I know you can't put cooked and raw protein on the same surface, but is it cross contaminating to put different raw proteins on the same surf

heiwei
  • Posted by: heiwei
  • March 31, 2012
  • 2622 views
  • 2 Comments

2 Comments

ChefOno March 31, 2012
There are situations where such cross-contamination could present a serious problem so it is best to use separate boards or to sanitize between uses (see above). Some commercial kitchens I've worked in go so far as to color code their boards (and even their knives) to help prevent such situations.

Suppose your board has been used to prepare raw chicken. If you were then to use it to form hamburger patties, you could contaminate the inside of the burgers with salmonella. Even if you cook your burgers until they're grey, the salmonella could remain alive. If you cook your ground meat to the USDA recommended 160F, maybe this isn't a huge problem but why subject yourself and everyone you're cooking for to needless extra risk?

Fish might be a better example. 145F will kill parasites present but not salmonella.

Roasts and steaks aren't so much of a problem. The outsides reach temperatures well above those needed to kill any bacteria present even though the insides aren't cooked to high temperatures. That's why a rare steak is safe but a hamburger cooked to the same temperature can be a danger. (Just don't contaminate the meat with an un-sanitized thermometer, possibly injecting it with bacteria.)

 
Author Comment
if it from the same species, no no problem. but I wouldnt mix proteins from different animals. the bacteria may be different and for example: to kill samonela on my chicken the USDA recomends cooking to 160 f. to 165f. I wouldn't want to cook my steak that well done. so it may not be in your best interest to cross contamonate proteins.
For meat protein cutting boards I like to wash with hot soapy water, rinse, then apray with a mild bleach solution (1 oz bleach to 128 oz water) and let the chlorine eveaporate off of the board for 2 minutes before using again. no rinse necessary.
 
Recommended by Food52