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?

• store raw meat at bottom of fridge
• cut on white board (not dark board) so I can be sure that no blood/meat remains
• chop red meat with knife using hands, chop chicken with knife and fork
• put packaging in bin (don't touch bin with meaty hands)
• put implementats straight in wash
• wash hands without touching tap (esp for chicken or pork, less rigour for beef).
• wipe area thoroughly, even if no sign of spillage

I have reasonably well managed OCD. But my primary focus was not fear of meat contamination.

Note: pre treatment I'd have worn disposable gloves for prep. But not for tidyup.

I'm pretty laid back - it all gets chopped on the one chopping board if it's all being cooked, and the chopping board and knife sits around until I get round to loading the dishwasher (might be hours later). I'd wash my hands after chopping chicken as I don't much like the feel of it, but not more cautiously than I normally wash my hands. I have never ever got sick from anything I have cooked.

@NewYearEveryYear

- store raw meat at bottom of fridge

• cut on white board (not dark board) so I can be sure that no blood/meat remains
• chop red meat with knife using hands, chop chicken with knife and fork
• put packaging in bin (don't touch bin with meaty hands)
• put implementats straight in wash
• wash hands without touching tap (esp for chicken or pork, less rigour for beef).
• wipe area thoroughly, even if no sign of spillage

I have reasonably well managed OCD. But my primary focus was not fear of meat contamination.

Thanks NewYearEveryYear. That's great that you've mostly got your OCD under control!

The hygiene precautions I listed in the OP aren't the ones I follow, they're just normal precautions. I was just wondering what everyone else does. I can't even go near raw meat at the moment and if I did it would involve using disposable gloves, kitchen roll/bags on surfaces etc. and probably a shower afterwards. I have other strands of my OCD (e.g. responsibility fears, checking etc.) but this O is due to a fear of vomiting and also means I'm terrified of Norovirus/stomach bugs so means I have to avoid lots of normal activities too.

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

If you're in therapy for this then this thread might not be a good idea. Isn't the point of your therapy to learn how NOT to obsess about what others are doing? So starting a thread about what others are doing moght just trigger you more? Please hide this thread for now and discuss it with your therapist before you read further. Just to be sure that you're not doing something counterproductive.

[quote HobnobsChoice]@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.[/quote]
Hi Hobnobschoice,
I'm sorry to hear that, it's such a horrible illness and I hope his condition has been improving with treatment.

No, this isn't reassurance seeking- I need to learn to deal with situation as a healthy person might, so finding out how other people prepare meat is part of that process. Reassurance seeking would be more like me asking whether the food I had just eaten was safe to eat or might make me ill. The normal precautions that I've listed are just that, they're not the compulsions that I would perform if preparing meat (which are much more extreme- see post above).

@DrDreReturns

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

No, it's definitely not OCD.

The hygiene precautions I listed in my first post are just normal precautions, they're not the precautions that I would take, which are excessive (e.g. wearing disposable gloves, covering the kitchen side with bags & kitchen roll, changing clothes afterwards/possibly showering).

OCD actually has much more to do with intrusive thoughts anyway so no behaviour in itself is really OCD.

I usually run a bowl of hot soapy water and wash my hands in it if I have touched meat and then need to touch something else. Then I can chuck any knives/scissors/chopping board which has touched the meat into the bowl too.

I'm not fastidious about it though, its more because I don't like the feel of it on my hands rather than from an infection control POV.

I so everything you’ve said. Anything that raw meat touches needs to be cleaned. I would never touch anything else with raw meat on my hands. In fact I usually use gloves to handle the meat and then wash my hands.

I don't have OCD. I have a mother who taught home economics, and she taught me...

When preparing to handle raw meat, I first take out all the utensils I'll need and set them on the counter. I get out my cutting board (plastic, from IKEA, goes in dishwasher afterwards).

I take the meat packet out of the fridge and set it down on the counter. In the case of drippy packets I will have taken the meat out previously and it will be in a ziplock bag to prevent contamination in the fridge. So no drips from the packet to worry about.

I wash my hands with soap and hot water. If browning the meat, I turn on the burner and add oil to the pot or pan.

I use a scissors to open the packet. The scissors goes in the sink in a bowl of hot soapy water I've put there.

I take out the meat using my hands, and it goes straight into the pot or pan, or it gets placed on the cutting board for trimming or cutting up. The packet or bag goes into the kitchen pedal bin - I don't touch the bin with my hands.

If I'm trimming meat or cutting it up I put the knife in the hot water bowl I'm the sink afterwards. I then put the cut or trimmed meat into whatever pot or pan is needed for the dish I'm making, using my hands.

Then I wash my hands again with hot water and soap, dry them, and take my paper towels and kitchen sanitising spray and clean up the countertop.

I do not touch anything with hands that have touched raw meat. I use my wrist or the back of my hand to move the lever that operates the kitchen tap, and the inside of my wrist to work the liquid soap dispenser. I wash very thoroughly and use a nail brush. My kitchen towel gets changed out daily.

Wipe the sides down after for example sticking chicken fillets in the oven or do you just bung them in and ignore any spills?
No , just take them out of the pack, straight into the baking tin , then rinse the package and shove in the recycling and wash my hands
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’d wash my hands as soon as I could , but I’d probably open the oven first
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?
Boards straight into dishwasher , knives into sink to be washed
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?
Quick wash , I keep nice liquid soap at the kitchen sink , and keep a hand towel with the tea towels
I only wash the taps down once a day or so ,

Following on from my previous post, what I actually do, having to take medication that depresses my immune system so I am more vulnerable to infection is;

Prepare vegetables first. Clear up peelings as I go along, Vegetable knife sits in sink for safety.

