Are You Still Rinsing Poultry? PLEASE, Fuggetaboutit!!!

Posted on 13 December 2007 under Food Safety

Longtime readers of this blog will already know my feelings on food safety related to the traditional task of rinsing meats and poultry as part of their preparation. For those who missed it, back on July 23rd I wrote a four-part post in one day, all of it on food safety issues. In Part 3 I reiterated a section from an even earlier post. Here’s a snippet:

What’s the key to safe chicken? Rinse it?? Umm, no, that’s not it. Bacteria like to swim. Rinsing only moves them around without getting rid of them. I’m not ServSafe certified (maybe at some point this year), but I have a copy of the coursebook right here. Let’s see, rinsing chicken, rinsing … chicken … poultry … nope, rinsing ain’t in there.

This here ServSafe book says to cook chicken to a minimum internal temperature of 165°F (74°C) for 15 seconds. For his roast chicken or “poulet roti”, Chef Tony [Bourdain] simply gives oven temps and specific timings, and then says, “If you’re worried about undercooking, with the point of a small knife or with a skewer or cake tester, you can poke the fat part of the thigh. If the liquid that runs out is clear — not pink or red — your bird is cooked.”

As it turns out, rinsing chicken, poultry, meats of any kind, is actually more dangerous than previously thought. Over in Great Britain they have the Food Standards Agency to study and regulate these kinds of issues. Yesterday, the BBC News web site reported on the agency’s findings in this area:

Eight out of 10 people wash their turkeys before cooking them, a survey finds - significantly increasing the risk of food poisoning … The Food Standards Agency (FSA) found women aged over 45 were the most likely offenders, with the North-East of England the worst black spot … The FSA warns against washing meat because harmful bacteria can splash to worktops, dishes and utensils … Germs that cause food poisoning can linger on surfaces for days.

To me, one later sentence in the article is the real kicker:

Results from the survey show that 17% of people are not sure how to tell when their turkey is cooked.

Ouch.

While the FSA’s own page on this issue doesn’t carry temperature info, the BBC News article does say to ensure turkey meat reaches a temperature of 70C [158F] for at least two minutes. Unfortunately, the UK government’s Eatwell web page on cooking turkey doesn’t give a final temperature either. What they do instead is give guesses as to how to tell:

These are the three main ways to tell if poultry is cooked:

  • the meat should be piping hot all the way through
  • when you cut into the thickest part of the meat, none of the meat should be pink
  • if juices run out when you pierce the turkey, or when you press the thigh, they should be clear

Ummmm … no.

Let’s look at these three statements:

  • The meat should be piping hot all the way through — How are you supposed to check this? Cut into every possible portion and touch it with your bare finger? Maybe taste tests? And what if Grandma’s cooking and she just doesn’t like her food to be as “piping hot” as it should be? The phrase “piping hot” is far too ambiguous for this statement to be of any accuracy.
  • When you cut into the thickest part of the meat, none of the meat should be pink — Not! Ok, so that’s a double-negative … From Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook: “Hell, most people figure that if the crispy skin tastes good, and there’s no yucky blood or pink stuff near the bone, that’s a fine roast chicken … Chicken should taste like chicken. Understand also that legs and breasts cook at different rates. In your zeal to make sure that there is no pink (eek!) or red (oooohh!) anywhere in the legs, you are often criminally overcooking your breasts. Find a happy medium. A little pink color by the thigh bone does not necessarily mean you are eating rare poultry.” When it comes to pink poultry, common sense makes the most sense.
  • If juices run out when you pierce the turkey, or when you press the thigh, they should be clear — Bourdain agrees: “If you’re worried about undercooking, with the point of a small knife or with a skewer or cake tester, you can poke the fat part of the thigh. If the liquid that runs out is clear — not pink or red — your bird is cooked.”

Here are the two statements you should follow for checking to see if that turkey’s done, in this order:

  • Using an insta-read thermometer ($5 just about anywhere), ensure turkey meat reaches a temperature of 158F (70C) for at least two minutes.
  • With the point of a small knife or with a skewer or cake tester, you can poke the fat part of the thigh. If the liquid that runs out is clear — not pink or red — your bird is cooked.

That’s it. It’s that simple. And if it’s a little bit pink, that’s ok … you’ve killed the bacteria, which is what really matters.

And remember: Don’t rinse your poultry! In doing so, you’re doing you, and your loved ones, more harm than good.

Read Comments

  1. 18 December 2007 @ 6:12 am Posted by JEP

    I share your high regards for food safety & sanitation! With this busy food time of year, santitation sometimes slips—thanks for the reminders!

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