RINSING RAW CHICKEN

Photo from JK Sloan on unspalsh.

Q: Should I rinse off—or not—raw chicken with running water at the sink before prepping it for roasting? The fear is that the rinsed-off water will contaminate the surfaces it touches. Joanne.

A: Joanne: I rinse a raw chicken under the sink's running water (cool not cold, definitely not hot). So, is the surface of the sink and its tub now contaminated? I guess so, maybe, but I'm not worried about that because, in any case, I will wash it all anyway after I am done rinsing.

Other safe practices: I dry off the raw chicken, inside and out, with paper towels and toss them. If the chicken has been placed on the cutting board (almost always unless I am just boiling it whole to make broth), I clean the board with soapy warm water after cutting up the raw chicken or use another board for any subsequent knife prep on any other items.

Basically, if raw chicken—even if rinsed off beforehand—touches any surface (including my bare hands), I wash that surface in soapy warm water before anything or any other food ingredient touches the same surface.