Caution in the kitchen

[LaNiña]

So I handled quite a bit of raw chicken this evening, and I was pretty careful. I know there's a level (or two or three) of more caution that I could pay attention to, but I don't. I will admit that sometimes if I'm lazy or in a hurry, I don't wash my fruits and vegetables as much as I might.

How about you? And any effects of not being cautious, in your experience? Other examples of this kind of thing?

[tommy]

i'm rather sloppy with vegetables and fruits, i don't sanitize boards enough after handling chicken, and i've never gotten ill by my own hand, as far as i know. with all of the time i've spent in the kitchen, i can't help but think the odds are pretty low. however, some need to be more careful than others, as some of what lives in a kitchen can kill some people.

[Jinmyo]

I used to use a biohazard suit and just take not of the food using a clipboard and breathe through an oxygen tank.

I'm more confodent now and actually use well washed hands. That I wash again and again. Especially if I want to rub my eyes after slicing a half bushel of Thai bird chiles.

[Blue Heron]

I tend to be fairly cautious with my cutting boards (go into dishwasher after each use), wash sponges, careful about cross contamination, washing melons, avacados, etc. before slicing, etc. Never had a bad experience that I know of. Sometimes I don't wash my chicken/chicken pieces before cooking, as I've heard that just spreads germs around the kitchen & sink, and germs will be killed during the cooking process anyway. However, my cat has been known to jump on my counters from time to time, which does not freak me out, so I'm sure I'm exposed to plenty of germs.

Jinmyo, my neighbor accidentally rubbed some wasabi in his eyes once. He said it was not very pleasant either. A biohazard suit is not a bad idea.

[Shiva]

However, my cat has been known to jump on my counters from time to time, which does not freak me out, so I'm sure I'm exposed to plenty of germs. 

Now that would freak me out. I know where that cat's feet have been and what kind of diseases cats can carry.

I use one polyethylene cutting board for raw meats and a wood board for cooked meats and vegetables. I don't worry much about pesticides on fruits and vegetables.

[Rachel Perlow]

washing melons

Let me loudly second that. Worst "tummy upset" ever was this past summer from an unwashed watermelon. Doesn't matter that you are only eating the inside, the knife touches the outside of the rind before the flesh. Now I scrub all melons with a brush and anti-bacterial dish soap.

[foodgeek]

I've eaten a lot of unwashed fruit (usually on the run) with no ill effects. I've been more careful lately.

I will say that i'm more careful with scalding pasta water after pouring some on my feet a couple of years ago. I wasn't wearing shoes, only socks. Ouch.

[Blue Heron]

washing melons

Let me loudly second that. Worst "tummy upset" ever was this past summer from an unwashed watermelon. Doesn't matter that you are only eating the inside, the knife touches the outside of the rind before the flesh. Now I scrub all melons with a brush and anti-bacterial dish soap.

Rachel, sorry to hear you got sick. I wash our melons at home now after a publicized outbreak of e-coli that was traced to cut melons (exactly how you described, too, the knife carrying the bacteria to the inside of the melon).

As for the cat germs on the counter, I don't worry about them. A little cleanser takes care of that, and I don't eat off the counters anyway. Plus, he's a really sweet & clean cat (he smells naturally like perfume), I'm sure he doesn't have too many germs anyway.

Does anyone wash the triple prewashed veggies, spinach and salad mixes they buy? I have to admit, I do.

[snowangel]

washing melons

Let me loudly second that. Worst "tummy upset" ever was this past summer from an unwashed watermelon. Doesn't matter that you are only eating the inside, the knife touches the outside of the rind before the flesh. Now I scrub all melons with a brush and anti-bacterial dish soap.

Diana's recent science experiment showed that a good brushing (hands or food) with regular Ivory soap (bar or liquid) did a BETTER job than most antibacterial soaps. And, there is a real concern (my sister is a scientist) about antibacterials -- not only do they lead people to believe that they are better and safer, but building resistence to the things they are supposed to kill.

[Fat Guy]

It occurs to me, it would be interesting to bring a restaurant sanitation consultant (maybe we could get Malawry's guru) into several people's home kitchens in order to see how we'd fare if judged by restaurant criteria. It would be so interesting, in fact, that I'm quite certain every newspaper editor I ask about it will say, "Nobody wants to read that."

For example, I've definitely got a mouse and possibly two mice in my kitchen. And I'm at a big disadvantage in the war against them because I have a pet so I can't use all the technologies available to me. Have I told you all the story of Momo trying to catch the mouse?

I can see my report now:

FAT-GUY.COM, NEW YORK, NY 10128

Inspection Date: 10/21/2002

Violations were cited in the following significant area(s) and those requiring immediate action were addressed at the time of inspection:

1 - Hot food not held at or above 140°F.

2 - Cold food held above 45°F (smoked fish above 38°F) except during necessary preparation.

3 - Food protection certificate not held by supervisor of food operations.

4 - Vermin or other live animal present in food storage, preparation or service area.

5 - Food not cooked to required minimum temperature.

6 - Nuisance created or allowed to exist. Facility not free from unsafe, hazardous, offensive or annoying condition.

7 - Canned food product observed swollen, leaking, rusted, or severely dented.

8 - Food not cooled by an approved method whereby the internal product temperature is reduced from 140°F to 70°F or less within 2 hours and from 70°F to 45°F or less within 4 additional hours.

9 - Food from unapproved or unknown source, spoiled, adulterated or home canned.

10 - Appropriately scaled metal stem-type thermometer not provided or used to evaluate temperatures of potentially hazardous foods during cooking,cooling,reheating and holding.

11 - Toxic chemical improperly labeled, stored or used so that contamination of food may occur.

12 - Food worker does not use a proper utensil to eliminate bare hand contact with food that will not receive adequate additional heat treatment.

[snowangel]

Please relate story of Momo trying to catch mouse; due to some serious cat allergies in our household, a cat is not an option. Due to current kitchen remodel (baseboards and a cupboard gone), I have had recent problem with mice, and have had fabulous success with basic Victor mouse trap, baited with sunflowers mixed with chunky peanut butter. According to other local "experts," metropolitan mice have learned skill to lick creamy peanut butter off of traps, but are so enchanted with the chunks of peanuts and peanut butter-coated sunflowers that they find themselves in quite a "bind." I do know where they are breaching my house, so have placed traps accordingly. So sucessful has this been that I have had no signs of mice for two weeks now, which is especially encouraging since our temperatures, which are dipping by the day, indicate now is the prime time for the vermin to seek a warm and friendly abode.

The mouse thing has freaked me out. One of my children is somewhat medically fragile, so I am in compliance with the other stuff on your list. It's not easy, but then it's a lot easier than the potential problems we face.

[Blue Heron]

What?? You have a real mouse in your kitchen? Really? Not that I would pass a kitchen inspection due to my cat. I'd let you borrow him, but he's not allowed to eat mice.

A couple of times when I was growing up our petstore-bought chipmunk (Alvin) escaped. One time we found in him in the hide-a-bed and the other time he had had made a nest out of my mother's purse in the drawer below the oven. If you have a drawer below the oven, check it out, it's nice cozy warm under there and you might find your mouse.

[Fat Guy]

13 - Unsupervised free-roaming canine in food preparation area performing occasional full-body shake propelling saliva and fur at multiple vectors and at temperatures not below 45°F and not above 140°F.

I shall now relate the story of Momo versus the mouse.

One afternoon not too long ago I walked into the apartment and saw a little dark shadowy thing move across the floor out of the corner of my eye. At the time I dismissed it as the early stages of glaucoma or a degenerative neurological disorder. But then later the same day I saw the same shadowy effect in the kitchen, on the counter to the left of the stove.

At that point my theory was that I was dealing with a massive waterbug or other insect. I saw the shadow go from the counter to behind one of the cast-iron skillets that always stays on the stovetop. So I lifted the skillet thinking it would reveal the bug and I could crush it with the skillet -- very convenient -- but it wasn't there.

Then I thought and thought and said, okay, it couldn't have disappeared, so it must have gone into one of the burners. So I thought about would I rather have a bug in the stove alive or cooked to a crisp and I figured I'd just cook the thing for an hour or so and then clean up the ashes later.

Well, I fired up all four burners to maximum and much to my surprise a little mouse ran out of the back left burner, down the side of the counter, and across the living room towards my office.

At which point the mouse came face-to-face with Momo.

Momo was asleep with one eye open right in front of the entrance to the office -- one of his favorite spots because it keeps him closest to where I usually am yet affords a panoramic view of the living-room and kitchen.

The mouse stopped short. Momo slowly raised another eyebrow. The mouse started faking left, faking right, and trying to figure out where it would go. Momo went back to sleep.

So, in the most confident and commanding voice I could muster up, I said: "Go get it, boy!" Momo didn't do anything. Eventually the mouse, still panicking, made up its mind and started to run back towards me. Momo finally realized the potential for a chase, looked at me, looked at the mouse, looked at me again, and bolted after the mouse.

He chased the mouse across the living-room and into the kitchen but as they were approaching the bedroom the mouse took a hairpin turn into one of the bathrooms -- and Momo went in after it. There was much clomping as I tried to catch up and turn on the bathroom light. But by the time I made it there the mouse had exited the bathroom and was running back towards the living-room. Momo, for his part, was still in the bathroom, snorting and jumping on stuff. He didn't seem to notice that the mouse had run out.

