What precautions do you take to avoid contamination while cooking?

[Anonymous]

I mean things like not putting grilled meat on the same plate where the raw meat sat, etc. I'm pretty cautious about that stuff and DH is not. We can drive each other crazy in the kitchen. Are you careful about it or is it not something you worry about?

[Anonymous]

I'm very careful about it. My BIL is a chef, and I can't stand to watch him cook. I switch spatulas after I brown meat. I put the raw meat plate in the dishwasher as soon as I'm done with it. I wash my hands before I start cooking and after each task. I wash all fruits and veggies. I'm pretty struck about it. I know that I'm OCD about it, but it grosses me out to think of getting food poisoning.

[Anonymous]

I wash or put in the dishwasher anything that touches raw meat. Also, I frequently wash my hands with soap, not just water, while preparing meals. Food contamination is not something I want to mess around with.

[Anonymous]

I am a freak about it. I wear gloves to take the meat out of the package and put it straight on the grill/in the pan. Then I put the gloves and package into a garbage bag immediately. If I use tongs to flip the meat before it is fully cooked, I clean them before using them on the final product.

[Anonymous]

I'm medium cautious, I guess. I do put any plates or cutting boards that held raw meat in the dishwasher. One thing I learned the hard way - use a different spatula for serving than I used to brown the meat (or at least wash it). I've been sick at least once that I can only attribute to not doing this, possibly a second time (not entirely sure what caused that one).

I'm not very particular about washing fruits/veggies. I do usually rinse them, particularly if not organic, but that's more for pesticides than food-born illness. All summer long you'll find me munching directly out of the garden or my bag at the farmers market.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a freak about it. I wear gloves to take the meat out of the package and put it straight on the grill/in the pan. Then I put the gloves and package into a garbage bag immediately. If I use tongs to flip the meat before it is fully cooked, I clean them before using them on the final product.

I do all these things.

[Anonymous]

We solved this problem by getting more cutting boards and tongs. When in doubt, grab a new one. (New, as in washed / heat dry and put away. Not disposable!) That's my approach to making kitchen work easier in general, but it works very well for contamination concerns. I don't have many unique or single purpose kitchen items, but I have 3+ of the things I use over and over again.

[Anonymous]

I think it only takes getting food poisoning once to be careful.

I am very careful about cross contamination. Once I've touched raw meat, I touch nothing else until I've washed my hands with soap and warm water. I get soap on my hands by using the back of my hand to pump it onto the other hand.

I rinse all produce in cool water before eating.

[Anonymous]

Rinsing produce can actually cause you more issues.

[Anonymous]

I'm not very particular about washing fruits/veggies. I do usually rinse them, particularly if not organic, but that's more for pesticides than food-born illness. All summer long you'll find me munching directly out of the garden or my bag at the farmers market.

Produce at the store and the farmers market gets dropped on the floor/ground more often than you think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a freak about it. I wear gloves to take the meat out of the package and put it straight on the grill/in the pan. Then I put the gloves and package into a garbage bag immediately. If I use tongs to flip the meat before it is fully cooked, I clean them before using them on the final product.

May I please eat at your house??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm medium cautious, I guess. I do put any plates or cutting boards that held raw meat in the dishwasher. One thing I learned the hard way - use a different spatula for serving than I used to brown the meat (or at least wash it). I've been sick at least once that I can only attribute to not doing this, possibly a second time (not entirely sure what caused that one).

I'm not very particular about washing fruits/veggies. I do usually rinse them, particularly if not organic, but that's more for pesticides than food-born illness. All summer long you'll find me munching directly out of the garden or my bag at the farmers market.

After seeing the migrant workers picking strawberries in Plant City, FL from sunup to sundown with NO sign of a bathroom, I always was my fruits and veggies.

[Anonymous]

Pretty much what others do. Make sure cooked food doesn't touch raw food surfaces. Wash hands very often. Wash all produce.

I have a plastic cutting board, so I just wash it between food preps if there's an issue about contamination. I'd chop veggies on it and then cut up raw chicken, not vice versa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rinsing produce can actually cause you more issues.

How so?

[Anonymous]

People seem to imagine organic = clean. How is this possible? Think cow manure.