To wash or not to wash?
There seems to be a neverending food debate about whether or not to wash or rinse your raw chicken before cooking it. I often wondered if it was a regional practice. Or was it how you were brought up and taught from those you learned to cook from. I did a lot of reading and asking around. It didn’t seem to fit into one box or another on answering why some people wash and some do not.
I will tell you now, I am on team NO WASH! I will share the reasons why you should not wash your chicken before cooking it. For example, it can do more harm and spread more bacteria, like salmonella. Safe food handling has been important to me most of my life. When I recertified my certificate in 2000, chicken safety was the #1 thing used as an example of what to focus on during the classes and the testing process.
There is a good reason for that, the safe handling of chicken and your surroundings when cooking chicken is very important. Every cooking show on the Food Network includes a bit of hand washing as the cooks do their meal prep. But have you ever seen them rinse off their chicken? Maybe I missed an episode but I have never seen them do this. And have you ever seen Gordon Ramsey on Master Chef scream – “IT’S RAW” – and throw a plate full of undercooked chicken in the trash? There is no mystery how serious food handling and cooking can be.
Why You Should NOT Wash Your Chicken
Bacteria Spreads and Can Contaminate Other Things
There is really only one reason to NOT wash your chicken – FOOD SAFETY!
Washing your chicken spreads possible bacteria. It can contaminate other areas in your kitchen that you may not realize and be cautious about. Washing chicken also gives you a false sense of cleanliness. You may think your chicken is safer and not worry about washing hands and surfaces as thoroughly. You may also think that cooking it to the right temperature is not as worrisome as well. All of this is a food safety nightmare.
Think about it. When splashing water hits the raw chicken it will likely splatter any possible germs onto other surfaces. For example, salmonella is now not just on the chicken, but is in your sink, splashed up on the counter, onto a random utensil, and on the faucet handle. A few minutes later, your child comes in to rinse off an apple to eat for a snack. They grab the faucet handle, turn on the water, rinse the apple, turn off the water, and rotate the apple back to that same hand that touched the salmonella splashed faucet and start eating the apple. ICK!!!!
Not convinced yet because this is always what you have done and Grandma still does it this way? Even the CDC says to NOT wash chicken in this recent ARTICLE
But still not convinced because you think raw chicken that is not rinsed would be unclean and can be more dangerous to eat. Keep on reading. Because safe food handling and cooking to the right temperature is all you need to worry about. Washing chicken is not the correct practice.
What You Should Do to Prevent Food Poisoning
- Keep raw chicken in disposable bags in your grocery cart. Pack in separate grocery bags that are not shared with fruits and vegetables.
- Always wash your hands with a lot of soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds after handling chicken. Make sure you get under any jewelry and your fingernails.
- You can also use disposable gloves when handling raw chicken. I advise still washing your hands after removing the gloves. You cannot be 100% sure that you didn’t still contaminate your hands during the glove removal process. My husband always uses gloves when he touches any sort of raw meat. Here are some gloves that work great.
- NEVER put cooked chicken or other food onto a surface that touched the raw chicken. If you grill chicken and bring the raw chicken outside on a platter to transfer to the grill, get a new serving platter to transfer the cooked chicken before serving.
- Use a separate cutting board, knives, and utensils for raw chicken. Do not share with any other foods, even those you plan to cook as well. I always have many cutting boards to chose from and keep them separate when I am prepping food. I recommend this cutting board pack to keep your food safe.
What Temperature Do You Cook Chicken To?
- Chicken is ALWAYS COOKED TO AT LEAST 165° internal temperature. Never anything less. There is no such thing as medium-rare chicken.
- DO NOT GUESS or just cut and peak. For one, you can be wrong and eat chicken that is not safe. And for the love of juicy meat, you cut that chicken there go all the juices. NO!!!!
- I love this quick read meat thermometer for no matter what way I cook my chicken it works great. It is great when grilling, baking, or frying any meats. The digital readout has a backlight which makes it easy to read for everyone. It is also magnetic so ready to grab quickly when the time comes.
There are 17,000+ positive reviews on Amazon for this instant-read thermometer, a must buy!!
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PIN FOR SAFEKEEPING & SHARING!
