How do I clean a chicken?

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queenbellevue

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Hi, so lately I've been seeing people saying that I should NOT clean chicken with cold water because I'd run the risk of cross contamination. Is this true?? If yes, how can I clean chicken properly?
 
I believe there is no need to clean a chicken before cooking. The belief is, that chickens are cleaned when they are plucked and gutted, and as such, you don't need to clean again. Simply remove the plastic wrapping and put into the baking tray.

If it is a chicken you have reared yourself, then hold under running water after gutting and plucking until water runs clear.

As with all meat, handling as little as possible is the name of the game.
 
I heard about this as well, but I question how much more likely you are to getting sick from the purported cross contamination vs. not washing it, since most people will still be handling the chicken a lot any how and touching other utensils and such. Not to mention the chicken itself comes with a lot of juice that drips all over the place anyhow. By the time I cut the plastic wrapping off of a whole chicken or take the chicken parts out of their container, there is chicken juice everywhere to begin with and I am reaching for the sink constantly to keep rinsing my hands off anyhow.

I think if you just use some common sense and don't directly handle other utensils and bowls and pans right after touching the raw meat, as well as not being a klutz and carrying the meat with dripping juices over kitchen gear that you plan on handling raw food with afterwards, you can avoid a lot of trouble. Not to mention if you really want to play things safe, just prep everything else and save the chicken handling for last.
 
I spoke to this some time back and my position has not changed. Every time I look at the bird I have to wash it and leave it in some lime and salt like most do in my country. It's one of those traditions that is going to be difficult to get rid of. The few people I spoke to can't imagine not washing the bird.
 
With my job I have to live with the rules at work I don't wash birds ,
But this is the breaker of a lot talk about washing any fowl ,I have to draw shot game birds skin and pluck ,and wash them but I do it out side rain ,snow or shine clean buckets and a high risk board ,I pluck the birds straight into a bag ,
So there are always breaks to the rule !

:speechless:
 
We have a plastic basin where we clean meat that comes from the market. With chicken, we wash it in that basin and the water is used to irrigate the plants. It is a good fertilizer. After washing the chicken, we thoroughly check for small feathers that are still in the skin. Chicken in the market is not that very clean as regards feathers. By the way, we smell the chicken when we buy it in the market. Old stock has an unpleasant odor so it is easy to spot. That's why it is good to be a customer of a particular chicken retailer so you are assured of clean chicken.
 
Thanks for that tip, @Corzhens. I will henceforth check the freshness of chicken by smelling it. I only use this for fish. I wash my chicken prior to cooking with no reservations.
 
SpongeyB said:
Thanks for that tip, @Corzhens. I will henceforth check the freshness of chicken by smelling it. I only use this for fish. I wash my chicken prior to cooking with no reservations.
Click to expand...

SpongeyB, I think the smelling comes naturally for me no matter the meat especially if I think there is any chance it's not fresh. With the birds, I feel like you can just look at them and tell if they are fresh but I might be wrong. Because the lime and salt and to a lesser extent rinsing with a little vinegar is such a way of life for me, I think I can tell when a chicken has not been washed. Maybe I am parnoid.
 
The food safety agency in the UK have warned this week about the outside packaging of supermarket chickens being contaminated and should be kept seperate from the rest of your shopping ,as it is stored seperatly and correctly in transit then it should be when you remove it from the supermarket fridge ,some thing else to consider with chickens now:eek:
 
OhioTom76 said:
I heard about this as well, but I question how much more likely you are to getting sick from the purported cross contamination vs. not washing it, since most people will still be handling the chicken a lot any how and touching other utensils and such. Not to mention the chicken itself comes with a lot of juice that drips all over the place anyhow. By the time I cut the plastic wrapping off of a whole chicken or take the chicken parts out of their container, there is chicken juice everywhere to begin with and I am reaching for the sink constantly to keep rinsing my hands off anyhow.

I think if you just use some common sense and don't directly handle other utensils and bowls and pans right after touching the raw meat, as well as not being a klutz and carrying the meat with dripping juices over kitchen gear that you plan on handling raw food with afterwards, you can avoid a lot of trouble. Not to mention if you really want to play things safe, just prep everything else and save the chicken handling for last.
Click to expand...

I agree.
Current guidelines here say never wash fowl.
Save the chicken handling to last is a good idea as well as not dripping it all around the kitchen. If you have to carry raw meat around the kitchen always use a dish or bowl.

Whenever I am cooking the first thing I do is fill up the washing up bowl with hot, soapy water, I use this to clean knives etc and my hands as soon as they are used.

MM
 
I once hunted and plucked my own chicken from my time at a farm. The farmhand told me clearly about plucking it, gutting the chicken and holding it over running water. There was no risk for diseases at the farm because they constantly checked with health inspection. Personally I just use lukewarm water it doesn't do anything once you cook it anyway the germs will get cooked along with the chicken.
 
IMHO as for the chicken if you cook it you cook it. end of story. It's either properly cooked through or it isn't and if it isn't then you can wash it all day long and you will eventually get something nasty. As for washing it simply wash under the tap in the sink then straight into a baking tray and the oven - it will take longer to cook than any veggies etc so once it's in the oven a quick clean up and then start everything else.
I'm afraid I see the effect of the men in white coats here - wash chicken, don't wash chicken. the packaging is contaminated etc etc. To get this in perspective - No of people killed by chicken in the last century vs No killed on the roads of any major city in the last week. Just take a few basic precautions and forget the hype - it doesn't keep the 'experts' on the gravy train but in the real world it works just fine.
 
That is what I was told too. Never wash the chicken for the reason that was mentioned already. I do understand the reason behind it but I still wash my chicken before I cook it and I make sure that I cook it properly and wash the utensils and the tubs thoroughly when I am done.
 
If you wash a chicken where do you wash it,in the sink, then you wash your hands , then wash veggies or lettuce, are you sure you've cleaned the area correctly?
Most people don't even wash their hands correctly, and that's a fact
As I've said before I've done extensive study's in the past on bacterial sprays , effective or not?
Contact time etc , the food safety agency has a concern about poultry washing and transportation of the birds, listen to them and try to understand the risks, if you feel you then eliminate the risks all is good!
 
Perhaps this is a silly question, but why do some people (cutures) feel they have to wash chicken but not meat to fish (or do they wash those too?)?.
 
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