6 Foods That Don’t Require Washing Beforehand

Before cooking food, it is natural to want it to be clean to avoid getting food poisoning. However, rinsing some meats, fruits, vegetables and grains with water can actually be detrimental. The last thing you want is to actually increase the odds of getting sick! So what should you do to ensure your food is free of bacteria? Take a look at these suggestions.

Poultry and fish

Running your raw chicken or fish fillets through the faucet before cooking them might sound like a good idea when you want to clean it, but really isn’t helpful at all. In fact, not only does it do nothing to clean your food, it can actually contaminate it further since all you’re really doing is spreading the germs. The best way to ensure your fish and chicken are free of bacteria is to cook it properly.

Beef

There are a couple of reasons why you shouldn’t wash your steaks with water beforehand. First, just like with washing chicken or fish, rinsing beef with water will only spread out the bacteria. The second reason has to do with taste. When cooking beef, the additional moisture creates steam that affects the quality of the meat. When cooking sirloin and even ground chuck, you want to achieve the perfect sear. The only way to do this is to limit the amount of water. But if you really can’t get over the habit of washing your beef with water, at least pat it down with a paper towel to remove as much moisture as possible before cooking. You should also make sure to clean the kitchen counter and other services that come into contact with the meat. Of course, it is perfectly fine to marinate the steaks, but just make sure to keep it refrigerated. And once you start cooking it, thoroughly wash the container of access marinade in order to prevent food poisoning.