"bleach" news and stories

Looking for ways to bring relief to your burning fingers after mincing hot peppers?

I first bought an instant read thermometer after watching Alton Brown use one for the 87th time. At that point it finally sunk in that it might be a useful piece of equipment to own. And, in the three+ years that I've had one, I've found myself turning to it time after time to check roasted chickens, tenderloins and the temperature of water for proofing yeast. However, I've never really paid much attention to the manner with which I cleaned my handy little thermometer, just giving it a wipe down with a soapy sponge and calling it a day.

A recent post over at the Kitchn has just made me realize that I should probably be spending a bit more time and energy on ensuring that this thing that I stick into potentially undercooked meat and poultry is thoroughly cleaned. Their tips include submerging the stem of the thermometer in boiling water for thirty seconds or using a chlorine/bleach solution.

How do you ensure that your kitchen tools stay clean?

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For years, chefs, food writers and even food scientists have said that cutting boards made of wood will absorb bacteria, and plastic ones will allow bacteria to flourish on the surface, lurking in each tiny cut. Each material has been declared worse in turns. Do plastic cutting boards really harbor more bacteria than wooden ones? Are wooden ones worse?

It looks like the food scientists at Cook's Illustrated have debunked this food myth, because according to their tests, the answer is "no". They collected the used cutting boards of several of their staff members, but found little bacteria on them. The boards, two wooden and two plastic, were then taken to a lab where they were inoculated with one drop of solution containing millions of bacteria. The bacteria were allowed to sit on the boards for 40 minutes, but after washing the boards with hot, soapy water, fewer than 100 bacteria from the original sample remained on each type of board.

While bacteria remained on each board, the amount was small and nearly equal for both materials. This shows that it doesn't matter what the board is made out of, but how you care for it. After each use, particularly if raw meat has touched the board, cleanse it with warm, soapy water. The FDA recommends sanitizing your boards in a solution of 1 tablespoon bleach to 1 gallon water.

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