Raw Meat and Spatulas?!
Raw Meat and Spatulas?
As I'm new to the whole cooking thing, I've got a few questions regarding general hygiene...
I've had enough common sense to wash plates or cutting boards that have held raw meat, as the danger of food poisoning is faily obvious.
But what about spatulas (or other cooking 'tools') for that matter?
If you were to cook ground beef, for example, you would need to use a spatula on the raw meat while it was still on the pan. But after it gets cooked, wouldn't you still be using the same spatula? And wouldn't said spatula be ripe with bacteria? Or using tongs to grill a steak for that matter... Same thing.
Unless you replace the spatula (or tongs, etc) midway through cooking (and even if you did, when would you know WHEN to replace the tool?), wouldn't this make the whole safety routine counter-productive?
Answers:
The pan that is cooking the food is very hot. Bacteria on the spatula would die. I have been cooking for 7yrs and I have never gotten sick from a spatula. How ever it is good to use a metal on as if you were cooking ground beef the meat wouldn't stick it it like a plastic one