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Original poster

TV chefs never wash their hands after handling raw meat...

24 replies

Blondie1092 · 22/02/2020 11:12

I can't be the only one to notice this?

The usual process:
Handles raw meat,
Adds seasoning etc,
Holds pan or whatever other utensils,
Then wipes hand on a dry tea towel.

After a week of suffering from food poisoning and currently watching Saturday morning cooking shows this is really grating me (pun intended).

OP posts:
thenightsky · 22/02/2020 11:14

That winds me up no end too!

QueenArseClangers · 22/02/2020 11:19

YANBU especially when they handle chicken!

Original poster
Blondie1092 · 22/02/2020 11:26

@thenightsky @QueenArseClangers seriously! I can't stand it! Even a squirt of hand sanitiser would be suffice 😂

OP posts:
DidoLamenting · 22/02/2020 11:30

I would not notice because it would not occur to me to do so. I'm 60- never once had an issue in over 40 years of cooking.

LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett · 22/02/2020 11:33

It's because hand washing is dead time, especially in live segments. And they're not going to eat the next thing they touch, they're going to eat the one that's already been prepared in the oven/pan/whatever.

Jamie O always makes a point of washing his hands in his prerecorded programmes, but he's fairly unusual.

Oblomov20 · 22/02/2020 11:38

I normally do, but don't always wash my hands either, when I'm making roast chicken, chicken curry, chicken kebabs etc. Depends how much I handle the chicken!

ACautionaryTale · 22/02/2020 11:41

Chicken yes, much of the rest no. However I only buy really fresh meat from our local farm.

Beef - if you can eat tartar or carpaccio, it isn't going to poison me because I touched it

Fish can be eaten raw - sushi. I don't buy fish if I don't know how fresh it was.

Lamb is the same as beef.

I can't get worked up over anything if its going to end in the same pan. Like chopping chicken for a casserole then chopping veg for same casserole.

SwedishEdith · 22/02/2020 11:44

They usually have a sink with (I presume?) some soapy water in. On Saturday Kitchen at least. I see them dip their hands in there a lot and dry off with a tea towel.

MadeleineMaxwell · 22/02/2020 11:49

And then they never take their rings off when kneading dough or making meatballs or whatever and all I can think about is the lovely crust of bacteria that's having a grand old party under there....ick!

Bawbags · 22/02/2020 11:51

I think in a normal setting or pre recorded hands would be washed a lot but when aired it's usually cut out to save having lots of scenes of hand washing and on live broadcasts they keep it to a minimum so as not to waste precious airtime.

In a normal commercial kitchen I'm afraid sometimes hand washing is a lot less than we would like. In the first place I worked the main chefs were out front and the sink was just inside the main kitchen door a few steps away. I can't say I often saw the chefs in washing their hands but by the end of the night the towels suspended from their apron string were filthy.
It was the same in the 6 other restaurants I've worked in. 🤢

whitesoxx · 22/02/2020 11:52

Ugh, so many people that don't wash the meat blood off 🤢

BentNeckLady · 22/02/2020 11:54

No-one should be washing meat.

Wallowinginfilth · 22/02/2020 11:54

Oh this drives me crazy!

Also I once saw raymond blanc make some lovely desert with a white sauce (white chocolate probably I can't remember) , he stirred the sauce with a spoon then....

PUTS THE SPOON BACK INTO THE UTENSIL HOLDER COVERED IN SAUCE!

I was ranting and raving to dp for the rest of the show about the underling who would have to clean all those utensils up now and what a prick raymond blanc is. Haven't watched him since. Which is a shame because he seems a nice man and his cooking looks delicious - the prick Grin

whitesoxx · 22/02/2020 11:54

Bent neck off their hands??!

MadeleineMaxwell · 22/02/2020 12:00

Which is a shame because he seems a nice man

I've worked with him. I wouldn't feel too bad about your assessment if I were you Grin

Gogolego · 22/02/2020 12:00

They wash their hands on Sunday brunch

I think in pre-recorded stuff hand washing is normally cut because in a half hour programme time is precious.

Bawbags · 22/02/2020 12:00

Still, I'm happy to eat in restaurants so... I guess I just have much, much higher standards at home.
I did once end up with cracked, almost bleeding hands because I washed them far too much in one place because the owner was so fucking disgusting. It made gave me a huge subconscious need to have clean hands.
The boss go for a piss in the toilet behind the kitchen and you'd know because you'd see his back as he didn't shut the door. He'd then come out without washing his hands. Then he'd grab plates to serve tables.

It gets worse.

He wouldn't let me use a glass as a scoop to put ice in the drinks. He told me I had to grab cubes in handfuls like he did. And when the wine wasn't cold enough yet he would pour it into a large glass of ice and pour the now chilled wine back into a serving glass through his filthy fingers to keep the ice in. This was all done under the almost chest high bar out of sight.

I lasted a month.

Bawbags · 22/02/2020 12:03

@MadeleineMaxwell
I've worked with him. I wouldn't feel too bad about your assessment if I were you

Agreed. I've never met him but three of my chef friends have worked/trained with him and there are few nice words anyone can say about him.

MadeleineMaxwell · 22/02/2020 12:05

He did inspire me to look up the French word for 'wanker', I have to say.

Wallowinginfilth · 22/02/2020 12:25

MadeleineMaxwell oh no! I'm glad your not working for him anymore.

Bawbags oh god that's awful. Like you I've worked in cafes and restaurants and have realised that I wash my hands more than most people.

Some gross things people do don't even make sense. A friend of mine used to sweep the floor and sweep everything under one cupboard- it takes 30 seconds longer to sweep it onto the sweeping brush and putting it in the bin- why?! Then she was all clueless when mice got in, "but we clean so much" Hmm.

Bawbags · 22/02/2020 13:17

Ha ha ha! PP I have a bad habit of sweeping up the house (all wood flooring) and putting the pile of crap against the wall with the intention of getting the dustpan out or getting the kids to get it because I have a crappy back. DH just shakes his head now when he sees I've forgotten to get round to it again! Grin

Original poster
Blondie1092 · 22/02/2020 19:54

Hahaha I'm having a right laugh at these posts 😂

OP posts:
lboogy · 22/02/2020 20:19

I always wash my meat. I don't care what the public advice is. Culturally we always wash our meat. Wash hands after washing meat. I get all my seasoning out to season before marinating the meat. Wash my hands again and put back all the seasoning. Then wipe everything down with diluted bleach.

Wallowinginfilth · 22/02/2020 20:56

Fair enough Bawbags of she'd had a bad back that would be understandable, and she definitely would've told me if she did because she told me pretty much everything about her medical history and sex life

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