To use a washed-up raw meat knife

[CuppaDog]

DP and I had a big dispute regarding a hygiene issue. As these happen regularly, I'd love to get a sense check from this esteemed audience.

I cut DD (10)'s bread roll with a kitchen knife. That knife was used to cut raw chicken on the day before and subsequently washed up and has been dry overnight.

The strongly expressed demand was that I immediately throw away the bread roll, and that this is "common sense".

YABU - Using a raw meat knife for directly eaten food is never acceptable, even if it has been washed up
YANBU - It's fine to use a raw meat knife as long as it has been washed up

For real? That's nuts

He is a mad man.

That's my (limited) experience too @C1nnam0n - a friend shared a flat with a person of Chinese origin and it was a pleasure to watch her cook, her cleaver was like an extension of her hand and she used it for everything.

Never heard this before- my husband and in-laws are Chinese and whilst there are definite cultural differences, having separate knives for raw and cooked food isn't one of them in our house!

I have a bread knife to cut rolls but I've never heard of separate knives for raw meat.

A washed up raw meat knife?? That's just a knife. Once washed it can be used to cut anything. Your DH is clearly mad. YANBU.

What does he think washing up is for?!

We use the same knife for absolutely everything; always healthy

Quite. My Chinese friends use the same fucking massive for everything.

I mean I assume he cooks meat and veg in the same pan. How is it different?

Chopping boards I'm a little more careful. But knives get completely clean.

Nah. Rubbish.

He wanted a bread roll thrown away because 'common sense'. Not because 'culture'.

He either has incipient OCD/other mental health issue or he is just terminally ignorant and uninformed.

I also come from a culture/background where meat utensils and other foodstuffs utensils are kept entirely separate. Not uncommonly in entirely separate kitchens, even.

I am perfectly able to understand the difference between that and the health risk from a washed knife.

Do he throw cooking dishes and trays away after raw meat has been put on them?

This can’t have the first time this was an issue? Why let it get this far?

Thinking further, I have a halal frying pan and baking tray that have never had non halal food cooked on them.

But we all use the same crockery and cutlery!

What is the purpose of washing up?

I'm confused.

Get a grip.

It was washed up, fine, not like you went from chicken to bread roll immediately! Xx

I have advocated in the past that all the food we eat should be shrink wrapped individually immediately before we place it in our mouth to avoid any cross-contamination.

However I sometimes wake up at night coughing up bits of cling-film and think thst there may be a fundamental flaw in my idea.

On the plus side I have lost a lot of weight.

I have like 3 sharp knives that cut everything.

I think his excuse is BS. To give him the benefit of the doubt, he grew up in a weird house.

He’s ridiculous

I’m Chinese.

I have never heard of that rule before.

Eh, I've got Chinese friends (one of whom owns a restaurant), so I asked...

The response was resoundingly: "thats not a culture thing thats a 'Your DP's parents thing!"...

None had ever heard of it.

There you go then. You know why he thinks as he does. So what's the deal here. Did he flip his lid? Or was it just a oh how do we navigate this difference in our upbringing type of conversation?

that’s not a cultural thing, at least not in Beijing, amongst anyone I knew. Is he particular/have strange rules about other things too?

Well surely the bread is cut where the meat was cut? So you’d have to throw that out too lol seems a bit ocd to me……..

I understand that it's probably not an actual hygiene concern. But I do have separate stuff for raw meat. Like, I would never cut veg (especially salad veg) on the "meat" chopping board. If you've grown up that way, then it does feel like "contamination" even if it's not really.

And it turns out I trust the dishwasher more than I trust my own hand-washing skills (and sorry, but I really wouldn't trust my husband's washing-up skills. I would put the tea towel straight in the wash afterwards, because he often uses "drying up" as an opportunity to wipe away anything that survived the washing process 🤣🤣)