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?

Thanks so much everyone.

Just to clarify- I wasn't suggesting that the precautions I have mentioned above are 'OCD' compulsions- they're just hygienic safety measures but I wanted to see how careful everyone else is because it sometimes helps to hear from people who are less careful than average and still don't fall ill. There is nothing wrong with any of the precautions that I've listed. I actually hate it when people refer to normal hygiene measures as 'OCD' so sorry if people read it that way.

I've not been able to cook raw meat at all myself for quite a few years and in the last six months other members of my household have prepared meat about two times- once for Christmas day, another was just bacon.

If I was going to prepare meat my OCD compulsions/behaviours would look more like this:

• Cover the entire kitchen surface with clean bin bags
• Cover those bags in sheets of kitchen roll.
• Wear disposable gloves to prepare and put used packet in a separate bin bag.
• Put knife, board etc. into the (already open) dishwasher
• Ask someone to turn the tap on so that I can wash my hands
• Put on a new pair of disposable gloves to chuck the kitchen roll (that's covering the kitchen side) away and wash my hands for ages (making sure someone else turns the taps on for me again)
• Wear a new disposable glove to spray and then wipe the side down extensively
• Wash my hands again
• Change my top in case it has somehow become contaminated.

@JesusSufferingFuck22

What you are doing regarding raw meat is not OCD. It's just good hygienic practices.

Hi JSF22, The behaviours I've listed are normal hygiene measures. I don't prepare raw meat at all- if I did I would be using disposable gloves, covering the kitchen sides in bags and kitchen roll, changing afterwards, possibly showering. I just wanted to get a gauge of what is normal when preparing meat.

@Rosesandthistles

Thanks so much everyone.

Just to clarify- I wasn't suggesting that the precautions I have mentioned above are 'OCD' compulsions- they're just hygienic safety measures but I wanted to see how careful everyone else is because it sometimes helps to hear from people who are less careful than average and still don't fall ill. There is nothing wrong with any of the precautions that I've listed. I actually hate it when people refer to normal hygiene measures as 'OCD' so sorry if people read it that way.

I've not been able to cook raw meat at all myself for quite a few years and in the last six months other members of my household have prepared meat about two times- once for Christmas day, another was just bacon.

If I was going to prepare meat my OCD compulsions/behaviours would look more like this:

• Cover the entire kitchen surface with clean bin bags
• Cover those bags in sheets of kitchen roll.
• Wear disposable gloves to prepare and put used packet in a separate bin bag.
• Put knife, board etc. into the (already open) dishwasher
• Ask someone to turn the tap on so that I can wash my hands
• Put on a new pair of disposable gloves to chuck the kitchen roll (that's covering the kitchen side) away and wash my hands for ages (making sure someone else turns the taps on for me again)
• Wear a new disposable glove to spray and then wipe the side down extensively
• Wash my hands again
• Change my top in case it has somehow become contaminated.

My grandma raised her own chickens,killed them,plucked them ,cleaned them,removed insides,cut them up and cooked them. They mostly used water from a fountain down the road so as you can imagine she didn't have access to all the tools,amenities and cleaning products we have now. Same with other meats, duck,turkey,pork,fish etc. and made her own sausages and what not. Yes she was clean and she'd wash hands and stuff but nowhere near a level acceptable to most posters on this thread. I was there a lot ,especially in the summers so grew up seeing that and handling meat /carcasses myself. I can't remember ever being sick or any of my cousins , and I've never heard my grandparents or mum and her sister ever saying they were sick either.

I do wonder sometimes if some of the fear of raw meat(not counting conditions like OCD here) and squeamishness is because so many people nowadays are so far removed from the actual process and where meat comes from.

I have a chopping board that is only used for raw meat. Everything is washed by hand. I was my hands after touching raw meat. Other than that, I don’t do anything and I’ve never been ill from it.

@Cheeseandlobster

The best tip I have is to fill the washing up bowl with hot soapy water so you can wash your hands and wash up as you go along

This. Chop everything up. Put the meat in whatever it needs to go in to cook, then wash everything that's been in contact with raw meat in the bowl and wash hands at the same time. Never had food poisoning.

