It’s coming up to that time of year again, when we wrestle with a behemoth of a bird in order to feed the gathering hordes family. I often think that handling poultry is a bit like preparing fugu fish. Get it wrong and you’ll pay – big time! Don’t get in a panic however, the Gentle Voice is here to dispense a few words of wisdom that will help you through. To begin with…
Should you wash poultry before cooking? Simple answer: No.
- Salmonella cannot be washed off meat and can only be destroyed by the heat of proper cooking. Washing poultry only raises the risk of splashing raw juices around sinks and work surfaces.
For further information, please visit the USDA site here and/or the Food Standards Agency site here.
Here are a few other facts, pointers and tips:
Harmful bacteria can be found in all poultry: chicken, duck, goose and turkey as well as game birds like partridge and pheasant.
Store raw birds in the bottom of your fridge to reduce the risk of cross contamination.
Keep cooked meat away from raw meat.
Thoroughly thaw frozen meat – plan ahead and follow instructions on the packaging ‘to a T’, defrosting in the safe, cool environment of the refigerator (in other words, below 40F). Use your own judgement too – if you see ice crystals, or the flesh is ‘crunchy’ with ice when you start to handle it then it needs longer to defrost! Some more information specifically to do with thawing can be found here.
Be aware that any / all packaging around the meat may well be tainted with harmful bacteria. If you’ve touched it, you need to wash your hands.
Use separate cutting boards for raw meat
When you have handled raw meat, make sure that you thoroughly wipe down and clean anything that it has touched, together with all nearby surfaces, with hot soapy water.
~~~T O P~~T I P~~~
When I’m about to handle raw meat, I first fill a bowl in the sink with plenty of warm water, make sure that I have one of those soap dispensers with a push top nearby, and a few sheets of kitchen roll. Once I’ve finished handling the raw meat I can plunge my hands straight into the clean water, press the top of the soap dispenser with my forearm and dry my hands with kitchen roll. That way I don’t have to touch kitchen taps with ‘meaty hands’. (To be honest I am so careful about raw meat that I usually wash my hands once in the bowl of water and then in running water from the tap, finishing by washing out the bowl and around the tap anyway! Obsessive? Yes maybe, but I have never made my family sick from the food I have prepared and I intend that things stay that way)!
~ The Gentle Voice ~ 
