5 Foods You Shouldn't Wash Before Cooking

We have prepared for you a list of five products that we are all used to washing before eating, although this is not at all recommended.

We have prepared for you a list of five products that we are all used to washing before eating, although this is not at all recommended.

 

Meat

Why are we used to washing meat? Because we are trying to kill all microorganisms - in particular salmonella. And part of the reason we do this is because we actually wash the germs off the meat—but we leave them on our hands, the sink, and the work surface. The best option would be to simply heat the meat. Many chefs say that any meat needs to be processed twice: when it boils, change the water and continue cooking the dish in the new water.

With fish, everything is a little different: if you clean it at home, you can first wash off all the microbes from the fish so that they do not scatter around the kitchen along with the scales; if you intend to bake the fish in the oven, it is not recommended to wash it.

 

Chicken eggs

Eggs should not be washed for one simple reason - there is an invisible protective film on their surface that does not allow microorganisms to penetrate through the shell. If we wash the egg, we remove this protective film, giving germs a better chance to get inside. Solution: you can wash the eggs only immediately before cooking, so that they remain under the invisible protection of the film as long as possible.

Pasta

Pasta really needs to be washed - but only after they are cooked. Before cooking, pasta should not be washed, because in this case we wash off the starch from their surface - and any sauce is worse absorbed in the finished dish. If you are not sure about the "purity" of pasta, buy a more expensive product. It is categorically impossible to wash pasta prepared using al dente technology - it is starch that helps to hold all the ingredients of the finished dish together. Also, try not to rinse quality pasta after cooking - they are insanely delicious with sauce!

 

Turkey and chicken

With poultry, the situation is the same as with meat - you should not wash it before cooking, so as not to spread bacteria in the kitchen. In addition, washing a large uncut turkey is quite difficult - for this you also need to take a bowl, and this is an additional surface for the life of microbes. So it’s better to bake or boil the bird right away - it will be much easier and safer. If you are going to cook a stuffed bird, carefully rinse the carcass inside.

If you do wash the bird before cooking, be sure to thoroughly clean the work surface and hands afterwards with warm soapy water.

 

Mushrooms

As you know, mushrooms, due to their porous structure, quickly absorb moisture, so you should not wash them before cooking. It is better to easily wipe them with a damp cloth or completely remove the top film - so the mushrooms do not absorb excess moisture and retain their rich taste and aroma. This applies to both champignons familiar to us and fragrant forest mushrooms.