I do all of these things also bmand don't have ocd

I am very laid back about things like germs and I do everything you've said!

I don't have ocd and am, frankly, a bit grubby. I do everything you describe after handling raw meat and give my chopping boards a 1 minute blast in the microwave after I've rinsed them off. No antibac or milton, I clean with water, vinegar and bicarb. Rinse out the cloths, microwave them, and dry them for next time. I've never had food poisoning nor have any members of my family.

I don't really touch raw meat, it normally goes straight in the pan/ baking tray/ slow cooker.
If I'm cutting chicken breast into chunks or goujons, I hold it over the pan and use scissors, saves chopping board clean up. Wash hands straight after.

I follow the measures in your OP and have never had food poisoning.
What you describe in your second post is really quite a disturbing scenario, are you getting help?
Perhaps you should stick to vegetarian cooking? Do you have any issues with none meat food preparation?

I open the packet with a knife and put the meat straight into the cookware then bin the packet. I never touch raw meat. I buy pre chopped meat so I don't have to touch it. Then knife goes straight into sink.

I don't do much. I prepare the meat with my hands and then once it is in the oven or slow cooker, I clean the countertop where juices spilled, knife, cutting board and my hands with soap and water from the sink.

I have been cooking raw meet for 25 years and never had food poisoning.

@DrDreReturns

I always wash my hands straight after touching raw meat. I don't think that's OCD.

^ This But I don’t like handling dead bodies anyway I always wash my hands and usually pluck things like chicken breasts out of the packet with the tip of a knife. We have a separate chopping board for fruit and veggies. Always wipe surfaces down.

Never had food poisoning.

I wash my hands and anything raw meat has been in contact with with soap and hot water. Surfaces get a wipe with antibacterial spray if anything has splashed. It’s a really bad habit but I tend to turn the taps on whilst I quickly chop meat so that I can immediately rinse my hands before touching the taps.

I'm not reccommending this as the approach to take, but the way chicken was prepared at my mother's when I was a kid was;

Take chicken out of dirty fridge where it had been sat defrosting for two days on a plate. Take plastic off and put on unwashed table. Pull bag of giblets out, give them a sniff and drop them on the floor for the cats and dog to enjoy. Pour any remaining blood and liquid into the sink onto the plates still in there. Push boldest cat off the table where it had jumped up to have a bite of the chicken. Pick up Parson's Nose from floor, open back door, chuck outside for the animals to follow, close kitchen door. Wipe hands on legs.

Take dirty oven tin out of dirty oven, dump chicken inside after picking off any big clumps of animal fur or leftover grease from the previous week. Put chicken in oven. Shove chicken plastic into bin bag on the floor, pick up so that cats don't climb inside it, put it on the table. Get potatoes out of sack, brush off the biggest clods of earth, start peeling with the knife used to open the chicken plastic, put potatoes into pan. Rinse hands for 0.5s seconds under cold tap whilst using it to float remaining dirt off top of pan of spuds, put pan on dirty hob, dry off on leg, get tins out of cupboard.

Out of all the things I did have as a kid, I never had food poisoning.

This isn’t really going to be that helpful but I’m so scared of food poisoning from raw meat that I don’t prepare it at home. It’s not worth my anxiety over it, there’s so many vegan alternatives now it’s no fuss. We had vegan alternative mince Bolognese tasted great!

Everything that you have said is basic hygiene when preparing and touching raw meat. I am particularly careful with poultry and even disinfect my sink after washing anything to do with raw poultry, even my hands. I don't have OCD and we have never had food poisoning from anything I have cooked. I don't know if it makes any difference but all of out meat comes from a butcher and has not been sat on a shelf for several days before we buy it. It goes straight in the freezer when we buy it and only comes out to defrost on the day we use it, so there isn't a lot of time for bacteria to grow.

I think we all mostly do these things OP, the difference is that we don’t lie awake wondering if we touched something with meat hands and forgot to clean it. And a quick wipe down would be enough rather than a full bleach decontamination. As with all things OCD, there’s a grain of truth (meat can give you food poisoning), but for most people it doesn’t cause obsessive rumination or cleaning or impair their ability to go on with their day.

