Stop Rinsing Your Raw Chicken. You Are Actually Making It Less Safe!
Do it now!
By Sadho Ram
Washing raw chicken is an age-old habit among people
Some do it because they think it removes germs, others just want to get the slime off.
This practice of rinsing raw chicken comes from the belief that it's a "safer thing to do".
But what if we told you, you are actually making it less safe?
In fact, washing raw chicken (or pork or fish) is a bad idea
According to Jennifer Quinlan, a food safety researcher at Drexel University, washing raw chicken under running water in your kitchen sink increases the chances that it will spread the foodborne pathogens that are on your chicken all over the rest of your kitchen too, through a process called aerosolization.
Bacteria can fly up to 3 feet away from where your chicken is rinsed. Still not convinced? Check out this "germ-vision" animation that shows how tiny particles of bacteria can spray far and wide when chicken is washed:
What you can do instead, in order to remove the bacteria:
Cook your chicken properly.
Yes, simply take raw chicken straight from the package into the cooking pan. The heat from the cooking process will kill any bacteria that are present.
Chicken needs to reach an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit.