Do you need to wash raw meat and why?

Raw meat enters our kitchen either from the butcher’s counter or from the store shelf. In any case, before cutting, it must pass veterinary control and in any case, it remains “sticky” and whole colonies of microorganisms. So why do cooks say that you can’t wash the meat before cooking?

Hygiene and Hygiene Arguments

First of all, what the cook pays attention to: sending raw meat under a stream of water, you cause two dangerous processes:

• the jet “drives” the infection even deeper into the cut fibers;
• spray, even if you don’t see it, fly everywhere, covering the table, walls, faucet, sink with bacteria - all this must be washed thoroughly using soap or sanitary means, and then wiped dry.

If you bought meat from the counter, in a meat stall, it is best to pat it with paper towels, tweezers or remove fragments with your hands. If you bought meat in a vacuum package, it most likely contains no films, no bone fragments, or other garbage. Such a product should immediately be sent to the oven or stove.

Why washing meat is pointless?

The meat is not eaten raw, in the vast majority of cases. Even if you are puzzled by the production of minced meat, you do not need to wash a piece of meat beforehand. Indeed, in the case of both minced meat and steak, the product will go for heat treatment, and all bacteria will die. It is enough to warm it to 55 degrees, at which the steak turns juicy.

Moreover, because of the water on the surface, the meat will brown badly, and you are unlikely to be able to get a juicy dish with a beautiful crust - waiting for the blush, you will overexpose the core and the taste will be spoiled.

Life hack: the secret of safe steak
If you like a steak with blood, be sure to buy meat from a trusted supplier. And to make sure that the core has warmed up to 55 °, insert a culinary thermometer. He will tell you exactly when the meat is already safe.

It doubly makes no sense to wash the meat before marinating for barbecue. The sauce will saturate the product in the allotted time and completely disinfect, and then the pieces will be well fried on the grill. Just like marinade, jerking and pickling work.

There is no need to wash the meat before freezing, because the extreme cold perfectly disinfects (all pathogens die in a day), in addition, after defrosting, the meat will cook, fry or bake. And even before cooking, this is completely a waste of time and wasting bacteria in the kitchen in vain: the broth boils for at least 40 minutes, and all known bacilli die within 10.

Thus, washing meat before cooking is pointless and even dangerous. Spray flying around can do much more harm than meat that "lay somewhere."

The most important and the only thing that needs to be done for the safety and health of households is to buy the product at proven points, without adhering to garbage and visible dirt, and completely prepare it at home. During frying, do not put the strongest fire - then the meat will fry inside evenly, while outside it grabs with a crust.