Did You Know – To Rinse Or Not To Rinse
Pre-washed Produce
Fresh produce is high on the list of things we really should wash before eating, especially if it will be eaten raw without cooking. Cooking is the stage that kills bacteria, which is why vegetables such as lettuce and sprouts so often cause foodborne illness.
While the USDA endorses washing or rinsing most produce before you eat or cut into it, there’s a noteworthy exception. If you regularly buy bagged or packaged fresh produce that’s labeled as “prerinsed” or “prewashed,” you can save yourself a trip to the sink. Those foods are meticulously cleaned during the production process and then sealed inside sterile packaging, so it’s safe to eat them straight out of the bag.
Fresh Poultry
I know a lot of people who get a definite “ick” at the very thought of washing their holiday bird or a piece of raw chicken. Many force themselves to do it, though – gloves are your friend! – because chicken is strongly associated with the risk of illness.
Here’s the thing: It’s true that nasty bugs such as salmonella and E. coli are often found on chicken, but washing them doesn’t help a whole lot. Salmonella is difficult to wash off, for example, and with E. coli, even a small number of surviving bacteria can still make you sick. Cooking to the recommended temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit is the only way to make sure your chicken is safe.
Washing it has the exact opposite effect because if any bacteria are present on your chicken, they will spatter all over you and the area around your sink. That increases the risk of transferring those bacteria to other foods or utensils, so it’s really not worth the risk. The only time you should rinse chicken is after you’ve brined the bird, simply because the excess salt needs to be rinsed off.
Fresh Meats and Fish
Fresh meats and fish are also poor candidates for washing, largely for the same reasons as raw chicken. Take a look at the surface of that chop or steak you’ve just pulled out of the refrigerator: It’s porous and filled with crevices where it was sliced from a larger cut. The most diligent washing you can muster won’t get the bacteria out of them, and you’ll likely spatter bacteria around your kitchen while trying.
There are other, equally pragmatic reasons for not rinsing meats and fish. Adding unnecessary moisture is the biggest one. Even after blotting your chops or filets carefully on a paper towel, they’ll still retain some added water. That can prevent the breading or batter from sticking to your fish or chicken-fried steak.
Even worse, it inhibits browning when your steak or chop hits the pan or grill. That moisture must be converted to steam and dissipated before browning can even start, so your steaks and chops will lose out on the flavor boost they would otherwise get from a good, hard sear.
Store-Bought Eggs
With store-bought eggs, that’s not something you’ll typically need to do. By law, all USDA-graded eggs must be washed and sanitized before they reach consumers. (Egg grading is not mandatory, however, so you should look for the USDA shield on your egg carton.) An additional wash is not necessary and could even do more harm than good. At best, you’re wasting a few precious minutes of your day by washing them, and at worst – according to the USDA – you may actually contaminate the eggs yourself. Go ahead and use those store-bought eggs as is, and don’t worry about scrubbing them clean.
Frozen Produce
Fresh produce is a prime candidate for rinsing or washing, as we’ve already mentioned, but the same doesn’t hold true for frozen produce. At first blush this may seem odd: It’s the same plant, so why rinse fresh broccoli, for instance, but not frozen?
The answer is that frozen vegetables are processed with food safety in mind at the manufacturing facility. They’re not only washed (a lot more thoroughly than you could at home), but they’re also parcooked or “blanched” to help preserve their color and switch off the enzymes that cause spoilage. That’s enough to kill most bacteria, and any that remain can’t reproduce at freezer temperatures. So giving them a further rinse at home is pointless.
The only exception to that rule is if you’ve forgotten to seal the bag, and the veggies are crusted with ice. Rinsing the ice away will show you whether your food is freezer-burnt, and also reduces the likelihood of having off flavors from the freezer.
Packaged Pasta
Pasta is a less-obvious candidate for this list, because as a shelf-stable dried food, it’s already food safe by definition. The only reason some people feel impelled to give it a quick rinse is that sometimes dried pasta seems to have loose, powdery starch on the noodles or in the package.
It’s not something you need to worry about. The extra starch comes off quickly enough in your cooking water anyway, and in fact, some famous recipes – like cacio e pepe – rely on starchy pasta water to help make the sauce. A bit of extra starch, in that case, is actually a positive.
You should especially not rinse pasta after it’s cooked. Freshly cooked pasta has a starchy, gelatinized surface that helps your sauce cling to the noodles, instead of pooling on your plate. The only time you should rinse pasta after it’s cooked is if you’re going to be eating it cold or saving it for later. Then, rinsing helps keep the pasta from clumping together as it cools.
Most Store Bought Canned Foods
Most of us, even dedicated foodies, keep a few kinds of canned foods in our pantries.
They’re convenient to have on hand: Canned beans lend themselves to impromptu dishes a lot better than dried beans, and canned potatoes are ready to slice into a hot skillet at a moment’s notice for home fries.
Most of these foods don’t need to be rinsed. They’re food safe and thoroughly cooked when they leave the cannery, and the liquids inside the cans are usually salted water (for vegetables) or a light sugar syrup (for fruit). Yes, there are a few preservatives as well, but they’re pretty innocuous and not a lot stays on the food after it’s drained.
Canned beans are a judgment call, depending on the recipe you’re making. Often a quick strain is all they need, though some recipes may call for rinsing away the thick liquid from the can. It’s just water thickened with the beans’ own starch, so you don’t need to compulsively wash it away. In fact, the liquid from chickpeas (aquafaba) is a versatile vegan ingredient in its own right.
Source: House Outlook
Image: AI Photo room
http://www.InDianesKitchen.com
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Categories: Beef, Chicken, Did You Know, Fish, Pasta, Vegetables/Slaws/Salads
Useful information
Thank you Derrick!
