It may seem counterintuitive to some people, but washing chicken before cooking can actually cause an increased risk of disease.
The biggest concern about washing raw chicken is the increased risk of spreading foodborne illness. Raw chicken and its juices can carry harmful bacteria such as Campylobacter or Salmonella, both of which can cause foodborne illness.
When you rinse the chicken under running water, there is a risk that the water of the chicken and, accordingly, the aforementioned bacteria will splash onto your sink, sink, cutlery, nearby food, and other things around you during this wash. These splashes of chicken juices and bacteria can then cause illness in humans.
However, if you want to reduce the amount of wetness on the chicken before cooking it, you can then rub it with paper towels that you can dispose of properly and carefully and wash your hands well afterwards. The most important point here is to prevent the juices of the raw chicken from spreading around.
If you’re going to cook chicken, be careful.
- Always store raw chicken on the bottom shelf of your freezer or refrigerator. This way, none of the liquids that carry potentially harmful bacteria drip out of the packaging and onto other food.
- Be sure to wash your hands before and after handling raw chicken.
- Use a separate cutting board from all other foods when cutting raw chicken or preparing it for cooking to limit the potential spread of bacteria.
- When cooking chicken, use a clean meat thermometer to make sure the meat is cooked to at least 75 degrees Celsius. Be sure to control the temperature from the thickest part of the meat, as it is the part that cooks the slowest to the required temperature. And of course make sure to wash the meat thermometer before and after each use.
- Be sure to clean and sanitize all surfaces and utensils that may have come into contact with raw chicken before preparing other foods.
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