To wash or not to wash: what to do with meat before using it to prepare your favorite dishes
Whether or not to wash meat before cooking is a controversial issue among professional chefs.
Many housewives prefer to wash meat before cooking it, while catering workers do not do this, considering it a waste of time. Expert of the online publication BelNovosti, chef Yulia Arkhipova, expressed her opinion on this matter.
In their work, professional chefs are guided by several basic principles.
Firstly, regular meat washing cannot completely remove microorganisms. Only special disinfectants can effectively cleanse meat from bacteria and other microbes.
Secondly, most types of meat are supplied in special packaging, in a gas environment or vacuum, where bacteria are practically absent.
In addition, many bacteria in meat are destroyed by the marinade process, especially if the marinade is acidic or salty. So when meat is cooked by heat treatment - such as boiling, frying, or baking - the meat is safe to eat.
We should also consider the quality of the water we use to wash the meat. Tap water is not always clean, so this factor should be taken into account when deciding whether to wash the meat.
The only exception is game, which is recommended to be soaked in water. In other cases, washing the meat is considered unnecessary.
To sum up: the decision to wash meat remains at the discretion of the cook.
Earlier we told you how to bake diet pancakes .