Great article – Spot on about the chicken. I just pat dry with paper towels to remove any excess moisture.
Thanks Randy!
You’re welcome 👍🏼🤓
Thanks so much Ned!
I don’t wash my meat before cooking. I know some people find that gross but I’m gonna cook it anyway – and well – so I avoid having the germs splatter all over my sink and counter areas that way.
You are doing it right Ab! I have always washed a turkey or chicken with skin or if it has a slimy feel to it. I know it doesn’t kill all the bacteria but I make sure there are no clean dishes in the sink or on the counter and I do spend the extra minutes sanitizing. Some habits are hard to break. 🤷🏽♀️
You do what works best for you. 😊
I grew up rinsing chicken; my husband stopped rinsing at some point with new information. I have always felt uneasy about that so I appreciated your explanation of why we shouldn’t!
I still rinse mine even though they say don’t. I have always sanitized everything when I’m done rinsing. My husband (Health Inspector) reminds me I don’t need to since it’s being cooked, but I still do. I watch a lot of cooking shows and it grosses me out when they leave their dirty rings on, touch their hair and their nose. I am the cleanest cook you would ever meet. 🤣
So … it sounds like we really don’t need to wash much of anything …?
I do wash my produce if it’s not organic with a solution of salt and lemon juice, which allegedly neutralizes pesticides. Do you know if that’s true or urban legend?
The solutions do work and this is the one I love for fruit. https://indianeskitchen.com/2022/04/11/fresh-fruit-wash-solution/
Great information Diane. Someone told me to use baking soda and water to clean fresh fruit. Have you heard of that? I’ve never tried it
This is what I found to be the best way. https://indianeskitchen.com/2022/04/11/fresh-fruit-wash-solution
Thanks Diane I shall try that!
I have never thought about washing eggs (I’m glad to see it’s not necessary either). Again, an interesting post, thank you Diane!
Fresh eggs from a farm can sit on a counter for sometime. You probably know this but when the eggs get sanitized it removes the coating, from when they were laid, that protects them from bacteria entering the shell.
good to remember
Yes! Have a great week Beth!
That was interesting Diane, especially for me who is not a cook. I know, even with gloves on, I could not touch the chicken as I would get a definite “ick” factor. I never thought about washing egg as you are cracking them most time anyway. But I have an “ick” factor about something and am unsure what I want to do – thank goodness of most of my canned veggies downstairs on shelves, all but about 35, were used over the Winter, Spring and early Summer, but a fly got in the basement in June … usually they die after a few days. I blocked the kitchen door to the cellarway so it could not get upstairs, but a week later I went downstairs and there is was sitting on the box where I keep the A/C filters – I was going to get it ready if the guy said it needed it (I check them once a month, more so in Winter and change them if needed). Alive after one week and sitting all over on the canned goods. I can’t deal with it, even with a disinfectant wipe to be honest.
It has to be a good idea to wash the top of the cans before opening them. I’m like you with flies or bugs of any kind in my house. I love the device you plug into the outlet, it has a sticky pad that slides in and a blue light that attracts the insects. The flies, small moths and fruit flies go right to it and stick like the mouse sticky pads do. I do rinse my chicken or turkey and have done it my entire cooking life, however, I sanitize everything when I’m done. Usually it’s because there is still pin feathers, gross!
I do that if I buy the V-8 in cans … I have not bought them in a little while. I prefer them over cold juice. I don’t drink anything cold since I got my braces off my teeth, they are more sensitive now. I had the silver wraparound your entire tooth braces … for three years. Would you trust having canned items with a fly flying around? I don’t know if it’s good to use a disinfectant around food – do you think soap and water is good enough for where a fly was? I don’t know where the flies are coming from – not just my house. In the Facebook forum, someone mentioned so many flies around this Summer. I think I heard that Vero device advertised on the radio. That is gross having feathers in the chicken. I have to tell you that I could not prepare a chicken and stuff it, etc. I’d watch my mom do it – I am squeamish about things.
Soap and water then rinse is all you will need to do. I try not to let the lid flop into the canned food, that grosses me out.
Well maybe I can salvage them … I left everything downstairs but wiped off the shelves, but because I knew I had the furnace guy coming for a check-up (Thurs. a.m.) and also now my screen door issue, which hopefully does not mean a new door because we have a lot of flies around this Summer – someone wrote about it in the City Residents Forum on Facebook. I can block off the cellarway door to upstairs, but really don’t want any flies going downstairs either – thankfully not started my shopping yet.
You should lay cardboard, parchment paper, newspaper etc on top of them. I know my canned food in our basement tends to get dusty and whatever else I don’t see get on them and I still wash mine off.
I wish I’d thought of it … I saw that fly come into the basement and I thought “well, here we go”. I was thinking of opening them on the opposite side, the bottom where they were sitting, but still wash each one off.
Well why didn’t I think of that? 🤣
That’s rare when I have a better idea than you Diane!
All great tips! Thank you!
You’re welcome Nancy!
Nice post Diane!
Thank you Dorothy!
Good information!
Thank you Mary!
That was useful information. Diane. Esp. the not rinsing chicken. I never have, as I figured it would just wash it into the sink where it would contaminate other stuff.
Believe it or not, even though that is the right thing to do, I have always rinsed my turkey and chicken. I find it easy to see if there are any pin features and I rinse out the cavity. I have done this for decades but I also sanitize everything in and around the sink.
I cook my dressing separate from the bird, but yes, I’ve been known to sanitize the sink!
Great post, Diane. I always rinse my chicken, but won’t anymore.
Thanks Carla!