Chef Forum banner

Food safety for chicken

2K views 25 replies 11 participants last post by  meezenplaz 
#1 ·
Hi everyone,

I am new to cooking and I do need your help regarding food safety for raw chicken as I don't know how to judge this.

I wanted to marinate my chicken overnight and cook tomorrow. Therefore I washed it by soaking it with cold tape water for a while (less than 15 mins) which I know is not a good way to wash the meat after doing some research online. Next I rinsed it with cold water. I also accidentally rinsed it with warm water for a few seconds. I marinated it and now it's in my fridge.

Question: Is it still safe to cook and eat this chicken? Thanks so much!!
 
#3 ·
Welcome to ChefTalk......

If you had done some research online you might have come across this:

Cooking will kill any bacteria present, including campylobacter, while washing chicken can spread germs by splashing. Thoroughly wash and clean all utensils, chopping boards and surfaces used to prepare raw chicken. Wash hands thoroughly with soap and warm water after handling raw chicken
 
#4 ·
Welcome to ChefTalk......

If you had done some research online you might have come across this:

Cooking will kill any bacteria present, including campylobacter, while washing chicken can spread germs by splashing. Thoroughly wash and clean all utensils, chopping boards and surfaces used to prepare raw chicken. Wash hands thoroughly with soap and warm water after handling raw chicken
Sure sure sure. But here's the thing - I don't wash chicken (any meat actually) because I'm trying to wash off bacteria. I wash it to remove debris!!! Cooking will not kill a piece of plastic that was left on, or remove stray feathers, or remove any little bone fragments stuck to the flesh. Therefore it must be washed.

The same thing could be said for any vegetable that you cook. And yet we wash them. Because debris.
 
#7 ·
Cooking will kill any bacteria present
Cooking will kill only active bacteria, but not the heat-resistant spores, nor the heat-stable toxins already created by bacteria, which means cooking your food doesn't make it automatically safe. The dormant bacteria will not be killed by cooking, and will be activated as your cooked food falls back into the danger zone.

Some bacteria such as Listeria monocytogenes (found in vegetables when manure was used as fertilizer, and in dairy products) can grow while in the fridge, and even survive minimum pasteurization times!
 
#8 ·
All true, and food micro biology is fascinating, I worked in a frzn food factory for a year in QC.

I think we're all pretty cautious about raw chicken, Im just saying Ive cooked literally thousands

of pieces of the little cluckers in various ways,both in catering and for me and family, and

have never had a problem im aware of. Im just careful about temps and cross contamination,

especially in the home, where various operations arent usually as separated as they are in a

commercial kitchen environment.

A big part of course is from where youre getting your chicken in the first place.
 
#9 ·
OP, this isn't meant to be derogatory towards you, but I genuinely don't understand how someone can think that rinsing a piece of chicken in warm water for a few seconds will harm anything. People are way too cautious with this stuff IMO. I mean, yes, take some precautions with food safety obviously, but not being hampered by things like rinsing for 5 seconds in warm water...

I personally do my chicken breasts at 138F sous vide for an hour and a half. BEAUTIFUL chicken...most tender juicy chicken I've had. My customers love it too!
 
#10 · (Edited)
Here are some tips to keep in mind when handling chicken. 

1)  If you must wash it - a few seconds under cold water will do

2) Wash everything it touches - hot water and soap.  The water should be as hot as you can stand it.  When it reaches the temp where you can barely stand it, make it a little hotter. 

3) Wash your hands each time after you handle the chicken.  So many people forget and touch other things like pot lids and handles, knives, the refrigerator door......you get the point.

4) If you are putting the chicken in a plastic bag to marinate or freeze, wash your hands BEFORE you seal the bag

5) If you use a knife or utensil on the raw chicken, only use that knife or utensil on the chicken.  If you only have one knife or utensil, see #2.  Make sure you wash the utensils before you use them on the cooked chicken.

6) Do not baste the chicken with the same marinade that it soaked in.  Make a separate batch.

7) Marinade your chicken in the fridge - 4 to 6 hours should be plenty of time, less if the marinade contains some form of acid such as citrus or vinegar (the acidity will actually begin to break down the chicken)

8) If you often prepare chicken, make it a point to have a cutting board dedicated exclusively for chicken.  I have one for non protein items (several, actually), one for red meats and pork, one for seafood and one for poultry. 

9) Familiarize yourself with the proper cleaning and care of your cutting boards

10) Wash everything (this one is so important, it has to be listed twice).

Your home state will probably offer some sort of food handling course.  They are usually free and usually offered on line.  If there is a fee for the course, its usually nominal.  In some states, you can't work in a commercial kitchen or handle food served to the public without one.  Even though working in a commercial kitchen or serving food to the public may not be your goal, the course will offer some very good information on food safety and handling. 

Good luck!  :)
 
#14 ·
Although the OP does not specify, I think the chicken that she wants to marinate are parts, not the whole bird. 

Otherwise, I agree that washing a whole bird with the exception of rinsing the cavity is really not necessary. 
 
#19 ·
I rinse meat (except ground meat) because I can't stand the bloody liquid that accumulates in the wrapper. With chicken, the cavity has bits of gut tissue that I also find unappetizing. So I rinse the cavity well. If I'm not going to truss, I cut off the neck and tail. I just rinsed and dried a chicken, covered it in a herb dry brine/rub. Put it back in the refrigerator uncovered. I'll roast it tomorrow. I've cooked chicken like this for years without an incident of foodborne illness. The only time I ever got sick from eating at home was a result of store bought cheese. Everyone in the family who ate the cheese got sick. Those who didn't eat it were fine.
 
#21 ·
AH. That explains it. You get your chicken in a wrapper, and the wrapper is probably full of chicken juices.

I get my chicken dry, enveloped in butcher paper.
Yes the wrapper is always full of that bloody juice. When it comes to fish, beef, and pork, it's always the butcher. But every time I buy that $20 organic whole chicken from the butcher, it turns out dry. A few weeks I ago when I was shopping for groceries I asked why the cheap chicken in refrigerator case always turned out juicy, and the expensive chicken always turned out so dry the breasts are completely inedible. The answer was it was probably because the salt water solution used in cheap chicken may be acting like a brine.

I find the same issues with the cooked rotisserie chickens. Whole Foods organic rotisserie chicken is so dry it will make me choak.
 
#23 ·
Although the OP does not specify, I think the chicken that she wants to marinate are parts, not the whole bird.

Otherwise, I agree that washing a whole bird with the exception of rinsing the cavity is really not necessary.
Go back and re-read the OP. She refers to the chicken as "it." She continues calling the chicken "it."

No parts.
 
#24 ·
Go back and re-read the OP. She refers to the chicken as "it." She continues calling the chicken "it."

No parts.
I think what she said could be interpreted both ways. Marinating an entire chicken in the way she describes really makes no sense. That is why I think she is actually talking about parts and not a whole bird. But, I freely admit the possibility that you could be right and she is talking about a whole bird. Either way, I never said she must definitely wash the chicken. I said "if [she] must wash it, a few seconds under cold water will do." :)
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top