Cleaning up

[otto]

The washing up chores that come with raw feeding..gosh. It's a lot of work and I go through a lot of dish soap and paper towels.

Do you use antibacterial dish soap? Is it necessary? I use regular Palmolive but wondering if I need to switch to "antibacterial".

When I am in the kitchen, even before I fed raw, I always have a dish pan full of hot soapy water at the ready to dip my hands into at any time. But now, I am using it so much, I find myself dumping it and refilling it several times during any given feeding or food prep. Constantly spraying the counter and scale down with Clorox Anywhere, and there goes another four or five Bounty paper towels.

Using all this dish soap, paper towels and Clorox Anywhere, this is getting really costly. Is there a better more organized way to keep things clean? I worry so much about forgetting to wash something and spreading contamination that will make me sick. (I am not really worried about them getting sick)

Yesterday as I cut up those chicken thighs, my fingernails were full of gunk, even with constantly dipping my hands in the hot soapy water. Does anyone use food service gloves? Are they worth it?

Please, share your cleaning and safety tips here, I need help making this less work if possible!

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

No tips, but that is why I didn't want to go that raw route with my Muffin if something else would work.
 

 

[ldg]

I think Lauren uses gloves. :nod: I don't.

For the scale, I have gallon baggies. My scale fits inside of one. I cover the ENTIRE scale - it's inside the baggie. Doesn't affect the weighing! When I'm done measuring out meat for the bagging/freezing, I wash the baggie. It dries, I recover the scale with it. I've been using the same baggie for a couple of months now, and it's still going strong!

I do not use antibacterial soap. I use 7th generation dish soap. (I only use non-scented, "natural," no chemical cleaning stuff (other than the bleach cleaner I now use to give a final clean up to the work space) because of my allergies and Chum's allergies).

I've taken to putting down a CLOTH dish towel over the work surface. Yep, it gets dripped on. But I only bag stuff up once a week or so. When I'm done, I rinse it with hot water, let it dry, and put it in the laundry. I still spray the bleach cleaner on the work area - in fact, I use the clean part of that cloth to wipe it up, THEN I rinse it, etc. I do take a paper towel, wet it, and wipe up so there's no bleach residue left behind on the counter.

As to my hands... I don't waste paper towels by drying them when I rinse them if I'm still bagging/cutting stuff up. I just kind of ... shake them off in the sink so they're not dripping (because I was going through SO many paper towels before!). The bowl is a good idea - I'll probably do that, but I'll just make it a bowl of water, not soapy. That way I don't have to use the handle to make the water run.

When bagging, I calculate how many I'll need first. I write on them what's in them, how much, the date... and open them. This saves them from getting all icky when I need them. :lol3: I can stick my left hand fingers in them to move them to where I need them, so I don't get the outside dirty with my chicken (or whatever) fingers.

I leave all the baggies open and unsealed until I'm done with them all. THEN I wash my hands and seal them up.

And I take ALL the meat I need to bag up out of the fridge, so I don't have to touch the fridge once I'm going.

So at this point I'm using only a couple of paper towels, no matter HOW much stuff I have to prep.

 

[Willowy]

You can save a bundle by making your own Clorox Anywhere spray. . .just add 1 1/2 teaspoons of Clorox to the empty bottle and fill it with water: http://www.food.com/recipe/clorox-anywhere-spray-copycat-363521 I mean, what does a teaspoon of bleach cost? Like half a penny? Maybe. Or if you know the surface is bleach safe (Anywhere spray is for. . .anywhere ), you can use the standard 10-to-1 water/bleach mixture.

Also, for quick stuff I get cheap paper towels. Bounty Basic and Big Lots brand are the cheapest I've found. I save the "good" paper towels for bigger jobs :lol3:.

I don't use antibacterial dish soap (I don't trust Triclosan). But I know some people who fill a dish pan with a mild bleach mixture (something similar to the Anywhere spray ratios) and dip the washed/rinsed dishes in that before putting them in the drying rack. If you have a dishwasher, the hot cycle kills everything so you don't have to do anything extra, although some detergents have bleach if that's what you want.

I plan to get some gloves before attempting to cut up meat. Nothing worse than raw meat under your nails! Ick! I don't know about protection but ickiness is a good enough reason for me! :tongue2:

 

[goingpostal]

I'll probably terrify some people but I don't bleach or even spray vinegar anymore, I just wipe the counters or anywhere else I made a mess down with a washcloth and call it good.  I try not to touch the scale or outside of baggies with dirty hands, but it happens a lot.  I throw a container on the scale and weigh everything in there and label/put out bags before I start.  I don't wash my hands in between meats, just rinse off a little and wash when I'm done.  I usually keep a hand towel around for quick drying off or cleaning up blood drips.  Maybe I have a really strong immune system?  I spent most of yesterday with absolutely nasty hands because we were hunting and my b/f hates cleaning out the birds, no hot water at the shack and antibacterial spray doesn't help clean much.  Then I got to come home and make a bigger mess prepping them for the pets.  
 

 

[catspaw66]

All it takes is having salmonella once to change your mind - for a while.  After I got out of the hospital, I went almost overboard with disinfecting everything.  Now, a year later, I will admit I have slacked off a lot.  I still do the basic things to protect me, but not extreme measures.

 

[otto]

Wow, thanks everyone for all the great tips! I knew there had to be better/easier ways. I did figure that as I go along I'll develop routines and things won't feel so all over the place, but having a lot of ideas in once place for me to refer back to sure helps matters.

I hope people will continue to add their cleaning/hygiene methods and tips, and even things that didn't work for them, here.

 

[angels mommy]

Wow, this really makes me glad that I use the Bravo Raw burgers/patties. (This way I don't have to figure out the supplement part either).

For those of you who don't like bleach, what about regular rubbing alcohol?  I switched out my glass cleaner for that months ago, because even the natural stuff

(which I try to use too)  was streaking. It's great, because it works as a surface cleaner too, & I feel like it's not as harsh or harmful as bleach. (& no streaks!!) 

 

[cat4554]

What are you all talking about ??  I store the Nature Variety Medallions in a container with a lid in my refrigerator.  I use a fork to put a medallion into a paper bowl,  mash it with a fork and feed my cat.

Done.  Fork goes into the dishwasher,  paper bowl in the garbage.
 

 

[otto]

We're talking about keeping things clean while working with raw meat. Rad Cat comes in tubs that have to be separated into portions. And when preparing raw meals "from scratch" there is a lot of working with raw meat.

Just cutting up those chicken thighs what quite an experience. :lol3:

While the medallion method does sound incredibly handy, I don't feed Nature's Variety products, or any of the others that come presized.

 

[sneakylemon]

What are you all talking about ??  I store the Nature Variety Medallions in a container with a lid in my refrigerator.  I use a fork to put a medallion into a paper bowl,  mash it with a fork and feed my cat.

Done.  Fork goes into the dishwasher,  paper bowl in the garbage.
 

i believe they are talking about prepping their own vs. store bought raw.  

edit: oops, didn't see the last post above this.

 

[carolina]

The washing up chores that come with raw feeding..gosh. It's a lot of work and I go through a lot of dish soap and paper towels.
Do you use antibacterial dish soap? Is it necessary? I use regular Palmolive but wondering if I need to switch to "antibacterial". I do... My dish soap is antibacterial, if it is necessary? Don't know :dk:
When I am in the kitchen, even before I fed raw, I always have a dish pan full of hot soapy water at the ready to dip my hands into at any time. But now, I am using it so much, I find myself dumping it and refilling it several times during any given feeding or food prep. Constantly spraying the counter and scale down with Clorox Anywhere, and there goes another four or five Bounty paper towels.
Using all this dish soap, paper towels and Clorox Anywhere, this is getting really costly. Is there a better more organized way to keep things clean? I worry so much about forgetting to wash something and spreading contamination that will make me sick. (I am not really worried about them getting sick)
Yesterday as I cut up those chicken thighs, my fingernails were full of gunk, even with constantly dipping my hands in the hot soapy water. Does anyone use food service gloves? Are they worth it?
Please, share your cleaning and safety tips here, I need help making this less work if possible!

I think with time, we get way less paranoid.... Seriously, when I first started feeding raw there was a post where I describe how I woke up in the middle of the night with both my arms up in the air, afraid of touching anything :lol3::lol3::lol3:
But then..... think about it.... It's only MEAT! We are not handling biohazardous materials :lol3: It is meat! Like the meat we cooks for our dinners...... No big deal!
With that said - I always spray the counter and the board (eve though I don't use for cutting) with clorox anywhere, the scale, and their place mats, once they are done eating. I wash my hands before and after preparing their meals. And I wash their plates as soon as they are done eating.
Aside from that.... Nothing much.....

Oh, I forgot - my meat never touches the scale - I always tare the scale with the plate on it, or with the baggies on it.... put the plate, push tare, put the other plate, push tare.... Put a baggie, push tare.... All the baggies weight the same, so preparing meals go really quickly, and I just need a quick wipe with clorox anywhere to disinfect it :nod:

 

[cat4554]

OHHHH!!!!

 

[otto]

Thanks Carolina! I don't put meat on the scale either. Just in the dish or baggie (after taring)

I laughed out loud about you waking up with your hands in the air. Do you know, when I was in my very very very early stages, I had only just purchased my first bag of Stella&Chewy's. I mean I had just ordered it, on line.

I went to bed that night after placing that fateful order, and dreamed that there were blobs of slimy raw meat all over my house. And not only that, I kept (in the dream still) forgetting to wash my hands and was touching things all over the house, leaving nameless bits of meat every where. I woke up exhausted, LOL!

