Washing Meat?

[kittums]

Firstly, my 2 cats were fed for almost a year on homemade ground food until I decided a few months ago to switch to a prey model raw diet. I’ve read that you should prepare the meats like you would for yourself and I always wash the meat for myself before cooking. Recently, while watching videos of how others prepare their cat food I realised that some people might not do this.

I see some videos recommending to cut up the meat while it’s frozen, and while it does look a lot less messy I’m not sure how sanitary it is. I’m sure it also depends on where you get your meat from. I buy my meats from a wholesale place (not sure what to call it but I buy 2kg packets of chicken thighs, wings etc from them, as well as beef) and I get my chicken liver and kidneys from the supermarket. Butchers are really pricey where I am!

So I’m wondering, do you guys wash your meats when you get back from the shop? Do you thaw them out in the fridge first and then wash or do you wash them while frozen? If you do wash the meats do you properly dry them before mixing with the other ingredients and packing?

 

[Columbine]

I don't make raw food, but I never wash meat before use, especially poultry. I learned a few years ago that washing chicken is the quickest way to spread bacteria around your kitchen:-

before and after handling chicken.Do not wash raw chicken. During washing, chicken juices can spread in the kitchen and contaminate other foods, utensils, and countertops.

From Chicken and Food Poisoning

Remember, cats' digestive tracts are much better equipped to handle raw meat than ours are. Provided the meat is fresh when frozen and thawed slowly salmonella just isn't as big of a risk to cats
Feeding Raw To Cats - Safety Concerns

 

[kittums]

I don't make raw food, but I never wash meat before use, especially poultry. I learned a few years ago that washing chicken is the quickest way to spread bacteria around your kitchen:-

From Chicken and Food Poisoning

Remember, cats' digestive tracts are much better equipped to handle raw meat than ours are. Provided the meat is fresh when frozen and thawed slowly salmonella just isn't as big of a risk to cats
Feeding Raw To Cats - Safety Concerns

Thank you for your reply! It never occurred to me that I shouldn’t be washing the meat. I grew up with a mom who not only washes but defrosts chicken in a pot of water.. I’m still unlearning her bad practices I guess.

 

[Azazel]

The USDA recommends that you don't wash meat before cooking, for the same reasons that Columbine mentioned.

 

[goingpostal]

I don't wash meat from the store, although I do sometimes run it under water to thaw more in a hurry if need be. Chopping while partially frozen does make things much easier, especially for organs.

 

[kittums]

I don't wash meat from the store, although I do sometimes run it under water to thaw more in a hurry if need be. Chopping while partially frozen does make things much easier, especially for organs.

Are all your ingredients frozen when you buy them? Or do you go home and put everything in the freezer first to kill off bacteria?

 

[goingpostal]

No, they eat meat straight from the store, I only freeze wild game.

 

[Tobermory]

Are all your ingredients frozen when you buy them? Or do you go home and put everything in the freezer first to kill off bacteria?

For chicken batches, I buy larger quantities of unfrozen chicken thighs from the grocery store. At home, I separate them into three-pound batches and freeze them until I’m ready to make food.

For turkey and rabbit batches, I buy frozen two-pound chubs of meat, bone and organ grinds from two raw pet food sources. Those go directly into the freezer until I’m ready to use them. It takes almost three days for those things to defrost in the refrigerator!

 

[lisahe]

Are all your ingredients frozen when you buy them? Or do you go home and put everything in the freezer first to kill off bacteria?

I hate to be a buzzkill, but freezing isn't an effective way to kill bacteria. To borrow a word from the USDA, though, freezing will "inactivate" bacteria for the time they're frozen. But once the food is thawed, the bacteria can grow again.

Here are some links:
USDA
An NPR article (note that one researcher mentions that they store microbes in the freezer!)
New York Times (this Q&A looks mostly at parasites)

My mother worked for many years as a dietitian so I learned way too much about nutrition and food safety at a formative age!

 

[Tobermory]

I hate to be a buzzkill, but freezing isn't an effective way to kill bacteria. To borrow a word from the USDA, though, freezing will "inactivate" bacteria for the time they're frozen. But once the food is thawed, the bacteria can grow again.

Here are some links:
USDA
An NPR article (note that one researcher mentions that they store microbes in the freezer!)
New York Times (this Q&A looks mostly at parasites)

My mother worked for many years as a dietitian so I learned way too much about nutrition and food safety at a formative age!

Yeah, I should have said that I don’t freeze the meat to kill bacteria but to preserve it until I’m ready to make food. (For anyone feeding dry, freezing for three days kills the mites that live in the food and can sometimes cause allergic reactions.)

 

[lisahe]

Yeah, I should have said that I don’t freeze the meat to kill bacteria but to preserve it until I’m ready to make food. (For anyone feeding dry, freezing for three days kills the mites that live in the food and can sometimes cause allergic reactions.)

Yes, exactly, I freeze meat for the same reason!

 

[kittums]

I hate to be a buzzkill, but freezing isn't an effective way to kill bacteria. To borrow a word from the USDA, though, freezing will "inactivate" bacteria for the time they're frozen. But once the food is thawed, the bacteria can grow again.

Here are some links:
USDA
An NPR article (note that one researcher mentions that they store microbes in the freezer!)
New York Times (this Q&A looks mostly at parasites)

My mother worked for many years as a dietitian so I learned way too much about nutrition and food safety at a formative age!

I only just saw your replies, thank you for educating!