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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

...to not wash this knife?

88 replies

ScarletCrimpernel · 31/07/2016 20:18

Was chopping veg, used the knife I was using to stab the pack of chicken drumsticks so I could peel the film back more easily, then resumed chopping veg. DH thinks this is an unconscionable approach to food hygiene (and he said those exact words because he's weird), I think it's fine.

AIBU or is he?

OP posts:

AnnaMarlowe · 01/08/2016 03:03

YABU

Your DH is right.

It's a bad habit to get into - even if the veg was being cooked on this occasion.

whattodowiththepoo · 01/08/2016 03:24

Jesus Christ YABU

Bogeyface · 01/08/2016 03:27

I would do the same. Its fine as long as the veg are being cooked.

If I am chopping something that isnt to be cooked then I do that first, followed by the raw meat second and then wash the knife/board.

I really dont see the issue, although it reminds me of a thread on here from years ago. Someone was utterly horrified that for years she had eaten roast potatoes that were cooked around the the chicken. Her husband chucked the spuds in with the chicken and she couldnt believe that she had never got ill after eating potatoes cooked in raw chicken juices. Took a while for her to be convinced that if the chicken was cooked, and the potatoes where cooked, then the juices were too and would not kill her with Salmonella!

UsedToBeAPaxmanFan · 01/08/2016 05:49

I can't believe all the people who would wash the knife or change knives when the veg is going to be cooked.

OP, it's fine. Different matter if you were chopping salad.

Mia1415 · 01/08/2016 06:10

YABU. You should have washed the knife. Basic food hygiene! Sorry

dudsville · 01/08/2016 06:16

What if your dh hadn't noticed you did that, saw you chopping veg with the knife and assumed therefore that it was ok to use it to chop salad or lemons for drinking water. Mmm. Tasty!

Oblomov16 · 01/08/2016 06:22

Needs to brush up on my food Hygiene knowledge, me thinks, coz I can't quite see what she did wrong. If it's all being cooked?

tibbawyrots · 01/08/2016 07:00

You should have washed the knife.

Amelie10 · 01/08/2016 07:03

Yabu and have disgusting hygiene habits. Don't you have separate meat and veg chopping boards? Absolutely grim regardless of it being cooked.

trinity0097 · 01/08/2016 07:07

I don't have seperate boards but I chop veg before any raw meat. I'm not going to be inspected by the food inspectors anytime soon and I don't believe the risks are worth caring about.

HermioneJeanGranger · 01/08/2016 08:09

Why is it grim if it's all being cooked together? The raw meat and veg will touch when they hit the pan!

NeedAnotherGlass · 01/08/2016 11:22

Absolutely grim regardless of it being cooked
Please explain why.
If I use a board and knife to prepare some chicken, then use the same board and knife to prepare the onions and carrots, then put the chicken on top of the onions and cover it in stock with the carrots, please explain what can possibly be grim about that.

If I am preparing a salad or raw vegetables, then I would always use a clean knife and separate board.

It seems that most people know that raw meat carries bacteria that can make you ill, but some don't seem to be able to apply some basic common sense on how contamination happens.

BorpBorpBorp · 01/08/2016 11:35

Agree with posters saying it's a bad habit. I would have changed or washed the knife.

BarryTheKestrel · 01/08/2016 12:54

If I'm cooking the veg it wouldn't have bothered me. YABNU. However other people are much more safety conscious than me. I often chop meat and veg together because I do a lot of one pot meals, it's all going in together raw touching each other so why does it matter if it touches each other on the board too?

PuntCuffin · 01/08/2016 18:19

Goodness me, there's an awful lot of nevous Nellies on this thread.
If it is being cooked together anyway, exactly what cross contamination are you all hoping to prevent?

PuntCuffin · 01/08/2016 18:20

*nervous

Serenitymummy · 01/08/2016 18:26

Blimey it's not like we're in the throes of a random third world country and she's foraged for all the veg and killed the chicken herself, the chicken is about as hygienic as it could possibly get and if it's all being cooked together what the hell does it matter?!

Queenbean · 01/08/2016 18:33

A question for everyone on this thread then:

When you chuck chicken in the pan, stir it with tongs or a spoon, then it cooks on - do you keep the same tongs / spoon all the way through the dish or do you switch them?

trinity0097 · 01/08/2016 18:46

Same utensils! If professional cooks with 5 star hygienic ratings can do that then it's good enough for me!

I deliberately because of this thread chopped onions, then cut up mince, then chopped peppers tonight with just one board and one knife!!!

PersianCatLady · 01/08/2016 18:46

AIBU or is he?
Sorry but you are.

Mrscog · 01/08/2016 18:48

YANBU, as you were cooking the veg. Do this all the time.

And no it's not a bad habit to get in to - I never ever would do this if I was doing a salad or something alongside, purely becuase in those instances the routine is - 1. do everything with the raw meat and get it cooking, 2. clean up and wash up, 3. get out ingredients for salad and prepare.

RebelRogue · 01/08/2016 19:12

Can any of the people that are so outraged and horrified explain what's the difference between using the same knife and cooking everything in the same pot? So of i put chicken and potatoes in the same pan,all icky touching ,why would it matter if i cut the potatoes with the same knife?

dementedma · 01/08/2016 19:18

I don't even have a dishwasher. I usually get the cat to lick the knife clean of any meat juices and then carry on chopping

FedupofbeingtoldIcantusemyname · 01/08/2016 19:43

Proffesional chef here - recently re done my food hygiene too!

No, Yanbu. As veg was subsequently cooked it is fine. Ideally you should have seperate chopping boards but in the real world not everyone has the storage space for 5 different boards for raw meat, cooked meat, fish, veg and dairy. As long as everything is cooked throughly after it is fine.

As pp have said, chopping ready to eat salad/veg is different and you should wash it in between.

In a professional kitchen I wouldn't use any knife on veg/raw meat but in a home kitchen it's fine.

Also, fwiw, don't use glass chopping boards! They are terrible for knives and make them blunt really fast. Ditto keeping knives in a block or drawer!

voddiekeepsmesane · 01/08/2016 20:04

If the veg is about to be cooked no problem...if it was salad or the like then a problem. People really need to get a grip. In the 35 years I have cooked for myself and others I have had food poisoning twice and from things eaten from the fridge, so not effecting anyone else, after consuming a great amount of alcohol ( so it didn't taste bad when it WAS!!) and I was in my 20s.

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