 

[txcatmom]

I use regular Palmolive but wondering if I need to switch to "antibacterial".

The last time I read the fine print on antibacterial dish soap it noted that it is only antibacterial if used as a hand soap.  So it won't be on dishes.  I like having it in the kitchen (use it as dish and hand soap.)  But in our bathrooms we use non-antibacterial.

This is an interesting thread....love the ziploc over the food scale idea. 

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I use Dawn Foam dishsoap to wash up the kits bowls  and serving spoons (and maybe the Glad container if one gets emptied) after they're finished eating.  All you need to do is put hot water on your sponge, wring it out and put a squirt of the foam on the sponge.  You get enough suds to do tons of dishes!  (and it was rated the best dish soap be Consumer Reports a couple of years ago).  After rinsing I put all the above on a dishtowel to air dry, and I then dry my own hands on our hand drying dishtowel that I always have handy.

When I am cutting up meats, I use a plastic "meat only" cutting board, and do wear gloves.  I also have all my containers, whether Glad containers, or ziplocs, all open and ready to go, have my scales on tare, and go to town.  I just wipe my counters (and scale if anything got on them) with one paper towel and a spritz of all purpose cleaner

 

[feralvr]

:lol3: I also think, as Carolina, that we get less paranoid with time, BUT still keep things clean! It just gets so much easier. I do use gloves only because I have terribly dry skin on my hands and get awful cracks on my fingers. For soap, I use either Palmolive regular or the anti-bacterial soap. I have a little brush that I use only for raw food bowls and utensils. I soap the brush up and scrub. Then I bleach the little brush after I am all done. WA-LAH (my favorite term lately ) all is clean and sanitized. I do use the Jewel brand kitchen bleach spray on counter tops and sink when I am all done for each meal. I have a very clean sink since starting raw!!!! :lol3:

 

[otto]

Thank you thank you thank you, everyone who is posting in this thread. I LOVE hearing everybody's methods for keeping things clean!

I do realize that we learn as we go along what works most efficiently in our own situations, and the more we do it the quicker and easier it goes, but having ideas to work with is so helpful.

The more the merrier!

:lol3: I also think, as Carolina, that we get less paranoid with time, BUT still keep things clean! It just gets so much easier. I do use gloves only because I have terribly dry skin on my hands and get awful cracks on my fingers. For soap, I use either Palmolive regular or the anti-bacterial soap. I have a little brush that I use only for raw food bowls and utensils. I soap the brush up and scrub. Then I bleach the little brush after I am all done. WA-LAH (my favorite term lately ) all is clean and sanitized. I do use the Jewel brand kitchen bleach spray on counter tops and sink when I am all done for each meal. I have a very clean sink since starting raw!!!! :lol3:

OHHHH, I get finger cracks too. Thanks for mentioning that Lauren, I am definitely going to get some food service gloves to use when I am preparing meals.

While the medallion method does sound incredibly handy, I don't feed Nature's Variety products, or any of the others that come presized.

I didn't mean this to sound like I have anything against preformed patties. In fact I wish the commercial raw I'm using did have those. I only meant I just don't happen to feed a brand that sells product that way.

 

[princessesme]

I am not big on using bleach all of the time, in general, but I do clean up the counters and their placemats after every meal. At the moment, I use the natural wipes for their place mats and then regular cleaner for my counter tops and 1x or 2x a week, I will use bleach.

When prepping their food, I label all of my baggies first and open them all up and set them aside. Then I use a plastic cutting board that is used for the cats only with meat only. As my cutting board fills up, I put the meat into a bowl since I usually cut up so much at one (only the same kind of meat). I never put my meat right onto the scale. I tare my scale with the plastic baggie on top and portion the meat into the little baggies. Once that is all done, I clean up the bowl, cutting board, knife etc (use regular 'ol dish soap) and our sponges are always left to air dry and then thrown into the dishwasher twice a week.

Their dishes are cleaned immediately after every meal and left to air dry.

**After doing some more reading on Clorox Anywhere, I think I will be making my own recipe. Seems safe enough to use without being bleach crazy!

 

[feralvr]

I am not big on using bleach all of the time, in general, but I do clean up the counters and their placemats after every meal. At the moment, I use the natural wipes for their place mats and then regular cleaner for my counter tops and 1x or 2x a week, I will use bleach.


**After doing some more reading on Clorox Anywhere, I think I will be making my own recipe. Seems safe enough to use without being bleach crazy!

I also don't like to OVER bleach like I did when I first started. MY GOD, my place reeked of bleach and I even wore one of those Hazmat suits It was so ridiculous the steps I took in cleaning up. I do use the Clorox wipes too BUT just yesterday picked up some of the Clorox Anywhere!!! Used it this morning and I love that it is says it is very safe for pets and children. IF they say it is safe for children then I know for sure, it will be safe for my babies :rub: