Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Do you wash chicken?

145 replies

beebee25 · 07/04/2026 19:36

I have a friend who was horrified when a foreign visitor washed chicken and spread chicken juice everywhere. I don't wash chicken but back in the 80s I did as that seemed to be the thing to do. Do you wash your chicken?

OP posts:
PollyBell · 08/04/2026 01:28

Using the label culture does not make the risk go away, no one is being stopped doing it if people choose to then that is up to them

Comtesse · 08/04/2026 01:19

No - spreads more germs around and makes it soggy to boot - no thanks!

NewGirlInTown · 08/04/2026 00:24

Isn’t this a black cultural thing?
I’ve seen black friends do this as it’s the norm in their families.

Ablondiebutagoody · 08/04/2026 00:17

Itsmetheflamingo · 07/04/2026 22:35

it’s cultural and the British internet’s wide eyed confusion and fake outrage about it is cringe. Insist you’re smarter than the stupid Caribbeans or west Africans if you like, but it’s not a great look.

It's fine to not like something.

2boyzNosleep · 08/04/2026 00:10

XenoBitch · 07/04/2026 20:41

You wash the bowl and chopping board because they need to be clean for when you use them again.
You cook chicken then eat it.

You deliberately ignore the fact that many people who do clean their meat do so in a bowl, not just splash it around under the tap.

What about when you put meat in a bowl and add flour or whatever else for a casserole/stew or fried chicken prior to cooking?

How exactly is cleaning a bowl that had raw chicken/meat in it for marinating, different to having it in a bowl with some salt, water and lemon juice?

SweetBaklava · 07/04/2026 23:32

No, I never have done. There is no recent scientific evidence that this is in any way beneficial in fact quite the opposite.

dreamlove · 07/04/2026 23:31

Oh and please for the love of god be careful with chicken. People think food poisoning is a couple of days max
i had a 40c temp and headache for 7 days, spent 10 days shitting myself, lost 17lbs and ended up in hospital dehydrated despite drinking copious electrolytes

TheEponymousGrub · 07/04/2026 23:29

chickenwings2 · 07/04/2026 23:24

Yes ofc!!! Those saying they don’t 🤢 🤮

What ON EARTH do you imagine you can wash off meat, with just water? Some kind of pathogens which rinse off easily without detergent but would otherwise poison you even after being cooked??? Wise up.

dreamlove · 07/04/2026 23:26

No, I don’t eat it since I had campylobacter! I physically can’t bring myself to touch or eat it

loveroffashion · 07/04/2026 23:26

No

XenoBitch · 07/04/2026 23:25

chickenwings2 · 07/04/2026 23:24

Yes ofc!!! Those saying they don’t 🤢 🤮

What are you washing off?

chickenwings2 · 07/04/2026 23:24

Yes ofc!!! Those saying they don’t 🤢 🤮

petermaddog · 07/04/2026 23:19

kcf or churches they wash them inchemicals to make them more tender all night

cantgardenintherain · 07/04/2026 23:10

No never. I cook it.

Whatexcellentboiledpotatoes · 07/04/2026 23:08

No. It's unhygienic to wash chicken as the water spreads it everywhere. I just cook it thoroughly until the juices run clear and washy hands thoroughly after handling it raw.
None of us have ever had any sort of food poisoning.

Temporaryname158 · 07/04/2026 23:05

No, and on the last whole chicken I bought to roast for Sunday lunch it told me not to on the label!

Letsgocamping67 · 07/04/2026 23:02

DD1 is a biomedical scientist. Probably diagnosing half of you on her shift. Answer is NO.

Cel77 · 07/04/2026 22:55

beebee25 · 07/04/2026 19:36

I have a friend who was horrified when a foreign visitor washed chicken and spread chicken juice everywhere. I don't wash chicken but back in the 80s I did as that seemed to be the thing to do. Do you wash your chicken?

Absolutely not... It's a filthy habit. I waah all my fruits and veg

TheWibble · 07/04/2026 22:41

Nope

ArtAngel · 07/04/2026 22:36

beebee25 · 07/04/2026 19:40

The point is do you wash chicken as some people think you should

The poster was saying no, they don’t wash chicken, what is the point of washing chicken.

And your voting is not explained/ doesn’t make sense

Itsmetheflamingo · 07/04/2026 22:35

it’s cultural and the British internet’s wide eyed confusion and fake outrage about it is cringe. Insist you’re smarter than the stupid Caribbeans or west Africans if you like, but it’s not a great look.

PollyBell · 07/04/2026 22:34

Sounds a great way to get salomenlla so no

UnwantedOpinionBelow · 07/04/2026 22:33

In case it helps, my mum is Carribbean

UnwantedOpinionBelow · 07/04/2026 22:33

It's a cultural thing. I grew up thinking it was disgusting to not wash meat, and my mum still washes hers. I do not wash meat any longer as I married a white person and got used to not washing it!

delna · 07/04/2026 22:30

We actually had this discussion at work recently. I think washing chicken is an African thing ( 3 different people from 3 different African countries said they / their mum washed chicken!).