Everything but knives goes in the dishwasher, unless there isn't room, and then I wash by hand with hot soapy water. Wash hands with hot soapy water, and dry on the dish towel.

I always do all the meat prep on a cutting board with a unique knife. Once I'm done, the meat goes on its own plate (pending cooking) and the board and knife go in the sink. That way there's no chance they'll be used again before being washed (with hot water and dish soap). Then I wash my hands with hot water and dish soap and move on to the rest of my prep.

I can't stand cleaning products in the kitchen. My SIL is always spraying Fantastic or Windex or something on the counters WHILE THE FOOD IS STILL BEING PREPPED. Everything smells like ammonia or bleach. Kinda kills the taste buds.

Microbiologist here.
My lab utensils are always sterilized (standard protocol). I just wash with soap and water at home.

Your MIL suffers from the professional syndrome of confusing work and home. A restaurant kitchen has a horde of people in it, all dropping bacteria, big vats of food that need to feed a ton of people and have to be handled repeatedly, complex sauces that need to keep for long periods, utensils that need to be used several times and not be confused.

A home kitchen is much simpler and the potential for cross-contamination and bacteria development is much lower. Just make sure to scrub as soon as you can and refrigerate your food quickly.

My knives never go in the dishwasher.

OP here. MIL ran a restaurant for many years. And took required courses on food safety. I still think it's overkill.

FWIW we both have dishwashers, but our expensive knives don't go in the dishwasher and normally not the cutting boards/ prep bowls because they're bulky.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't have a dishwasher, and just wash with hot water and Dawn/Polmolive.

The only special thing I do is that after touching raw meat or raw egg, after I wash my hands, I dry them with paper towel as opposed to the dish towel.

Why? Your hands are clean...Right?

+1 What is the point of using a paper towel?

Human beings can handle small amounts of pathogenic bacteria that they come into contact with. We're not super-delicate, a regular dish towel is fine.

Anonymous wrote:I don't have a dishwasher, and just wash with hot water and Dawn/Polmolive.

The only special thing I do is that after touching raw meat or raw egg, after I wash my hands, I dry them with paper towel as opposed to the dish towel.

Why? Your hands are clean...Right?

Soap and water or dishwasher.

Your MIL sounds insane. That sort of hyper-crazy hygiene is what is contributing to the rise in allergies.

I don't have a dishwasher, and just wash with hot water and Dawn/Polmolive.

The only special thing I do is that after touching raw meat or raw egg, after I wash my hands, I dry them with paper towel as opposed to the dish towel.

Anonymous wrote:I stick them in the dishwasher and make sure to run it that evening.

'

This.

Dishwasher

Just soap and water

I stick them in the dishwasher and make sure to run it that evening.

I just use hot water and soap. Your MILs method seems super overkill.

Curious what the consensus is!

MIL insists that knives, cutting boards, and prep bowls must be scrubbed with comet with bleach after coming into contact with raw meat.

I typically rinse and then soak in the hot, soapy sink water, then scrub with soap. (Same as how I scrub the rest of my pots and pans)

What says DCUM?