To ask what you do when preparing raw meat

[Rosesandthistles]

I have OCD with a contamination/germ obsession as part of my condition and have lots of excessive/irrational fears around germs and illness. One of the (many) ways that this affects me is that I cannot bare to prepare or even have other people prepare raw meat in the kitchen.

I am working through therapy on facing this fear and wondered how cautious everyone else is when preparing raw meat- do you:

• Wipe the sides down after for example sticking chicken fillets in the oven or do you just bung them in and ignore any spills?
• Avoid touching the oven/other ingredients with raw meat still on your hands or would you just go around touching the other ingredients and the oven without thinking about it?
• Put any chopping boards/knives that you've used on raw meat straight into the dishwasher or do you leave them lying around or wash them up by hand?
• Wash your hands for 20 seconds after handling meat? or just a quick rinse? And would you wipe the taps afterwards or try to avoid touching the tap with stuff on your fingers or just not think about it?

Also, have you ever had food poisoning after eating food that you've prepared?

I have OCD. I wash my hands multiple times between touching meat and anything not used to prep it, yes I will wipe the tap. Wipe down surfaces where any meat or juices touch. I will rinse scissors, knife and chopping board with antibacterial soap (as I'm washing my hands there anyway) and put them in the dishwasher too.
I'm worst with chicken after having campylobacter a few years back and being ill for almost 3 weeks with it. Got it from a restaurant not home cooked food.

I have fairly low hygiene standards - e.g. I don't fuss if the cats jump on the kitchen surfaces, I err on the side of 'if it looks and smells OK, I will eat it' etc.

Wipe the sides down after for example sticking chicken fillets in the oven or do you just bung them in and ignore any spills?

Unless the fillets had dripped onto the surface, I wouldn't wipe it down. I'd take the fillets straight from the packet into whatever utensil I was cooking them in, unless I was chopping them up in which case I would use and then wash a chopping board.

- Avoid touching the oven/other ingredients with raw meat still on your hands or would you just go around touching the other ingredients and the oven without thinking about it?

Yes - I would wash my hands before touching anything if I had touched the raw meat.

- Put any chopping boards/knives that you've used on raw meat straight into the dishwasher or do you leave them lying around or wash them up by hand?

We do all our washing up by hand. They'd go on the side and then get washed up after the meal.

- Wash your hands for 20 seconds after handling meat? or just a quick rinse? And would you wipe the taps afterwards or try to avoid touching the tap with stuff on your fingers or just not think about it?

I'd turn the tap on with a hand/fingers that hadn't touched the meat, if possible and wash with soap - I don't time myself, though.

Also, have you ever had food poisoning after eating food that you've prepared?

Not that I know of.

I use kitchen scissors to cut meat straight into the pan so it eliminates the need for chopping on a board. I keep one hand for holding meat and the other clean so I can turn on taps etc. Everything straight in the dishwasher and wash hands afterwards.

I always cut up raw chicken with scissors on a plate; both go straight into the dishwasher.
Always wash my hands thoroughly in the bathroom- never the kitchen sink- so there is no chance of cross-contamination with surfaces or taps where other food is prepared.
I don't have OCD.

I'm probably a walking health hazard. I don't do any of that. If I cut chicken, it's on a board so no need to wash the sides. The. Hand wash the board. Well hand wash everything since I don't have a dishwasher. Sometimes I'll give the knife a wipe and keep using to chop veg or whatever . They do all go in together anyways. Only when I'm fully done i wash my hands , utensils ,boards and whatever else. Basically there's no specific cleaning happening just because I cooked meat, just the usual stuff and then the normal kitchen clean whenever needed.
Never made myself ,DD or OH sick.

OH is really fussy about these things , and best before dates and what he imagines it's pink chicken. He does get dodgy tummies... when he cooks or orders takeaways.

I don't have OCD, will eat out of date food and if stuff falls on the floor it still goes in my mouth whether it's my kitchen floor or a field. But I do everything you listed, that's basic food hygiene I think.

