on Nov 14th, 2007Be safe and do NOT wash the turkey
No, I’m not crazy. I haven’t rinsed raw poultry in a couple years, since reading about a then-proposed change in Federal food safety guidelines to recommend against it because of the great risk of cross-contamination by doing so. Here’s the government’s current official stance:
Washing raw poultry, beef, pork, lamb, or veal before cooking it is not recommended. Bacteria in raw meat and poultry juices can be spread to other foods, utensils, and surfaces. We call this cross-contamination.
The Federal guidelines acknowledge the tendency to think we’re doing the right thing by rinsing raw birds. What’s truly the right thing is to thoroughly scrub and disinfect our hands, sinks, countertops - anything that might have had contact.
The safe handling guidelines also cover meat, eggs and produce and you can find them here. Next week, just pat the turkey dry with paper towels and get on with making the meal.
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Hi Ellaella I have always been so careful in the kitchen when it comes to raw meats and fish. I don’t wash meat either I don’t see the point heat kills all the nasties anyways or we wouldn’t be eating it in the first place. I think not washing your hands properly and your kitchen is far worse. Good post.
Hi I just left that post as anonymouby accident it was from me Jeena.
You’re right about proper cooking but I did rinse poultry till a few years ago. The rationale against it made perfect sense so I stopped, even before Uncle Sam made it official. I’m still here…
Glad you liked the post. Thank you.
Never a bird washer. I’ve never suffered any ill effects of such a lax approach.
The official stance also names pork, beef, lamb? WTH???
People were doing that?
I’m even more lax than I thought!
Slightly OT, OK, altogether off topic. Have you seen the perfectly horrible JennieO commercial? A harried housewife wrestling with a raw, untrussed 30lb turkey?
It slips, it drips; it flies across the kitchen floor. Ewwww! It’s raw! The moral of the story of course, is that any self-respecting woman is going to purchase the JennieO bird. Heat and serve rubber perfection.
Truly a testament to the dumbing down of America, courtesy of the ad industry! [/rant]
Lax? Nah, you were a trend setter!
Is that JennieO spot for that turkey they sell that’s already cooked but frozen? I’ve seen print ads for that thing but I’ve never seen a TV spot or one in the store.
We’re dumbing down this country in a lot of ways and cooking is certainly one of them. All it takes is a quick look at cooking message boards on general interest sites (not those by food magazines) to see how pervasive can opener cuisine is and how dumbed-down or even numb many palates have become.
LOL! Another WTH?? last night. I read a discussion on one of those
‘general interest sites’ for Cranberry Relish. Made with raspberry jello!
uhhhh ~ what is wrong with the perfection of fresh cranberries, a squeeze of fresh orange juice and a bit of sugar simmered into a perfect Cranberry Sauce?
& now I’m just going to zip it!
Hi Ella and everybody!
This is a welcome sight for me as I cannot STAND dealing with raw poultry and the less handling/wrestling (yes, I have seen the commercial and while I agree that it furthers the unfortunate dumbing down, it cracks me up!), the better I say!
I don’t stuff (gack!) so the major pain for me has always been the process of cleaning/rinsing out that big ol turkey in the sink. I feel like I am contaminating myself and the entire room, and have to go change clothes when I’m done.
I always donate a pair of dishwashing gloves to the process of readying the turkey. You can get 2 packs of the Mr Clean brand gloves for 99 cents at some stores which will go, in respect for Miss Ella, unnamed. *evil grin* Anyway, they aren’t heavy enough for every day use, but they are inexpensive and perfect for poultry handling because you aren’t tossing out more than fifty cents a pair.
As to the ‘jello as a recipe ingredient’ thing, all I can say is - OY! No, make that Freakin’ Oy!
I do the cranberries more for me as the husband doesn’t like them, but I agree with sage. I’m using some orange zest, orange juice, and sugar….maybe a cinnamon stick.
Happy Day to All! ♥
sage meet chickenbutt. We are all kindred souls; she understands when I cringe at baked beans recipes using canned pork and beans as an ingredient. We should all go cyber-drinking and swap stories!
Ms. Butt - would that be the evil mart with a W?
Why, Miss Ella, what-evah do you mean?”
Sage - Nice to meet ya. I love sage!
I am so in the Thanksgiving mode this week!
I believe you can get those same gloves at Ace Hardware, yes?
[…] turkey wouldn’t stop sudsing. Seems she’d washed it with dish detergent, not knowing washing’s not necessary at […]
Hi Sage! Haven’t been to Ace Hardware, but I imagine they sell them pretty much anywhere that has that sort of thing. I mentioned the Mr Clean brand because they are fairly good quality and super cheap. (and, hey, who doesn’t love the Mr Clean Magic Eraser!)
LMAO at the sudsing turkey. Yikes! Further comment from me would not be productive.
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