So I grabbed the skillet again and went after the mouse, which again eluded capture by ducking into the other bathroom. I followed in an attempt to find the mouse. But try as I might, I couldn't find him. He must have found a crack or something to escape into. Finally Momo figured out that the action had relocated to the other bathroom so he came galloping around the corner and started trying to bite the skillet. Then he got in his play crouch and barked and wiggled his butt. He was a bit confused, I guess because he was bred to fight bulls not to catch mice and also because he's a city dog not a country dog.

Well, it was a lot of excitement for one day.

[Rachel Perlow]

I laughed till I cried and nearly peed my pants! Sounds incredibly like a Tom & Jerry cartoon (the ones with the bulldog).

Did I mention that Bailey came into the house a couple weeks ago with another mouse? Eek. Got him outside and made him drop it. It was shortly after we came back from vacation. Everytime we go on vacation the mice take up residence in our backyard only to be killed by dog or lawnmower upon our return.

[Saffy]

Something to think about ....

Too Clean?

[Suzanne F]

I laughed till I cried and nearly peed my pants!

me too.

Our neighborhood is rife with critters. And everytime the street gets torn up (like, ever other day), they all look for new homes. Fortunately our super is the biggest clean-freak, so the building is pretty empty of unexpected animals. But when we did have mice, we got some pellets of pretty turquoise poison that we placed near likely points of entrance/exit. No pets, so not a worry about that. Seemed to work.

BTW: the mice in my kitchen cabinets preferred Hershey's chocolate chips to Nestle's -- ate through one bag but not the other. Or maybe the other way around. Anyway ...

[Fat Guy]

With us it's no doubt due to the renovation going on in the building next door. Our apartment and building are exceptionally clean, but once they show up they have a tendency to set up camp and not go away. Since they seem to be able to survive by eating anything -- cardboard, wood, carpets, whetever -- just keeping what we think of as food away from them doesn't do the trick. We have the pet/child-safe bait boxes. These are little black boxes with holes in the sides just big enough for a mouse. You put the aquamarine-colored poison chunks in the boxes and lock them shut. But the poison only does so much. What I'm tols is that traps are also part of a good strategy against rodents but there really aren't any good traps that are compatible with pets.

[CathyL]

I laughed till I cried and nearly peed my pants!

me too.

Me three. We referred to our bulldog's play crouch as 'fighting position,' by the way.

Years ago we lived in a garden apartment that occasionally attracted field mice to and through the back door. One morning I woke up to an odd noise from the kitchen. A small mouse (very cute, actually) had landed in the dog's water bowl and was paddling away trying to escape. The dog, awake and sprawled comfortably nearby, seemed bored. Not enough sport to be worth the chase, I guess. I lifted the mouse by the tail and carried it outside. The dog went back to sleep.

To Nina's original question: I'm mindful of cross-contamination and I don't buy shrink-wrapped supermarket chicken or ground beef, but would certainly fail a sanitation inspection otherwise. Good sense and caution are appropriate - especially if, like snowangel, anyone in the household has medical issues - but too many people have been scared out of the kitchen by the food police.

[Suzanne F]

One more critter comment: glue traps are the pits. I felt so bad for the little guys who got caught on them. Ugh.

[Fat Guy]

Yes, they are awful, evil, horrible devices. But they really work, especially if you augment their bait with some cheese. During the one other infestation we've had (which coincided with the renovation of the building on the other side of ours, and was in our pre-dog era), we put down a combination of poison and glue traps and the entire thing was over in a couple of days. It was rather hilarious, however, us two city people trying to figure out how to dispose of a dead mouse and glue trap without touching it, looking at it, or thinking about it!

[CathyL]

Post-dog, we had a rat (eeeeeeuuuuuuuwwwww) in the house. I set out a big-ass spring trap baited with cheese.

One night we were downstairs watching the news and heard a loud THUMP THUMP from upstairs. I ran up and found a water rat the size of Tommy's kittens with its tail caught in the trap. It was scrambling to squeeze through a crack in the molding, trying to shake off the trap in the process.

My husband decided it was a good time to hunt for solutions in a hall closet.

I picked up the pizzelle iron, wrapped the business end in a plastic trash bag, and neatly, quickly, numbly brought it down on the rat's neck. Then I unwrapped the trash bag to enclose the dead rat, of which I disposed. Then I had a shot of Laphroiag.

[Shermar]

I laughed till I cried and nearly peed my pants! .

.

MOMO my HERO!!!

[Wilfrid]

I am very slapdash, probably because I cannot recall any time I have ever got sick from eating at home, except rare occasions when the foodstuff itself was the problem, not kitchen hygiene. On the other hand, I have had food poisoning many times over the years from restaurants. I calculate that if I am going to continue to patronize restaurants, there is not much point being obsessive about my own kitchen.

[Charles Smith]

I'm paranoid about poultry and wash obsessively after cutting it, etc. but that's nothing compared to my insistence that anyone doing anything in the kitchen has to wear shoes.