AIBU or is DH? Cooking and food hygiene.

Who cares what chefs do!!!

Im a home cook, scissors are easier to use for me than a knife due to a disability anyway but even if it wasnt, its up to me how I chop up my chicken, its not about 'hygiene points' FFS!!!

And incidentally, how can you square using obviously used items as an accident? Have you ever accidentally used a knife recently used to cut chicken? I know I haven't. It's quite obvious it's been used for that. Beef it might not be, but chicken leaves a slimy coating.

@ImustLearn2Cook she didn't make a mistake. He's not blind, nor is he a small child. He was too lazy to get a clean knife out. This isn't a commercial kitchen where you might not see something being used - this is a home kitchen where one adult used a knife and board to make the dinner currently being eaten, and the other adult was too bone idle to get a clean, more appropriate knife out to cut bread.

Like fuck should OP apologise to a man exercising weaponised incompetence. He should be apologising and taking some time to reflect on why he took out his incompetence on the wife that had just cooked his dinner for him.

I have a dedicated meat board but for chicken or bacon I use scissors and put them straight in the dishwasher.

@Chickenandbread How about, for the sake of harmony, fairness and maturity, you meet DH halfway and admit that perhaps you both made a mistake and could move forward by learning from it? Discuss better strategies for working together in the kitchen and basic expectations for food safety and hygiene. Discuss creating a system that minimises risks of cross contamination. Then no one feels blamed, under attack, or the need to be defensive.

It is possible for someone to not notice that the knife had been used for cutting chicken. If his eyesight is not great he might mistake tiny bits of chicken for tiny bits of bread. Maybe he thought it was the knife and board previously used for cutting bread. Who knows? He’s not you. He didn’t see things or do things the way you would have and that’s ok. People make mistakes.

You say he didn’t ask you. Well you could have just as easily have told him. You could have drawn his attention to the board and knife and said to him that it was used for raw meat and don’t use it for anything else. That’s called communication.

Neither of you have communicated particularly well with each other. You both could do a bit better there.

You both made mistakes. We all do. You owe your DH an apology for getting angry at him for making a mistake and admit that you should have washed the knife and board (or at least put it in sink or dishwasher or some designated space for things that can’t be touched or used). Your DH owes you an apology for accidentally using a contaminated knife and board and for getting angry at you.

Just reading through the comments and honestly I am still gobsmacked that so many people are saying that maybe it's just a bit your fault OP.

I can only assume that many of you are unfortunate enough to live with the type of incompetent adults that would use an obviously used knife on bread that you're used to having to clear everything away lest they accidentally give you food poisoning. As an example - Never leave raw meat / fish utensils in a position where they can inadvertently be used. Seriously? Have you ever chopped chicken before? How is it not obvious the board and knife have been used?!

I still stand by my earlier comment that used items left out in the kitchen is not going to hurt you. Or at least, not in my house, where I don't live with idiots. Nor is it a commercial kitchen.

Both at fault I’m afraid.
Never leave raw meat / fish utensils in a position where they can inadvertently be used.
Never use obviously dirty utensils to prep items that aren’t going to be cooked.

Please be aware that you may still be ill; campylobacter & salmonella can take a while to build & affect us. Google the symptoms so you’re properly aware.

Whilst I always wash the board and knife straight away the fact you left it there is irrelevant. Your DH should have used a clean knife and board to cut the bread as he didn’t known what either board/knife had been used for.

100% on him, does he normally get annoyed when you point out he’s wrong?

I'm not a chef so I don't care. As long as the scissors are hygienically washed I can't see the problem.

I usually do that too, just because it's easier. I do occasionally use a board but it's clearly marked for meat and I deal with it immediately after I've finished with it.

I would have put it in the sink I hope,

I cut straight into the frying pan, so it’s fridge, pan, cook, no mess anywhere.

Both are to blame tbh - any board that's been used for raw meat should immediately be put in basin/sink/dish washer, ideally rinsed down - unless you have specific colour coded boards it's possibly not obvious that raw meat was cut on there.

You’re entitled to your opinion!

i prefer to work this way. It’s neither crack-handed nor slow. I don’t like the idea of meat being chopped on any board. If I have to chop meat I will do it on a plate, then put that in the dishwasher.

i don’t care how chefs do it; I’m not a chef.

I'm very wary of raw meat. I cut it with scissors back into the container and then the scissors go in the dishwasher. My DP would quite happily do what you describe OP, he wouldn't be bothered.

Sorry YABU!

anything with raw meat goes straight in the dishwasher - leaving it on the side (with the packet?!) is gross! Takes 2 seconds to put in the dishwasher (and packet in the bin!)

we never cut raw chicken on a board, we chop it into a bowl with sharp kitchen scissors for risottos, curries etc .

We both put anything in contact with raw meat into the sink with a dose of washing up liquid to show it’s not reusable be for it’s scrubbed

Is your DH saying that he didn't realise that he had used the board that you had used to cut up the chicken, despite the evidence of the empty chicken packaging and the bits of chicken on the knife, or is he saying that he knew that he was using the chicken board but that you are being unreasonably fussy and it will be fine?

I think that if it was the former, he would have apologised and been a bit concerned about food poisoning himself.

I would wash it up straight away. Urghhh - chicken juice 😬 I would also wash the knife straightaway... and my hands

I thnk you carry a bit of responsibility here, the raw meat used board and knife should not have been left out.

Honestly in our place we'd just wipe the board and knife and just re-use it to cut the bread and we've never had any issues.

I don't think it's entirely his fault, I think you were unreasonable for leaving the dirty chicken board and knife out. I don't wash the dishes until after dinner, but anything with raw chicken is immediately washed/into the dishwasher and no way would I ever leave the packet on the bench either. Of course he should have noticed but maybe he thought you cut the chicken when it was cooked? I Hope you don't get sick!

Yeah mine was from a pub meal!
I’ve never poisoned myself with chicken at home before as I’m so so careful with it, everything in the sink with boiling hot soapy water
Now I can’t even eat a quorn nugget without retching

I've only had food poisoning once. On my birthday two years ago I wanted to go to a new restaurant. I had fish not chicken, after the initial severe illness was dismayed to find the bug relentlessly stubborn. After four weeks I contacted the GP who gave me some tablets so I didn't have to hang around the bathroom. I lost so much weight.

A friend of ours works at public health labs he said most food poisoning occurs when we eat food prepared outside the home. So there's some comfort in that.

Yeah same here. I never really thought about it and we’re not Hygiene People but you just wouldn’t leave a chicken board out, so if someone did, the mistake could be made.

chicken and pork specific tho - I wouldn’t fret about beef or fish bread. It’s not Naice but I wouldn’t worry.