the hose makes quick work of it. I don't know if it effects the flavor at all, my ribs are starting to come out great so I don't sweat it. I prep my ribs with yellow mustard and plenty of homemade rub and when I get done I just hose the table down, give it a quick wipe with soap and water, rinse and let it dry in the sun all clean and ready for when I have to foil them when I could be spilling brown sugar or honey, once again hosing it down is soooo convenient!


    Blair


     
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  • Buckethead
    Buckethead Posts: 285
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    Interesting.... It's a choice! A bigger question is how many disinfect the handles on your fridge, door exiting to the egg, cupboard handles, drains, rub containers, anything that has come in contact with uncooked foods. Do you have different cutting boards to use for raw vs cooked foods? Poultry vs red meat? Over the past 36 yrs visiting over 100 usda inspected facilities and several hundred restaurants I have seen it all. But if the meat is bad and has slime and bad odors, a rinse will not help.
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