I don't do much of what you do. I barely touch meat. I use kitchen scissors to cut chicken straight from packet into the wok. I don't wash utensils, just put everything straight in the dishwasher.

All of the below:

• Wipe the sides down after for example sticking chicken fillets in the oven or do you just bung them in and ignore any spills?

Wipe any spills immediately with a disposable wipe and bleach spray

• Avoid touching the oven/other ingredients with raw meat still on your hands or would you just go around touching the other ingredients and the oven without thinking about it?

I wouldn’t touch anything else until I’d washed my hands thoroughly with soap and water

• Put any chopping boards/knives that you've used on raw meat straight into the dishwasher or do you leave them lying around or wash them up by hand?

Straight in the dishwasher; I try to avoid using chopping boards for meat anyway. I try to buy ready chopped, use scissors straight in the pan, or use a plate to chop

• Wash your hands for 20 seconds after handling meat? or just a quick rinse? And would you wipe the taps afterwards or try to avoid touching the tap with stuff on your fingers or just not think about it?

Thorough wash with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. I’d turn the tap on with my elbow and use the soap pump with my elbow so I don’t have to clean them. If for whatever reason I had to touch them, then yes, I would clean them.

Also, have you ever had food poisoning after eating food that you've prepared?
Not as such - the only food poisoning I had from food I’d made was when I ate leftover chicken that had been in the fridge for a week - not envy. What can say, I was young and silly!

I don’t think anything you describe sounds excessive, just basic good kitchen hygiene!

I always wash my hands after touching raw meat, even if I only touch it accidentally a tiny bit. If I’m cooking a curry or something I chop the veg, then chop the raw meat last on the same board, then put everything in the dishwasher, then I wiped the side down. I’ve never had food poisoning from my own cooking.

I don’t have OCD, love carpaccio, steak tartare, rare beefsteak etc, and I do everything you said.

No Milton and no kitchen towels for spills - a special sponge for surfaces and kitchen spray. No need for antibac.

Chop veg before meat. If still have some herbs etc to chop after the meat, I was the board and the knife.

I don’t put raw meat boards / knives in the dishwasher, because I fear DH or someone else will go rearrangibg the dishwasher and touch them. Wash straight away.

@TeenPlusCat

I wash my hands before and after touching the meat. I immediately put chopping board/utensils aside to be washed up after adding meat to the pan. I wash my hands straight away with soap but probably not for 20s.. I wipe down the counter if I think any juice may have gone onto it.

I do not wash the tap.
I don't do anything 'special' to wash up utensils/chopping board, just wash them by hand as usual.

I have never given myself nor my family food poisoning.

Me too, never had or given anyone food poisoning either! Just basic common sense and normal food hygiene practices.

Similar to what you do.

I’ll have a washing up bowl with soapy water ready so I can wash up whilst the food cooking.
I’ll chop the meat and put it in the baking tray and put my knifes and chopping board in the sink.
Then I’ll rinse my hands off in the washing up bowl before opening the oven and putting the meat in.
I then wash up and wipe down the sides.

I chop the meat and then put the chopping board and knife into the sink so they are away from anything else. They get washed up in the sink rather than dishwasher as we dont put those knives in there. I wash hands and wipe the worktop surface in case of drips/spillages.

Any time my hands came in contact with raw meat I would wash my hands with soap and water. I wouldn't touch other surfaces with meat contaminated hands

I've done kitchen work and this is how I do things at home and is based on the 'clean as you go' rule we were taught. It depends on what mood I'm in, but if I don't want to get sticky fingers or the meat is cold, I'll sometimes prepare it with washing gloves on. Still wash the hands of the gloves afterwards and also wash my hands before/after preparing meat anyway. I don't time it but do use soap and a nail brush.

If the taps have got meat juices on them they get cleaned. Our taps are the sort that you turn on with a lever, so you can do it an elbow if necessary.

The chopping board and knife are always cleaned straight after preparing meat.

Any spills are cleaned up straight away.

