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. It's been really helpful to read this.

I hate raw chicken. I used to wear gloves while handling it. I'm paranoid about getting sick from it

I also do everything you say. I don't have OCD but my DD has. She would fret and worry that she hadn't washed the sides properly or her hands etc. I just do what needs to be done then forget about it. If I do unwittingly give myself food poisoning after taking all the precautions, there's nothing I can do about it. My DD had therapy and part of it was to touch raw chicken each time I prepared a meal. At that time, she was running away from the kitchen because of her fears.

I have a meat chopping board, I put in the dishwasher after use along with the knife then wash my hands. Standard hygiene practice

I've never had food poisoning at home

@TheTurn0fTheScrew

I am very much not an exemplary housekeeper, nor excessively worried about germs. But I am pretty careful with raw meat. I do everything you've suggested apart from knives being washed by hand in hot soapy water as I don't put our good knives in the dishwasher.

This is me exactly. We have never had food poisoning.

I'm fairly fastidious with regards to chicken, but not nearly so fussy about red meat (IIRC campylobacter is relatively common in raw chicken, but rare in other meat). I do normally freeze chicken though (because I buy from one particular supplier and tend to stock up the freezer) and I think is meant to significantly reduce campylobacter, so I may be being excessively cautious relative to the risk.

I run a basin of hot soapy water before I start cooking and give surfaces everything a wipe down. If it's chicken the knives and chopping board go straight in the dishwasher when I'm finished, if it's red meat for a casserole or something I might still use that board to chop the veg or other ingredients that will be cooked. Once finished I'll wash my hands with soap, and use a hot soapy cloth to clean down the work surfaces again. Cloths and sponges etc are all changed daily and get a boil wash at the and of each week along with towels and bedding.

I've never given us food poisoning as far as I know.

I do take extra care if we're eating salad with the meal, so obviously I'll use a separate board and knives, but normally also prepare the salad on a different section of work surface.

@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.

Just in case anyone hadn't seen this post.

I do know that the precautions in my first post are just normal for handling meat.

Thanks again everyone.

I’d agree that the process in the first post is pretty much what I do at home,though I avoid the use of antibacterial spray/wipes and just use hot soapy water and have never been ill. Though, having said that, we did live in Japan for three years and we were, initially, amazed that sashimi chicken was a thing.

matadornetwork.com/read/raw-chicken-sashimi-tokyo/

Probably ate it 10 or 15 times over the years without ever being ill. Mind you, I’ll eat steak rare and indeed also raw in Japan (along with horse on one occasion…that I didn’t really enjoy, but I wasn’t ill!)

@Tryingtokeepgoing

I’d agree that the process in the first post is pretty much what I do at home,though I avoid the use of antibacterial spray/wipes and just use hot soapy water and have never been ill. Though, having said that, we did live in Japan for three years and we were, initially, amazed that sashimi chicken was a thing.

matadornetwork.com/read/raw-chicken-sashimi-tokyo/

Probably ate it 10 or 15 times over the years without ever being ill. Mind you, I’ll eat steak rare and indeed also raw in Japan (along with horse on one occasion…that I didn’t really enjoy, but I wasn’t ill!)

Wow, that's amazing that you managed to eat chicken sashimi lots of times without catching salmonella/campylobacter!

That’s how I do it and no OCD here! All perfectly sensible steps

Just wanted to add a tip that might mean you don't feel you have to cover all of your kitchen surfaces. When I get raw meat I keep it in the fridge in the carrier bag. I then use either kitchen scissors or a knife to open it but keep it in the bag so that there is no splashing, spraying or dripping on the kitchen worktop. The high sides of the bag are a good protection from any spraying or leaking as you cut into the packet. Once the meat is out just put the carrier bag with the empty meat tray straight inside in the bin.

I do all mentioned in your op but have a separate chopping board only ever used for raw meat, I wash it by hand as it doesn't fit in the dishwasher, never had food poisoning

I do what you’ve mentioned in your first post except for the oven wiping thing, I don’t understand that.

I do most of the time wear food safe disposable gloves when cutting raw meat too, but I also wear them if (say) making biscuits and shaping them by hand as I don’t like biscuit mixture getting in my fingernails, I find that a bit gross.

Washing hands and chopping boards and knives that have touched raw meat is just basic food safety and not ocd at all !! My mother will chop raw chicken and open the fridge and touch all sorts and it does my head in ! My sister and I often say that we are surprised my parents haven't died of food poisoning by now

I also have a full kettle ready so that after all the washing I can pour boiled water all over the chopping board in the sink and knives (makes me feel better)!

I put paper towels under the packet as I open it. Wear disposable gloves and the meat goes straight into the oven. Any utensils that touch it are straight into the dishwasher. Wipe down afterwards.

Another tip is to have one chopping board allocated to meat only. Always wash board, knife and hands after preparation. Chicken is the main concern as far as food contamination. I eat raw meat dishes for example steak tartare. Raw red meat will not necessarily make you ill

I'm pretty careful and do everything on your list. I also store meat correctly. I feel it's all an important standard of food hygiene

Never made myself or anyone ill

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

So you wash your hands in the soapy water,then keep that water to wash them again ? Why not just wash your hands under a tap?

I don’t do any of the precautions you’ve listed, I’m 58 and none of my family have ever had food poisoning.

I really don't stress that much about germs, though I would obviously wash my hands, surfaces and boards/knives after cutting meat. But I definitely don't treat raw meat like"radioactive waste" lol.

I have never ever been ill from any kind of food poisoning despite not ever having been particularly careful. I even (gasp) reheat rice all the time, and frequently forget to put something in the fridge until the next day.

I chop the meat, wash my hands, give the board a scrub with hot water & dish soap.

I wipe down other surfaces when I've finished cooking.

@savehannah

I really don't stress that much about germs, though I would obviously wash my hands, surfaces and boards/knives after cutting meat. But I definitely don't treat raw meat like"radioactive waste" lol.

I have never ever been ill from any kind of food poisoning despite not ever having been particularly careful. I even (gasp) reheat rice all the time, and frequently forget to put something in the fridge until the next day.

Reheating rice is ok as long as it was cooled down and put it the fridge quickly and not hours out on the kitchen counter.

I guess you could stop eating meat..? I know a couple of people who got horrendous food poisoning, one from chicken and one from seafood. Both have ongoing problems caused by this a long time later .

Of course that doesn't prevent food poisoning, but certainly reduces the risk.