Take meat out of fridge, out of packaging, meat onto board, packaging into bin. Prepare meat using big knife that went straight onto the magnetic rack after being washed up last night. Knife goes into sink for safety. Meat goes into cooking vessel.

Hands get washed, knives get washed by hand (because I'm not ruining them in a dishwasher) under hot tap, dried on teatowel, put back onto magnetic rack. Board gets put into dishwasher (can't physically have it open at same time as standing to chop things), use top of foot to hoof the door back up again.

Sponge, hot water, washing up liquid used to wipe over taps, sink and countertop. Dried with kitchen roll. Follow up with spray of antibac, let sit for time on instructions, wipe over with kitchen roll, kitchen roll into bin.

Get plates and cutlery out. Bin bag goes out once plates scraped, everything else in dishwasher, wash hands when back from wheelie bin, make cuppa.

I wouldn’t normally spill anything but if I did I’d wash the surface with hot soapy water. I wash my hands immediately after handling raw meat with hot water and soap, I wouldn’t count the seconds but wouldn’t touch anything before doing that. I’d also hand wash the chopping board and knife in hot soapy water (fairy liquid not soap) but might leave it on the side for a bit first. I’d wipe the taps when I was next wiping the surfaces but I have a tap I can turn on with my arm rather than my hand.

I don't use antibac soap.

I've never given anyone food poisoning.

My kitchen sanitising spray is home made from white vinegar, water, and wash up liquid.

I clean my (double) sink and stainless surround with a scouring powder that contains bleach every day as part of my cleaning routine.

I use rubber gloves when I rinse and scrub dishes, cutting board, knives, etc before sticking them in the dishwasher.

I would do everything you mention here except wouldn't wipe oven (but would be super careful not to spill in it) and I don't have OCD. Raw meat freaks me out too.

Surely no one touches raw meat and then just continues touching things?!

@dementedpixie

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

I know, I'm a right scruff. I also eat leftover takeaways that have been left out on the kitchen bench all night for breakfast. I'm quite old and I've never had food poisoning.

My in-laws are more relaxed and don't appear to get ill. I think it can be generational too as people my in-laws age or parents age seem a bit more relaxed but don't get ill. I think younger generations have been fed a lot of fear about food hygiene.

I avoid using chopping boards. We cut any meat in/on the container it is in (either the one it came in or the one it was defrosting in. We use scissors more than knives and are put separately and washed in hot water. Boards if ever used and washed then sprayed. Hands are washed after touching and usually only one hand is contaminated. I wipe down surface if needed with soap and water followed by antibacterial spray. I change cloth after washing esp chicken.
I'm always concerned about the cooking part so always use a thermometer.

I've seen many people not wash their hands after touching raw meat, just wiping them on a tea towel instead and then using the tea towel to wipe clean dishes etc 😭

Soil covered vegetables is another one of my obsessions, a lot of people don't realise how ill they can make you

I wear disposable gloves while sorting the meat, bin those straight away, pour boiling water over any chopping boards/knives used asap, and wipe down all surfaces.
I also bag the packaging and gloves separately before I get rid of them so they don't touch the lid of the bin

I’ve never had food poisoning.

I have a red board that is used for raw meat.
I wash my hands after touching raw meat and before touching other things.

I would stick the meat cutting board and knife straight in the dishwasher after use (or in the sink with a spray of dettol if the dishwasher is full).
If I drip raw meat on the worktop I’ll dettol spray and wipe.
After handling a raw chicken I often throw the tea towel straight in the wash.

If I’m opening steak I normally open the packet, leave the steak in, season then upmost side, drop in the pan face down, wash my hands then season the back.

If I’m preparing a whole chicken, rubbing butter under the skin, removing string, chopping off a raw wing for the dog (he has to eat it in the garden) seasoning, maybe spatchcocking then I will often have to wash my hands a few times during the process, put lots of stuff in the dishwasher, wipe down the sides with dettol spray and throw the cloths in the wash.

So the more handling and particularly with poultry I’m quite particular.

No OCD here.

@Ishouldreallybeonanisland

My in-laws are more relaxed and don't appear to get ill. I think it can be generational too as people my in-laws age or parents age seem a bit more relaxed but don't get ill. I think younger generations have been fed a lot of fear about food hygiene.

Yes, good point. I think we've all grown up immune to food poisoning due to our historical lack of food hygiene

I wash my hands thoroughly after touching raw meat.
I wipe down all the kitchen surfaces.
I wipe down anything if i've accidentally touched it before i washed my hands, including taps but i certainly don't touch anything on purpose.
My priority after touching or cutting up the meat is to wash my hands straight away, the food can get stirred, put in oven etc when my hands are clean not before.
Knife, chopping board and anything else that may have come into contact with raw meat all get a thorough wash. They are never left for later, they are washed straight away after my hands are washed and i then wash my hands again.
To me this is just basic hygiene.

@Sosigsandwich

Surely no one touches raw meat and then just continues touching things?!

Some people do. It's not really that hard to acknowledge or understand.