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Original poster

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:
TokenGinger · 07/04/2026 20:10

How do people wash things, if you think chicken juice is being sprayed all over a kitchen simply from washing it? Folk aren’t doing the Macarena with raw chicken and lemon juice in their hands.

I do wash my chicken, in a bowl, inside my sink, with water and vinegar, to remove all of the blood and gunk that comes on it (we use a lot of thigh meat which has a lot of crap on it).

I then clean down my kitchen sink, my bowl, my utensils, kitchen sides and chopping board, using the same disinfectant that I would if I was only cutting unwashed chicken on a chopping board.

Washing it isn’t the problem. It’s cleaning up after yourself correctly.

Again, cultural in our household (African).

lap90 · 07/04/2026 20:06

Yes.

Dentalmum2 · 07/04/2026 20:05

Tryagain26 · 07/04/2026 20:02

No official advice is not to wash it.
It spreads bacteria and you are likely to end up with food poisoning

You are possibly likely to get food poisoning if you don't have proper hygiene after food prep, I'm not sure how the millions of chicken washers around the globe are still alive.

TwoBigNoisyBoys · 07/04/2026 20:05

Not always, but I have done on occasion. Sometimes the tray or vacuum pack the chicken is sold in has a sort of chicken slime at the bottom, so I do rinse it then. I do this with a really slow running cold tap and I thoroughly disinfect the whole sink area and tap afterwards.

Rookrookaroundthetree · 07/04/2026 20:03

Our chickens like a dust bath won’t even leave the shed if it’s raining too much.

Tryagain26 · 07/04/2026 20:02

No official advice is not to wash it.
It spreads bacteria and you are likely to end up with food poisoning

Rookrookaroundthetree · 07/04/2026 20:02

No. I saw something probably facebook were someone was shocked her host hadn’t washed her mince!

Anywherebuthere · 07/04/2026 19:59

BikeShmike · 07/04/2026 19:39

I tried to do it once but she shat all over the shower and escaped out the window!

I wash everything in my home. We have never had any food poisoning or illness from it (so far).

I do know not to wash anything in professional setting.

Elsvieta · 07/04/2026 19:58

No. Cooking it thoroughly kills the bacteria. Washing it spatters the bacteria all over your kitchen.

Dentalmum2 · 07/04/2026 19:57

PhuckTrump · 07/04/2026 19:54

Rinsing meat isn’t washing it. Just like rinsing your hands under a tap after a shit isn’t washing them.

If you’re using an antibacterial soap or spray, then you’d be washing your chicken. But obviously it would not be edible for consumption once clean.

My MIL uses olive oil soap (completely natural but antibacterial) to wash whole chicken. Or coats it in flour and/or salt or lemon juice, then washes it off.

SnowFrogJelly · 07/04/2026 19:56

Noooooo

GoldenCupsatHarvestTime · 07/04/2026 19:56

You’re not meant to but I do if I make certain Caribbean dishes. Just because I find it actually makes a difference to how the chicken pan fried or sticks to sugar or browns etc. Caribbean people wash it so I follow their way when making their dishes.

CAMHShelp · 07/04/2026 19:56

Yes I wash chicken, pat it dry with kitchen towel and sprinkle turmeric on it before cooking.

PhuckTrump · 07/04/2026 19:55

purpledagger · 07/04/2026 19:51

yes. in my family culture, we wash our meet and chicken.

I don’t meet much chicken.

PhuckTrump · 07/04/2026 19:54

Rinsing meat isn’t washing it. Just like rinsing your hands under a tap after a shit isn’t washing them.

If you’re using an antibacterial soap or spray, then you’d be washing your chicken. But obviously it would not be edible for consumption once clean.

Charel2girl5 · 07/04/2026 19:54

BikeShmike · 07/04/2026 19:39

I tried to do it once but she shat all over the shower and escaped out the window!

Love this, I did giggle!!

Dentalmum2 · 07/04/2026 19:53

Jrisix · 07/04/2026 19:51

No, it's unhygienic and disgusting to spray chicken water around your kitchen.

How do you think chicken washers do it? This conjures up images of someone using a powerhose and purposely spraying it around the kitchen. When I wash any type of meat, it doesn't spray anywhere.

Dentalmum2 · 07/04/2026 19:52

Yes, always have done and always will. The amount of bits that come off chicken (and red meat to a lesser extent) is disgusting. I wash it carefully away from dishes and completely bleach the surrounding area afterwards. I've never heard of anyone in my family having salmonella and it's been done for generations. I love the outrage this always causes on mumsnet though. I rinse mince too.

Jrisix · 07/04/2026 19:51

No, it's unhygienic and disgusting to spray chicken water around your kitchen.

purpledagger · 07/04/2026 19:51

yes. in my family culture, we wash our meet and chicken.

CaptainMyCaptain · 07/04/2026 19:50

Comedycook · 07/04/2026 19:40

I've seen people rinse mince

Show quote history

WHAT? That's madness.

I don't wash chicken or any meat.

Lunaballoon · 07/04/2026 19:49

I let the cooking take care of any bacteria. Rinsing meat under a tap will do nothing other than potentially contaminating the “splash zone”.

Griselinia · 07/04/2026 19:49

Nope. No rinsing of meat. Not unless it was freshly slaughtered and I needed to rinse some hair off or something.

Ninerainbows · 07/04/2026 19:46

No. What are we meant to be washing off?

TheChosenTwo · 07/04/2026 19:45

Of course not, it’s being cooked!
washing it risks spreading raw chicken germs (listeria springs to mind but I might be totally wrong, I don’t know what listeria is🫣) in places you might not spot.

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