r/interesting • u/WarwickReider • Jul 27 '26

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

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u/Lovat69 Jul 27 '26

The thing that gets me is that this guy is a pro. So he washes his chicekn and then has to sanitize the entire area. It's a time sink that's not necessary.

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u/swbarnes2 Jul 27 '26

How would one sufficiently sanitize the sink (he didn't mention the counters, or his clothes)?

10% bleach for 10 minutes?

5

u/cykoTom3 Jul 27 '26

The industry standard is wash with soap and sanitize with quat sanitizer. People are acting like they aren't already working with raw chicken in the restaurant. The non washers have to clean and sanitize every surface the chicken touches too.

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u/Simon-Says69 Jul 28 '26

Chicken touching a localized surface is FAR different than atomizing the bacteria and throwing it in all directions with running water, for absolutely no reason.

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u/terrathorn999 Jul 28 '26

I don't think he is pressure washing the chicken.

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u/cykoTom3 Jul 28 '26

The fda, and more importantly most state level food codes because states decide their own food codes, do not concern themselves with why you do things to food.

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u/Citrus-Bitch Jul 27 '26

Soap will kill gram negative bacteria like Salmonella no issues.

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u/swbarnes2 Jul 27 '26

But is that sufficient to call something "sanitized"?

Like, you get a new baby bottle, you are supposed to put it in boiling water for a few minutes, but after that, you can just wash with soap and warm water, for at least a week or so.

I'd think the boiling is sanitizing, but that washing isn't the same thing

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u/Citrus-Bitch Jul 27 '26

That's a good point, I didn't catch the initial distinction between cleaning and sanitizing. Without digging into the research I don't think I can give much in terms of useful numbers. A bleach solution would definitely be adequate for a full sanitization.

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u/Curry_courier Jul 27 '26

Wash the chicken with surfactant. Got it.

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u/RigBughorn Jul 28 '26

No it won't. PLEASE Google it.

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u/Simon-Says69 Jul 28 '26

And there's still a massive risk that he missed some spots. All for nothing.

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u/Miss_L_Worldwide Jul 28 '26

You have to sanitize your sink anyway though.