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It's important to keep in mind that juices from meat can contaminate other objects and surfaces they come in contact with — such as your hands, kitchen counter, cutting knife or uncooked food — and spread around. So take measures to avoid cross contamination. Chicken in general carries risk, whether it's part of the outbreak of salmonella. Cooking to a suitable temperature and time may avoid this outspread.
Don't wash your chicken with other food items.
Although some people have been taught to wash raw chicken, this practice really promotes cross-contamination, . Washing poultry can spread juices around, and sometimes spread bacteria up to three feet away.
The Food Standards Agency has warned against washing raw chicken for fear of spreading bacteria. Here is how to cook the meat safely
The Food Standards Agency has warned people not to wash raw chicken before cooking, as it can lead to a lead to a potentially dangerous form of food poisoning caused by Campylobacter bacteria.
Here are top tips for preparing and cooking chicken safely.
1) Always store raw chicken in a clean, sealed container on the bottom shelf of the fridge, so it can’t touch or drip onto other foods. It’s especially important to keep chicken away from foods like fruit or cheese, which will not be cooked before eating.
2) Do not wash your chicken. Any bacteria will be killed during cooking – washing it is just likely to splash contaminated water droplets on your surfaces.
3) Wash your hands throughly with soap and water before touching raw chicken, after touching it, and at any point during the preparation process when you need to touch something else – such as grabbing a utensil, or opening a cupboard.
4) it’s safest to use certain chopping boards for meat, and different ones for chopping fruit and vegetables
5) As a general rule, cooked chicken should not be pink on the inside and be hot enough that steam is emerging. Juices should also run clear (i.e with no traces of pink or red). However, colour isn't always a reliable indicator of whether chicken is cooked (some cooked poultry, for instance, will retain a slight pink colour), so the safest way to check it is cooked is with a food thermometer. The meat is safe to eat if the internal temperature is°F (.9 °C).
6) If you are cooking a whole bird, don’t just slice open any part to check it is cooked. Check the thickest part of the leg, as this will take the longest to cook.
7) if you want to refrigerate your chicken, do not put it in the fridge immediately. Leave it to cool down for around an hour before putting it away.
8) Leftover chicken should be safe to eat for two to three days – but use your brain. If it smells off, it probably is.
9) if you are reheating cooked chicken, make sure the chicken is piping hot throughout. This is especially important if you are reheating it in a microwave, which doesn't always cook evenly.
) If you are freezing chicken, do so immediately after buying. It is safest to defrost frozen chicken in the fridge, rather than on a kitchen surface. You can also defrost it in cold water, if the chicken is in its packaging or a leak-free bag.
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