AIBU or is DH? Cooking and food hygiene.

[Chickenandbread]

I cooked dinner this evening. One of the ingredients was chicken. I diced it on a separate chopping board with a separate knife. Veg and other dry ingredients that needed chopping were done on a different board with a different knife. In my view this is normal and basic food hygiene.

Sat down to eat in the dining room. I hadn't cleared everything up from the kitchen counter yet. DH wanted some crusty bread to go with his meal so he went into the kitchen to cut some and brought me a slice too.

After we'd finished eating I went back into the kitchen and saw he'd used the dirty chicken board and knife to slice the bread. I was angry with him for using an obviously dirty board and knife. He was angry with me for being angry with him.

AIBU or is DH?

Both of you were careless.

When working with raw poultry it's good hygiene to immediately wash the cutting board and knife, dispose of any packaging or cut offs, clean the worktop around the cutting board if needed and wash your hands. That cutting board and knife weren't supposed to be used for anything else until they've been cleaned so just take the 60 seconds to do that in the moment so you don't have a contamination source sitting pointlessly on your worktop.

His error is obvious.

Whilst it is a bit grim and I do think both parties are partly to blame, I feel there is a bit of hysteria on here. Apparently 10 to 20 % roughly of chicken is infected with salmonella or campylobacter, frozen chicken being worse. And of course that’s not a risk to be taken lightly but some reactions on this are a bit extreme.

Most men are morons of convenience which is why I always put the chicken chopping board in the sink immediately and cover it in fairy.

I don't wash the raw-meat shopping board and knife immediately as I'm usually busy cooking, but I have a sinkful of warm soapy water that I sling the meat board and knife in to soak, along with other things, and then I put everything in the dishwasher when I load it after the meal.

You are both out of order.
mad others have said, if you’re going to leave a board and knife out that have raw chicken on them you need to wipe them over with disinfectant first and dump in the sink at least so it’s obvious not to use then.

That’s why commercial kitchens gave coloured boards so you know red is raw meat only. Maybe you could get a set and tell DH what they are for. If he night remember lol.

Hes as bad as my ex just using any old thing that’s lying out. He used a garlicky knife to cut me a slice of cake. Why not just grab a fresh knife, after all it’s not you who does the dishes mate… Hes now an ex for various reasons.

Sorry OP, I think this one is on you. The reason that you're not meant to leave meat boards and knives out after use is because people WILL come along and do exactly what your DH did.

But the veg chopped first!

Same. Did he know?

Having read updates, you're both unreasonable.

But why? If they are literally all being cooked together?

I tend to agree with you. Anyone with half a brain should know about raw chicken. Put it in the dishwasher or leave it on the side untouched. Do not put in the sink because if anyone runs a tap the germs can be sprayed elsewhere.
Bread with a dinner - YABU OP.

But if it’s not cooked properly or you eat it raw… would you eat a piece of chicken if someone told you there was a 1-2/10 chance you would get sick? I wouldn’t

I always use a throw away glove to hold chicken and cut with scissors, then I open scissors and put them flat in the dishwasher so they get completely cleaned. No board, chicken bits straight into the bin, throw glove away, much more hygienic.

It was more the bleach comments I was referring to. I do,of course, attempt to cook safely and in 30 plus years of cooking, I have never poisoned anyone!
And no, I don’t want to eat raw chicken.

If you do the meat last, you can put the board and knife straight into the soapy water and then it's not hanging around. If it had veg on it last, I might forget it had had chicken on it. I suppose you're right, it's just that we've been taught to Fear the Chicken so much that the idea of cutting veg among the chicken germs is a bit grim!

Of course you should have put it away but these board and knife could have stayed there for 3 days and I still wouldn’t use them, no one with a bit of common sense would.
So your DH is BVU.

How long is this week that you can’t spare 5 seconds to ditch a board /wash up …not buying that

What kind of kitchen surface do you have? I'm guessing cutting the chicken right on the surface wouldn't work with wood.

I always use scissors to chop my chicken straight into the pan/seasoning dish. It’s so quick, less washing up and faff, and I couldn’t care less if the chicken is “evenly diced” or not!

you are right. I pretty much do cut the chicken last, so I can put the board in the sink. I just wondered if there was something I was missing hygiene wise.

I don’t even eat meat but I know you cut and prepare raw meat separately otherwise it can make you ill, you have separate food prep areas

Two whole minutes!? How big is your kitchen?

It's more about efficiency in a tight working space - you clean as you go so nothing gets potentially contaminated and you don't end up having to return to a pit to clean up after dinner - or going to get some bread and there not being a clear space so somebody picks up the knife left on the side and cuts the bread on the cutting board that's been left out.

You are both grim

You were absolutely right, as someone else said, it would have been better to put the chickeny board and knife in the sink.

However I didn't know that when I was young. I'd have wiped the board so it was dry and cut bread on it.

Your husband probably didn't realise so don't be hard on him, now he knows he won't do it again. You will no doubt survive.

I wash the board I have used for meat as soon as I have finished. No mistakes, then.