Kitchen gadgets don't belong in any kitchen

[luvs]

if a restaurant owns a compartment sink, it contains a sanitizer. & if you own a sponge, well, that's straight bacteria there. i'm not worried about MY cutting boards, they're clean, i'm worried about school/work boards being cleaner. & look at the age of above article. it's at least 15 years ago that it was published.

is that professer certified?

 

[Scotch]

I don't know what it means for a "professer" to be certified, but as noted, Professor Bird is the Dean of the College of Health and Human Performance, University of Florida, Gainesville. That means he's the head of the department, the supervisor over all the other professors and staff in that department. To be dean in any college or university, one has to be a tenured professor.

As for the age of the study, what does that have to do with anything? I've found no studies published since then that contradict Bird's statement.

As for Professor Cliver, here's his very impressive Curriculum Vitae: CLICK ME

The bottom line is that I'm going to trust science and research by eminent professors over what you were taught in cooking school by some chef.

 

[luvs]

that's your opinion, & i respect your opinion. it's not what i was taught by "some chef", it's what nationally accepted ServSafe taught me.

 

[Scotch]

I have no doubt that's what they taught you. However, ServSafe and NRAEF are focused on teaching workers and management to comply with local, state, and federal laws and regulations that apply to restaurants and other food-processing establishments. Those requirements are not necessarily reasonable or applicable in a home kitchen.

 

[PattY1]

Something or other is bound to get us all. Too much coffee, too much sex, too much chocolate, too many cigars, too much booze. So we cut it all out and get hit by a bus as we cross the street. The plastics industry (except maybe in that large Asian country) works diligently to make safe products for us to use. Life is too short to worry about a millimicrogram of some multi poly di benzo molecule. Personally I want to go like grandpa, quietly in his sleeep and not yelling and screaming like the other three people in the car he was driving. It's a beautiful day today get outside and plant something.

For a second I thought I had already posted in this thread.

 

[justplainbill]

Thanks for the interesting articles, Scotch. It surprises me that bleach is not effective on wood but vinegar and hydrogen peroxide are. Would be interesting to see results of tests for the effectiveness of strong salt brine solutions (koshering?).

 

[Alix]

This discussion comes up about once a year in some form or another. The OP (I believe) is not coming back.

I personally plan to toss all my cutting boards, plastic and wood and use only marble from now on. (Heh heh heh...I can hear all the knife enthusiasts screaming already! )

 

[Laury]

This has been a very interesting discussion. But the bottom line for me is this. I have been cooking (not professionally) for close to 40 years. I use and have used both plastic and wood cutting boards. I clean them with ordinary soap and hot water and let them dry completely. That's it. Never once have I or anyone else I have fed become even the slightest bit ill from contamination.
When discussions like this come up, I like to think about how the average housewife in say, India or Africa, manages to prepare meals in likely less than ideal conditions, and still manage not to sicken her family. Some of us in the West are way too concerned about "healthy" ways to do everything. I say - Chill out, use common sense, soap and hot water, and stop worrying so much. (Professionals, of course, exercise due diligence with the guidelines given you.) The food police will always be there trying to scare the bejabbers out of everyone. And after whatever given flap there is about safety, health - whatever, it's usually debunked a few months later anyway.
Now everyone go make something delicious and feed it to your loved ones without fear. All will be well.

 

[freefallin1309]

Yeah Scotch, number 1, I love how you emboldened what you wanted us to see so we'd glaze over some of the one's you didn't want us too ... like

This does not mean that you can trust wood cutting boards to completely decontaminate themselves or that plastic ones are worthless. Caution must be taken when using any type of cutting board.

And

New plastic surfaces allowed the bacteria to persist, but were easily cleaned and disinfected.

All your "science" stated was that either are safe with proper care, much as what has been said already.

As far as "some chef", we'll that is their profession and I'd stand any good chef up against the Dean of any department, any day, on the knowledge of culinary arts. A lot of people are put in charge of departments without actual knowledge of the science being taught. Do you think just about any president of the US has ever been a qualified military leader? Of course not, but they ARE the Commander in Chief. But this does not make them more knowledgeable about military matters over their truly qualified generals .. much like the Dean vs Chef theory. Hell, in several companies I've worked for, a Civil Engineer was in charge of the Survey Department, where I work ... but they didn't know the first thing about surveying.

You should take your argument to the NSF International people, those that regulate global safety and health for the culinary profession ... in other words, the people who cook your food when you go out. The plastic death boards we bought the other day from a national restaurant supply chain is stamped with their name, and I don't recall seeing any wooden cutting boards in there either.

 

[chefkathleen]

People in africa don't have our life expectancy either.

I'll keep following up to date studies from people in the field that care one way or another about my and the public health. That's why there's HACCP and health inspectors and the NSF and the FDA and CDC. We have guidelines to follow or regular people would be sick much more than they are. The "chefs" that teach in schools have the laws of the state and fed to teach and follow, as do the restaurants. We have to be recertified every couple of years to keep our restaurant management license and that includes food safety. Research is being conducted daily,(lucky for you the public) on bacteria and the pathogens that make you and the public ill.
And food born illness doesn't always land you in hospital. Sometimes it's just gastrointestinal upset in one form or another. Sometimes it's flu like symptoms that go away in a few days. The publics ignorance in this matter is what keeps them getting sick. And following out of date studies from someone that wrote the paper to keep his name on the "A" party list at a college. I'm sure at the time he was trying to be unbiased and it was an up to date thing. But this is 12+ years later and more progress is being made daily to keep you safe. Continuing education is a wonderful thing.

 

[Scotch]

By that logic, freefallin, we should replace our tile and granite counter tops with stainless steel and begin wearing hairnets in the kitchen.

 

[freefallin1309]

You need to think further than that I'm afraid, stainless steel dulls blades and yes, if you have a lot of hair, you should wear a hair net .. nothing more gross than having a stranger's hair in your food.

 

[Andy M.]

Back to the topic at hand...

So, do any of you folks have anything to say about whether or not kitchen gadgets belong in any kitchen?

 

[freefallin1309]

I think they all have they place. The OP mentioned no plastic spatulas, is there a reason for this? Not all of our pots and pans are stainless or CI, so metal spatulas do some damage to them. I'm all for convenience and efficiency as long as it's not at the cost of quality.

 

[ellakav]

Something or other is bound to get us all. Too much coffee, too much sex, too much chocolate, too many cigars, too much booze. So we cut it all out and get hit by a bus as we cross the street. The plastics industry (except maybe in that large Asian country) works diligently to make safe products for us to use. Life is too short to worry about a millimicrogram of some multi poly di benzo molecule. Personally I want to go like grandpa, quietly in his sleeep and not yelling and screaming like the other three people in the car he was driving. It's a beautiful day today get outside and plant something.

BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope that was intended to be funny, because I am cryin right
now! Grandpa! WOOT!!

 

[Scotch]

...You should take your argument to the NSF International people, those that regulate global safety and health for the culinary profession ... in other words, the people who cook your food when you go out. The plastic death boards we bought the other day from a national restaurant supply chain is stamped with their name, and I don't recall seeing any wooden cutting boards in there either.

It appears that the NSF has considered the issue and concluded that there is no difference in safety between wood and plastic cutting boards. Indeed, it HAS certified the wood boards from a number of manufacturers, including John Boos (click HERE and scroll to bottom of page), the Michigan Maple Block Company and Bally Block Company (click here).

The Michigan Maple Block Company's site includes a press release issued in August 1993 in which the NSF announced its conclusion, based on scientific research, that the is no difference in safety between wood and plastic cutting boards. Here's the link: CLICK ME

State and local regulations governing restaurant and food preparation facilities may require plastic cutting boards, but that fact alone doesn't mean that they're any safer than wood cutting boards, especially for home use, as the NSF itself has apparently concluded.

 

[freefallin1309]

It appears that the NSF has considered the issue and concluded that there is no difference in safety between wood and plastic cutting boards.

The Michigan Maple Block Company's site includes a press release issued in August 1993 in which the NSF announced its conclusion, based on scientific research, that the is no difference in safety between wood and plastic cutting boards. Here's the link: CLICK ME

I thought everyone had agreed to that already ...

 

[Scotch]

I think they all have they place. The OP mentioned no plastic spatulas, is there a reason for this? Not all of our pots and pans are stainless or CI, so metal spatulas do some damage to them. I'm all for convenience and efficiency as long as it's not at the cost of quality.

Apparently very few plastic utensils are NSF certified, and as far as I can determine, the NSF has not certified cast iron cookware unless it has an enamel- or nickel-coated surface -- which to my mind makes it something other than CI.

 

[Scotch]

I thought everyone had agreed to that already ...

Really! That wasn't clear from your posts.

 

[freefallin1309]

Really! That wasn't clear from your posts.

This post is post 60, here is my quote from post 33:

If you maintain your cutting boards properly, there shouldn't be any bacteria present ... wood or plastic.

And I believe a few have agreed since then. You on the other hand wish to press one over the other and I was merely pointing out wood is not as good as you say, nor is plastic as bad. Either are good enough to cook on as long as you maintain them. I've already stated this before you mentioned anything in this thread.

Apparently very few plastic utensils are NSF certified, and as far as I can determine, the NSF has not certified cast iron cookware unless it has an enamel- or nickel-coated surface -- which to my mind makes it something other than CI.

I didn't know this, thank you, that's why I asked. But a CI skillet coated in nickel or enamel is a rose by another name...