Washing meat. Da FUQ???

[K Frame]

I've rinsed meat under running water before, but usually don't, but this is something I've never heard of.

https://food52.com/blog/27543-washing-meat-is-cultural-yet-mandatory?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Anyone do anything even remotely close to this?

[dogmush]

No, nothing like that.

[Ben]

I can see why she might do it from a family history perspective:

Cousin Bobbi, my family’s matriarch, recalled buying meat and fish at the only market on the river in Belize City approximately half a century ago. “Outside of extremely wealthy people, most bought their food, raw meat, fish, fruit, vegetables and seasonings, at the market. Beef was hung up and you told the person—he wasn’t a butcher; he could have been a farmer or a man there to just sell meat—what part you wanted, and he chopped it off and gave it to you.” At 83 years old, Cousin Bobbi’s memory is still sharp. She adds, “There weren’t mosquitoes or bugs flying around so that wasn’t a worry, but you saw someone handling your meat with their bare hands. That was more than enough reason to wash it at home.”

[K Frame]

I remember going to the custom butcher many times when I was a kid. Rarely did they wear gloves. We never washed our meat.

Just seems weird as I had never heard about it before.

[Boomhauer]

I can definitely see doing it in the third world. She said Belize and Nigerian heritage. Never been to Nigeria but have been to Belize three times that’s a rough country down there. On our last time we took a tour and it took us through the slums of Belize City, those poor people live in absolutely terrible conditions.

[Ben]

I can definitely see doing it in the third world. She said Belize and Nigerian heritage. Never been to Nigeria but have been to Belize three times that’s a rough country down there. On our last time we took a tour and it took us through the slums of Belize City, those poor people live in absolutely terrible conditions.

Yeah, I was thinking that more than just ungloved hands. I've spent time in Belize as well, and the resort towns on the Cayes and the expat towns are a whole different world than much of Belize proper.

[RocketMan]

I've rinsed meat under running water before, but usually don't, but this is something I've never heard of.

https://food52.com/blog/27543-washing-meat-is-cultural-yet-mandatory?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Anyone do anything even remotely close to this?

I've heard that some older folks down this way wash chicken, but I never have unless I accidentally drop a piece on the floor before cooking.  The FDA strongly recommends against the practice of washing meat, especially chicken, for fear of spreading bacteria around food prep surfaces.

[MechAg94]

I've heard that some older folks down this way wash chicken, but I never have unless I accidentally drop a piece on the floor before cooking.  The FDA strongly recommends against the practice of washing meat, especially chicken, for fear of spreading bacteria around food prep surfaces.

If you wash the meat, why would you wash it in the same spot you are prepping it for cooking?  I guess some people have a really small kitchen. 

Yeah, I can see washing meat in some conditions like that.  I might also like that (washing or treating it somehow) if you like to eat meat raw or only partially cooked. 

[MechAg94]

I can see why she might do it from a family history perspective:

Looking at that quote, how did they have an open air meat market and not have bugs around? 

There might be something else to wash off your meat.

[Ben]

Looking at that quote, how did they have an open air meat market and not have bugs around? 

I suppose it depends on where in Belize they lived. I spent most of my time on the coast and was definitely swatting bugs. I can't remember for sure anymore, but when we took a Mayan ruins tour, I don't recall the bugs being bad inland and up higher.

[230RN]

When the neighbors had horses, the flies got so bad around August that I had to buy a couple of fly tents for any food.  It was almost impossible to keep them out of the house.
 
At that time, I would rinse food products including meat, and wave flies away while I was eating.

Over the years the horse population decreased to near zero, but come August, the fly population still increases, but not to the levels they were all summer with all the horses.  (But they still have cautionary signs on the street about horse riders on the road.)

And my diet has changed to almost exclusively packaged prepared food at home:  Unwrap them and throw them in the microwave.  So there's not as much of a problem with exposed food.

I don't remember there being much of a problem when we had two or three of our own horses around in the 1970s, since they were usually out in the pasture and we kept the barn pretty clean.

Terry, 230RN

REF (Fly tents):

https://www.amazon.com/HabiLife-Protector-Reusable-Collapsible-Outdoor/dp/B08T985DT8/ref=asc_df_B08T985DT8?tag=bngsmtphsnus-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80676783691819&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584276308957410&psc=1

[HankB]

I've heard that some older folks down this way wash chicken, but I never have unless I accidentally drop a piece on the floor before cooking.  The FDA strongly recommends against the practice of washing meat, especially chicken, for fear of spreading bacteria around food prep surfaces.

I may rinse chicken, but after I'm done trimming and cleaning the raw bird, I am SCRUPULOUS about cleaning and sanitizing all bowls, plates, utensils, and my work area. If I'm grilling marinated chicken, I'll spoon some of the marinade on ONCE - when I first put the chicken on the grill - and then discard the rest as potentially unsafe.

I also rinse corned beef before cooking - a lot of "yucky stuff" always seems to come off the exterior. I'll usually wash some fruits and veggies (apples, bell peppers) with soap & water before eating, and I always rinse salad greens, including the "triple washed ready to eat" type like spring mix.

I've never felt the need to wash raw meat with vinegar or anything else to kill bacteria - I figure the heat of cooking will kill whatever's on the outside, and hopefully - aside from hamburger - no bacteria has found its way inside the meat.

[RoadKingLarry]

Beef or pork with a bone in it that has been cut with a bone saw gets rinsed to remove and lingering bone meal from the saw.