Do you wash fresh ingredients before using them?

SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
You peel tomatoes?
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Some recipes call for peeled tomatoes. Some call to cut an X in the bottom and drop in boiling water for a minute. Personally, I just drop in boiling water and then use a paring knife to start the peel. The skin comes right off. Sometimes I just ignore the instruction to peel. :whistling:
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
Me too. I rarely peel anything. I only recently (as in the last 4 years) found out that squash skins are edible. I don't peel them anymore (except if very tough) . Saves so much time.
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I know you can't eat bananas - but that is one thing I do peel! In fact there are quite a few fruits which have to be peeled - mainly because the skins are impossible or extremely unpleasant to eat. Avocados, for example (I know they aren't peeled but scooped out - which amounts to the same thing), pineapples. In some cases, cooking or pickling renders the fruit skins palatable - as in squash, oranges, lemons. There is a great pickle you can make with watermelon rind:

Don't chuck that watermelon skin | Waste Not
 
morning glory said:
I know you can't eat bananas - but that is one thing I do peel! In fact there are quite a few fruits which have to be peeled - mainly because the skins are impossible or extremely unpleasant to eat. Avocados, for example (I know they aren't peeled but scooped out - which amounts to the same thing), pineapples. In some cases, cooking or pickling renders the fruit skins palatable - as in squash, oranges, lemons. There is a great pickle you can make with watermelon rind:

Don't chuck that watermelon skin | Waste Not
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I think you named most things I can't eat in that list! Bananas, pineapple, oranges, it can be touch and go with lemons, but only when my tongue is good. Watermelon rind pickle is something I'll try next time we but one for the chooks. But you still peel the green skin of that, leaving just the white rind to be pickled. I was looking at it only just today when I had a clear out of my printed recipes and recipe magazines.
 
I was thinking - those of you that wash fruit & veg bought from the grocery store or supermarket because you are concerned about who has handled it - I presume you wouldn't buy 'artisan type' bread from a bakers or the supermarket for the same reason. Obviously you can't wash bread!

In supermarkets here there is unwrapped self-service bread in the bakery section so in theory, lots of people could have touched it. Many supermarkets also have in store bakeries too and display a lot of unwrapped pastries & bread products that anyone can pick up.

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morning glory said:
I was thinking - those of you that wash fruit & veg bought from the grocery store or supermarket because you are concerned about who has handled it - I presume you wouldn't buy 'artisan type' bread from a bakers or the supermarket for the same reason. Obviously you can't wash bread!
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Well, I wash my fruit and veg more to get rid of the dirt and grime, and less about who handled it, but I think, if one followed your presumption to it's end, you'd have to ask if people wash the exteriors of canned goods (anyone can touch them), or anything else, for that matter.

Washing produce is a simple, efficient task. Takes all of 30 seconds to rinse a head of cauliflower. Therefore, it makes sense to give it a quick dunk, especially considering the dirt and insecticide residue that may likely be present.

You cant really wash bread, so the alternative is no bakery bread, and the desire for bakery bread likely outweighs the fear of cooties. I'd wager that if produce suddenly became unwashable, for whatever reason, people would still eat it. Folks wash produce because they can, and it's easy enough to do, so they do it.
 
TastyReuben said:
Well, I wash my fruit and veg more to get rid of the dirt and grime, and less about who handled it, but I think, if one followed your presumption to it's end, you'd have to ask if people wash the exteriors of canned goods (anyone can touch them), or anything else, for that matter.
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I was talking about the fear of germs from handling rather than pesticides & dirt which is a different thing really. This relates to another thread about washing new clothes, bedding etc. So, for example, an individual feels compelled to wash new clothes before wearing them but is happy to consume bakery bread which might have been handled.

There are weird contradictions going on here. I think there might be more to this subject than meets the eye. Good point about canned goods. But the difference between bread & canned goods is that with bread, you actually eat the part that people have touched.
 
Our bread is handed to us by people wearing plastic gloves on the other side of a glass enclosed counter.
 
I usually give things a quick rinse, unless it's covered in dirt when it gets a good wash or scrub. I always wash bagged pre-washed lettuce since a friend's restaurant had to be closed down for a while due to food poisoning which was traced back to the pre-washed salads they purchased to save time. I also rinse foraged fruit such as blackberries because who knows what animal might have weed over it - and that even applies to the ones I grow in my front garden. White vinegar in the rinsing water is good for getting rid of bugs etc.
 
morning glory said:
I was thinking - those of you that wash fruit & veg bought from the grocery store or supermarket because you are concerned about who has handled it - I presume you wouldn't buy 'artisan type' bread from a bakers or the supermarket for the same reason. Obviously you can't wash bread!
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I can't remember the last time I bought unwrapped bread or cakes from a bakers or a supermarket. In fact, the only time I buy wrapped cakes is maybe a small Christmas cake and stollen etc. Otherwise I make all my own cakes and bread.
 
morning glory said:
Do you not have open shelves of unwrapped baked goods in supermarkets in the USA? Its very commonplace here.
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NO, at least, not where DH shops. My post says "glass enclosed counter". lol If he is lucky, he gets our bread just as it is coming out of the oven. Nice and warm and fresh and untouched by human hands. lol
 
morning glory said:
Do you not have open shelves of unwrapped baked goods in supermarkets in the USA? Its very commonplace here.
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We do, yes, at Kroger. It's in a self-serve case, and there are bags available for bagging.

At the more upscale grocer I go to (and they're specifically known for their award-winning in-store bakery), there is no self-service except for bagels and croissants. Any loaf bread is displayed in a case and you have to ask one of the bakers to get it for you, and they're all gloved and hatted.
 
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