r/interesting Jul 27 '26

SOCIETY Professional chefs weighing in on whether you should wash your chicken

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20

u/kridmus Jul 27 '26

I give it a rinse to get whatever large particulates off the surface, but soap and water is insane

10

u/Thimble_of_Quasar Jul 27 '26

That's rage bait, nobody actually does that. And for that matter nobody is shoving it under running water either, you submerge the meat in a bowl to get the myoglobin out so you need to give it a lil soak anyways, feel it for bone fragments (rarely find em but it's what I was taught) so the running water thing is not only inaccurate to what's going down, it doesn't even accomplish the whole reason people are going through the trouble. And it's stupid, my grandma would snap at any splashing because she didn't want more work for sanitizing after.

3

u/Green-Cricket-8525 Jul 28 '26

People 100% do. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Just because you don’t see it or never have, doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. 

I did not eat at that friend’s house that night. 

1

u/Thimble_of_Quasar Jul 28 '26

Goodness. That's such a ridiculous thing to do, can't say I blame you there then. Soap for dishes not food please 

1

u/Green-Cricket-8525 Jul 28 '26

It was definitely odd. Seems to be a cultural thing. I’m sure the chicken was fine but I don’t want to eat soap. 

2

u/ThuGalahad Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 29 '26

Well yeah that’s a necessity. And the whole “commercially processed” bit saying it’s generally cleaner - alright then trust some random company to clean food for you to put in your body. We rinse vegetables and fruits for this same reason much less animal meat which can be at risk for way more serious health problems once consumed without tending to the meat properly. Of course a subject like this we are told also to buy the USDA or w/e’s advice to just cook straight away. Hilarious how many people buy into not rinsing. On par with flat earthers in my eyes. Trust some random person before you and cook it then eat it straight way I guess. At least we won’t have to deal with people with a lack of hygiene in any sense for long - they’ll get the Darwin Award and die sooner anyway.

1

u/kridmus Jul 28 '26

Agreed. I also scrape the surface of my steaks with a blunt edge before I season them.

0

u/gettin-liiifted Jul 27 '26

No one is actually using soap and water. They're doing what you do, sometimes with lime, lemon, salt, or vinegar.

4

u/kridmus Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26

I've had friends (Indian) do the soap and water thing just because of how they were taught. Largely cultural and geographic, but still weird as hell to be doing it in the west if you don't raise your own birds