Hope you’re getting the support you need? Xx

@BirdOnTheWire

I follow the measures in your OP and have never had food poisoning. What you describe in your second post is really quite a disturbing scenario, are you getting help? Perhaps you should stick to vegetarian cooking? Do you have any issues with none meat food preparation?

Thanks Birdonthewire, yes I have issues with all sort of things including non-meat food prep and yes, I'm having CBT and have even had in-patient treatment in the past for my condition. People don't really have a clue about what real OCD looks like so I thought it might be helpful to describe my situation.

I am fine to handle raw meat despite not eating it. I also fillet and gut fish (which I do eat).

I would do all the things you listed in your OP. We often marinade chicken or make homemade chicken nuggets and beef burgers so I am fine with mixing the meat by hand.

The only additional thing I tend to do is prep all the spices etc that I need for a rub or marinade in advance and stick them in a bowl before getting the chicken out. I don't want to have to stop to wash my hands each time I need something so I have it all ready.

We have never had food poisoning - I tend to stick the board and knife in the sink and give it a good scrub with washing up liquid rather than put it in the dishwasher.

I think it is courageous of you to question your actions and test them against other people's experience. As you can see most people do follow the food hygiene measures you set out in your first post and it is enough. Maybe it would be too uncomfortable for you right now but it gives you an idea of what average behaviour looks like. Best of luck.

I do everything you've said, except I wash the chopping board by hand because our boards are wooden.

@DelilahBucket

Everything that you have said is basic hygiene when preparing and touching raw meat. I am particularly careful with poultry and even disinfect my sink after washing anything to do with raw poultry, even my hands. I don't have OCD and we have never had food poisoning from anything I have cooked. I don't know if it makes any difference but all of out meat comes from a butcher and has not been sat on a shelf for several days before we buy it. It goes straight in the freezer when we buy it and only comes out to defrost on the day we use it, so there isn't a lot of time for bacteria to grow.

Thanks so much everyone.

Just to clarify- I wasn't suggesting that the precautions I have mentioned above are 'OCD' compulsions- they're just hygienic safety measures but I wanted to see how careful everyone else is because it sometimes helps to hear from people who are less careful than average and still don't fall ill. There is nothing wrong with any of the precautions that I've listed. I actually hate it when people refer to normal hygiene measures as 'OCD' so sorry if people read it that way.

I've not been able to cook raw meat at all myself for quite a few years and in the last six months other members of my household have prepared meat about two times- once for Christmas day, another was just bacon.

If I was going to prepare meat my OCD compulsions/behaviours would look more like this:

• Cover the entire kitchen surface with clean bin bags
• Cover those bags in sheets of kitchen roll.
• Wear disposable gloves to prepare and put used packet in a separate bin bag.
• Put knife, board etc. into the (already open) dishwasher
• Ask someone to turn the tap on so that I can wash my hands
• Put on a new pair of disposable gloves to chuck the kitchen roll (that's covering the kitchen side) away and wash my hands for ages (making sure someone else turns the taps on for me again)
• Wear a new disposable glove to spray and then wipe the side down extensively
• Wash my hands again
• Change my top in case it has somehow become contaminated.

I wipe down the surfaces properly, but I'm careful also not to spill or splash.

I definitely wash my hands carefully with soap, and I sanitise the taps and entire sink area with Method spray (usually because I rinse out the plastic meat trays for Recycling so that can be splashy). When I'm preparing raw meat I use a separate dry tea towel for my hands which goes straight in the washing machine when I'm done with the raw meat.

I don't put the chopping board in the dishwasher, but I always scald it with boiling water (either from the kettle or from draining boiling veg or pasta).

@Rosesandthistles
My husband has OCD and one of his issuesis around contamination.
So I'm not going to tell you what we do and this thread seems very much like the reassurance seeking that he used to do to when he was having a very bad episode. Has starting this thread this been suggested by your therapist to see what other people do? Or is this something you would discuss with them? Knowing how OCD can manifest I'm not sure this thread is an especially good or healthy idea.

1. I always and clean and sanitise all the worktops and sink before I prepare food but even more so with meat

2. I then prepare the meat

3. Clean and sanitise worktops/ taps and sink afterwards and wash up everything I have used during preparation