To ask if you clean your meat?

[Cleopatois]

I use lemon and water or white vinegar and water to clean all my meat.

A colleague said she didn't just through it from pack to pan :O

Her reasoning was 'its free range so that means it clean'.

Another colleague said it is a culture thing. What do you do?

I had no idea it did this, shit. I have a food hygeine certificate too ffs

Im not going to lie though, tomorow when i defrost my chicken breast i will be rinsing the slime off. I cant not do it.

Ok, i dont think it gets rid of bacteria haha im not that silly.

If it's ham and pineapple then what does banana go with?

Tuna - yum!

I do. It's not even something I've ever thought about, meat just goes from the packet, to being washed with some lemon juice and water, to the pan. I thought everyone did!

Ah just noticed your name, OP. Might be a cultural thing after all as I'm guessing you and I have similar backgrounds!

Are you an alien pregnant Sootica? :o

Nope - just weird - lol

:o

Non white, non British & don't wash meat.

In hot countries where meat & fish was/is bought from grotty markets full of flies I suppose it was a sensible practice to wash meat & it became habitual to do so. These practices have been passed down & some haven't adapted to modern ways which mean that meat washing is unnecessary.

Spicing & seasoning food was originally done to help preserve meat & take away the 'rotting' taste which was often present with poor quality meat in very hot, poor countries before refrigeration. Yes it tastes good, but the unadulterated flavours of well reared good quality meat can also taste amazing.

Acidic agents such as lemon & vinegar start to cook meat & can change the flavour & texture if left on meat, making it tough. With ceviche it's different.

Each to their own, but just because one persons palette has developed a certain way, doesn't mean you should criticise others. Your own ignorance to other cultures & ways means you also miss out.

Often the red juice in meat isn't blood, it's myoglobin. All part of the animal you are about to eat.

Wash if you must, I'll stick to buying great tasting meat, cook so it's no longer raw season to taste & enjoy!

Using acid such as lemon or lime juice or vinegar on raw meat or fish doesn't cook it as such, it cures it which is not the same thing but does change the texture, etc. Lots of cooks on TV say it 'cooks' the food because they know folk are put off by the thought of eating meat and fish which isn't actually cooked.

The protein is denatured, which means the cells get disrupted some way. You can do it with acid (e.g. lemon or vinegar), salt (like curing bacon & so on), alcohol (marinades etc) or heat (normal cooking). You can see it if you do something like marinade chicken in lime juice - the chicken turns white in time, just like it does when you cook it. Same sort of thing happens in a ceviche. It's also why egg whites turn white rather than clear when cooked. (If you want to know more, you probably need to be a biochemist, which I'm clearly not.)

Definitely a cultural habit. All the women (and men, come to that) in my West Indian family wash meat with water/lime juice/lemon. I grew up with it and do it automatically as well. Logically, it makes not the blindest bit of difference but it would be v. strange to chuck it in the pan as is. Although my DH is Southern French and his family washes meat as well. Maybe it's a habit from hot places in the world?

Put it in some wine and call it a marinade

My husband washes meat and he is Turkish so it could be a hot country thing.

I used to because my mum used to but then while watching Jamie Oliver on TV he advised not to wash meat so I don't anymore.

Loving this thread!

Cleopatois can I ask why you consider supermarket butcher meat to be 'cleaner' than independent butcher meat?
(Really do want to know, I've seen meat preparation in both and I had thought they were both bound by the same legislation).

Also, you say you wash your meat in vinegar (for example) and then rinse with water.

Presumably you wash your meat in neat vinegar (I'm presuming this because vinegar diluted with water wouldn't kill the 'bugs'), so what sort of water do you rinse it in.
Do you use bottled water to rinse it or does it actually have to be sterilised/boiled?
(I'm guessing not tap water, given that it's bacteria laden).

Cleopatois I am going to try this! Have never washed meat before, and don't know anyone who does. We eat very little meat as I am ex veggie and still don't really like it much but will cook it occasionally for family. I HATE HATE HATE the smell from cooking meat and have to have kitchen windows wide open. Maybe the lemon juice/ vinegar thing which reduces the ' rawness', which I think I understand, will change the smell. Worth a try, anyway.
Not bothered about hygiene aspect though, never died yet!

I love walking in nice spring/summer/autumn weather, but I have to be honest, I am not walking to work at the moment in these gales and storms. If you have to, you have to, but I saw my neighbour with her rain poncho struggling up the hill with her bike in the pouring rain the other day and I did think I don't envy her. Walking is nice in nice weather, it's not nice for months on end in the pouring rain. Also- do the walk, check it really is 15/20 min and not 20/25.

Sorry wrong thread

OP, I am really puzzled about this. I have never seen the need to wash meat or discard the nasty blood/juices.

I do wash fruit and veg because of dirt and pesticides.

What about bread? If you buy that from an open air stall/market/not wrapped - are you supposed to wash that too because of who/what may have touched it? after all that won't be cooked to kill germs will it. What about cheese on those stalls at country fairs etc - big open to the air slabs of it - would you feel the need to wash that too? Genuine Q - why the need to wash meat but not bread, cheese etc?

I'm going to assume that Cleo is Jamaican or at least from the Caribbean. I wash meat, always have, as my mum and nan did this. I luckily have a Jamaican husband who does the same.

As a side note I don't think I've ever had food poisoning or the DC, and I'm not forever bleaching my kitchen. I have quite a lax attitude to food hygiene overall though.

I think posters are confusing the OPs use of seasoning. The lemon and vinegar is not the seasoning and I don't think that she is just using salt and pepper, or what lots of people would know as seasoning. DHs entire family talk about seasoning meat it's with a mix of spices. Often this is premixed and just called seasoning. They would never eat just a piece of plain chicken without seasoning it with herbs and spices.

All that rain kinda relevant to the thread Thetall.

You could go outside and wash your meat in it.

Think this might be the weirdest thing I've read on mumsnet - washing meat is a crazy thing to do - adding water, splashing bacteria all around your sink and what's more there is no way vinegar is going to save you if the meat is contaminated, I would not be happy with a surgeon washing their hands and instruments in vinegar before operating! If my meat was dirty or dodgy it would be going back to the shop or into the bin.
Vacuum packed meat does have an odour but you don't need to wash it, you open the packet, drain the blood and place it on a plate for at least 15min before you cook it, then it's fine.
Often I will dry a piece of steak, it helps develop a good dark caramelised crust.
It amazes me how people who eat meat can't deal with a bit of blood or think about the origins of their food, I just don't get it!

"Example I went to get some lamb chops from the butchers and the woman used her bare hand to take the meat and put it into the bag."

You are eating animal flesh and you're worried about someone touching it with their bare hand!

Do you eat out at all? Because every single decent restaurant chef with not only have touched your raw meat but touched your cooked meat too with his bare hand.

Also slashing bleach aroud your cooking/cleaning area in your kitchen is far far more dangerous than ever eating meat unwashed.

Crazy!