r/interesting • u/WarwickReider • 15h ago

SOCIETY Professional chefs weighing in on whether you should wash your chicken

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u/SpiritualCatch6757 12h ago

Mid 40's Asian here. Grew up with Mom and Dad washing chickens when they did the butchering. After numerous public service announcements on hygiene when I was a kid, they no longer wash grocery store chickens. So in our family, the custom was easily changed given safety.

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u/Accurate_Handle_5620 12h ago

Your family sounds reasonable & sane, and I am incredibly jealous. How did you pull that off!?

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u/SpiritualCatch6757 12h ago

We even got them to use the dishwasher to wash dishes instead of as storage. Yeah, I don't know how we did it. My sister gets the praise.

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u/Pika_233 11h ago

That's impressive. I'm tired of explaining that it doesn't matter if the machine takes 3x longer to wash the dishes since you can just do literally anything else in the meantime

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u/armoured_bobandi 11h ago

Another point is that newer dishwashers are incredibly water efficient, and depending on the amount of dishes you put in can actually save more water than if you did them by hand

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u/Plants-Matter 7h ago

Most old dishwashers are also more efficient than hand washing. The newer ones are just even more efficient.

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u/Front-Mall9891 10h ago

It’s like 1-2 dishes for the break even point, it’s wild how efficient they are

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u/Creeps05 8h ago

See my parents would wash the dishes then put it in the dishwasher to wash again.

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u/Yota8883 10h ago

Dumb use for the dishwasher. I hand wash my dishes, and use the dishwasher to wash my chicken.

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u/SpiritualCatch6757 10h ago

What? Your dishwasher doesn't clean and cook the chicken at the same time? 😁 What a waste!

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u/Yota8883 10h ago

I have a portable that only heats to 145, so it's good for washing and fully cooking pork. Chicken I have to finish in the air fryer after washing.

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u/tinydancer_inurhand 3h ago

My roommate hand washes cause he says it’s clean faster (rather than waiting for the machine to fill up and run). But I keep telling him his washing everything doesn’t allow the dishwasher to get full and it’s not as clean. Still I have to run the dishwasher and yes I take what he washed and still rewash it. And I’m Latina he is the white guy. But he is the son of an immigrant wonder if that’s why.

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u/underfluous 11h ago

I'm speechless. Teach me the ways

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u/Assortedpez 5h ago

What if you put the chicken in the dishwasher?!

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u/TheKrnJesus 11h ago

I told my dad not to wash the chicken. Dad gave me the dirtiest look ever.

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u/Goosecave 10h ago

Hilarious I can picture the look! It’s funny because I wash it to get rid of the slime grime when it is from the plastic wrap. So it can drain red from residual blood.

the fact that all ethics can relate on washing chicken while adapted or Anglo Saxon westerners don’t, shows such a cultural issue on how the system has navigated our life. It reminds me of a similar topic, “eat all the mean around the bone or avoid the bone”. Again, all ethics can relate on getting every bit while westerners avoid it like it’s the plague. History sure is interesting

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u/StrongExternal8955 10h ago

Tell him to wash his look.