If the raw meat and the vegetables are going to be cooked in the same pan, then them touching isn't an issue for me, but that's unlikely to happen as I cut the meat first and put it on a dish to one side.

Touch wood, my cooking has never made me or anyone else ill.

I do some of it but not all, and only after chicken eg I'll rise my fingers in warm water with soap but not 20seconds. Never been I'll from my cooking

I have worked in commercial kitchens and I quet about contamination to. This is what I do, what I was trained to do.

Wipe down workspace with suitable cleaner. Set out the knives and raw meat chopping board. Wash hands. Retrieve raw meat from the fridge. Unpack, slice/dice place in pan out on to tray. Wash hands. Move knife and chopping board straight into the dish washer. Wash hands. Put tray in oven or stir the pan etc. clean work top.

I don't do any of those things. Never have. Never will. Still alive.

@ufucoffee

I don't do any of those things. Never have. Never will. Still alive.

You dont wash your hands after handling raw meat and then touch other surfaces with your dirty hands? That's very unhygienic

When preparing raw meat, I use one chopping board, (a different one for veg) a sharp knife or sometimes scissors. I wipe the surfaces and taps with cleaning wipes, and I put the chopping board, knife, etc., in the dishwasher. I don't touch anything else until I've washed my hands, and I wash my hands with very hot water and lots of soap.

I once had food poisoning after eating at someone's house. It was really unpleasant. You can't be too careful about meat, particularly poultry.

I do all that with meat, and even egg yolk.

I do microbiology at work. I’m very careful with raw meat and clean everything that’s touched it immediately with hot soapy water (antibac spray not necessary). I’ve only ever had food poisoning from my cooking 30 years ago from a Linda McCartney veggie burger. Husband drips meat juices around the kitchen, doesn’t wash up straight away etc and it drives me mad.

I don't consider myself so very careful but I do pay attention when working with raw meat, especially chicken or pork, which I know must be cooked through. We eat beef raw and lamb pink.

I am careful when unpacking meat, and make sure I do not allow the raw meat (or the packaging they have been in contact with) to touch anything apart from the utensil in which they will be cooked.

Straight from packaging into pan. If a board was needed, it goes right in the dishwasher.

I do not touch anything myself until I have washed my hands throughly after touching the meat. I don't 'wipe down' any other surfaces because they have not been in contact.

We are not obsession about 'dirt', don't use anti-bacterial sprays. Don't worry about things. No food poisoning here.

I dont have OCD, although I am likely autistic (never diagnosed though) and I do all of those for chicken.

Like others have said, I also have a bowl of hot soapy water ready and drop utensils straight into that. The packaging from chicken goes straight into the bin (sorry planet) rather than being recycled. The chopping board is sprayed with liberal amounts of antibac but then put to one side to be washed last (so as not to contaminate the water).
I‘ m not quite so cautious with other meats, but I’d still be pretty careful.
Who is telling you that what you do isn’t normal?

I’m careful with raw poultry. Some people wash chicken, but I never do as the splashes of water can spread pathogens. I always wash my hands after handling it and wash the board & knife I’ve used. I’m a bit more relaxed about handling red meat, but still take sensible precautions.

Wipe the sides down after for example sticking chicken fillets in the oven or do you just bung them in and ignore any spills?
I don’t understand. There would not be any spills. If anything spit inside the oven I’d clean when cooled.

• Avoid touching the oven/other ingredients with raw meat still on your hands or would you just go around touching the other ingredients and the oven without thinking about it?

I would only touch other ingredients if they were also to be cooked with the meat eg in a stew, casserole or stir fry.

- Put any chopping boards/knives that you've used on raw meat straight into the dishwasher or do you leave them lying around or wash them up by hand?

I don’t have a dishwasher. The chopping board/knives would go by the side of the sink ready to be washed up with other preparation dishes.

- Wash your hands for 20 seconds after handling meat? or just a quick rinse? And would you wipe the taps afterwards or try to avoid touching the tap with stuff on your fingers or just not think about it?

Always wash hands with soap and warm water. I would probably wipe the taps down.