Chicken Recipes to Enjoy
Now that you know the basics of food safety when handling raw chicken, now to move on to enjoying it in some wonderful recipes. Here are some great chicken recipes that you and your family will love:
How to Make Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Wings (Secret Step Included)
It’s amazing how much of a debate there is about this. I washed chicken when I was younger but stopped many years ago. I will never forget an Iron Chef saying not to wash it first because cooking the chicken does the job.
Great, glad you came over from the ‘dark side’ – haha!
I agree with you. I do not wash my raw chicken. I also disinfect all utensils and surfaces when I am done preparing it.
Thanks for the info! Nothing grosses me out more than an undercooked chicken!
I’m with you no wash chicken…but habit makes me bathe my Turkey! Thank you for the tips!
I am on the “no wash” team!
My husband always rinses chicken, probably because that’s how his parents do it. It’s nice to know that this is one step I can continue to skip!
I have always felt like I could be spreading germs by washing chicken. But you do what you are told when it comes to this. Great tips!
I am on team no wash as well! I didn’t know it was a debate though so I am glad I am doing it right!
I am also a believer in NOT washing chicken!
Hmm sounds like I need to stop washing and get out the thermometer! Thanks for sharing!
Yes, yes it does!
I loved your tip about putting chicken in its own bag. I hate picking up meat at the grocery store and having it leak on my hands and have nothing to wipe my hands on! So gross. We tend to have more trouble with our beef leaking for some reason though.
Yes, always bag it. For a long time, I always put extra bags from the produce area into my car to then use at the meat section. About 4-5 years ago I think I noticed bags in our meat section, plus paper towels. The paper towels may dry the juices but they sure will not disinfect your hands.
I am glad to know the answer, I have heard both sides of that argument as well. The chicken dishes you showed look amazing.
Glad I can help and I hope you try out some of my chicken recipes!
Lol well…. I have chicken defrosting in my kitchen sink right now and this is the first time I EVER hear about this. Makes complete sense so is def a topic I will be looking into a bit more
I never thought to wash mine. I may pat it with a paper towel before putting seasoning on it, but that is it.
Wow! I never thought about this before. I guess we are team no-wash as well!
I prefer to pack meat separate for everything else when shopping.
Great reminders for food safety. Appreciate it. Love the recipes. Thanks! I follow up on FB.
Thank you for this tip and bit of information. We do not wash our chicken either!
I never knew about the chance that bacteria could spread if you wash your chicken. I never do. Mostly because I’m lazy lol but I always wash my hands to avoid any cross contamination. Great post
Excellent post! I have long been grossed out by raw chicken. I even went so far as to use the plastic bags to touch the package of chicken, so I never got any raw chicken germs on my bare hands. Many have given me sideways looks in the grocery store. I don’t even have the stuff around anymore. I have a compromised immune system, so I won’t take the chance. I do, however, have a meat thermometer like the one you had here that I use for fish. I also keep my kitchen stocked with those plastic gloves. And I’m seriously considering ordering those cutting boards. I LOVE the colors, and what a great idea to have one for meat and another for smelly stuff like onions. 😊
I am glad you are careful and use similar products. Let me know if you like the cutting boards as much as we do. I have to admit I probably have way too many cutting boards but I do cook a lot!
Phew – I was team NO Rinse and was hoping this post wouldn’t change my team! Glad we are on the same page!
Glad it was the ending you were looking for –
We grow our own chickens for meat so this worry is somewhat diminished. Great tips on safe handling!
I’m glad to know it can do more harm than good, because it simply grosses me out to wash it! Ha.
This is too funny. I was just having a conversation with my mom about this.
I love that – so were you Team Wash or Team No Wash?
Great fight over this indeed! My mom thought to wash and latinos wash but with Lemon and Salt. I am definitely in the no wash!
Thank god you are posting no nonsense smart articles. I need this in my life as i am kitchen inept.
Ah Jen – you can do it! Glad I can help, you got this…
I’ve always wondered about this and this article helped a lot!
These are GREAT tips for the beginning cook! It’s a struggle, but I’ve been working hard to get the boys to recognize the need for food handling. It’s not a foreign concept because we have to be wary of cross contamination due to food allergies ~ but the chicken thing? Sometimes they just don’t get it.
I’m glad you cleared this up. My grandparents always told me to wash everything first… but I could never see the point. Yea team “NO WASH”… 🙂
I used to wash my chicken before cooking when I was young, but not anymore. Great post!