CNN —Despite what your elders may have told you, you don’t need to rinse raw chicken or any other poultry or meat before prepping and cooking it. When rinsing chicken, bacteria such as salmonella can be transferred via the water to your kitchen surfaces, leading to potential cross contamination of other ingredients. Bacteria was found in the sinks of 60% of cooks who rinsed raw chicken as part of a 2019 USDA study. “Use paper towels, even more than you think you need,” Matijevich said, and pat the chicken dry or let the paper towels soak up the excess liquid. If they are used to clean up raw poultry juice, they should also go in the dishwasher on the sanitize cycle,” Schaffner said.

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Persons: ”, Shawn Matijevich, ” Matijevich, Donald Schaffner, Sarah McEwan, iStockphoto, ” Schaffner, Casey Barber Organizations: CNN, US Department of Agriculture, Institute of Culinary Education, Rutgers University Locations: USDA, New York City, New Jersey