I typically save that for just BEFORE I make sausage, etc. The stuff goes away clean..and a wipe with peroxide or a sanitizing wipe makes me happy.
After poultry functions a sani-wipe is SOP. Or a peroxide wipe. MAny are unaware of hydrogen peroxide’s ability to clean and disinfect..while being very safe and “green”. It decomposes to water and oxygen in a short time upon exposure to light and air.
I typically save that for just BEFORE I make sausage, etc. The stuff goes away clean..and a wipe with peroxide or a sanitizing wipe makes me happy.
After poultry functions a sani-wipe is SOP. Or a peroxide wipe. MAny are unaware of hydrogen peroxide’s ability to clean and disinfect..while being very safe and “green”. It decomposes to water and oxygen in a short time upon exposure to light and air.
I store my equipment clean (yeah, I know.... duh!), but right before use, I re-wash with dish soap and after rinsing give the components that will be indirect contact with the meat a dunk in a mild solution of plain bleach & water. You could use a commercial sanitizing product, but good old plain bleach (not gel, not scented, etc...) still works as well as it did a century ago.
When done, I hand wash components made of aluminum like the grinder head, but items that are stainless or dishwasher safe get an initial hand wash to remove any meat bits or visible grease, and then go right into the dishwasher which I then run on a normal cycle with "hot water" and heated drying. Once everything is dry, it is stored clean and this process is repeated on the next use.
I like to wash everything immediately after use before the meat and residue has a chance to dry in place on the stuffer, grinder head, etc... Experience has taught me that if the residue is still moist it is easier to get off. I have had to re-wash my stuffer body by hand before when I did not pre-wash it and let it sit too long as even the dishwasher did not get all the dried bits off. Do it right, do it once.
My logic is store it clean, sanitize right before use, clean after use, and store it clean.
1 TBL of bleach to 1 gallon of water for sanitizing surfaces and tools, or as an alternative you can use 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide straight from the bottle.
I store my equipment clean (yeah, I know.... duh!), but right before use, I re-wash with dish soap and after rinsing give the components that will be indirect contact with the meat a dunk in a mild solution of plain bleach & water. You could use a commercial sanitizing product, but good old plain bleach (not gel, not scented, etc...) still works as well as it did a century ago.
When done, I hand wash components made of aluminum like the grinder head, but items that are stainless or dishwasher safe get an initial hand wash to remove any meat bits or visible grease, and then go right into the dishwasher which I then run on a normal cycle with "hot water" and heated drying. Once everything is dry, it is stored clean and this process is repeated on the next use.
I like to wash everything immediately after use before the meat and residue has a chance to dry in place on the stuffer, grinder head, etc... Experience has taught me that if the residue is still moist it is easier to get off. I have had to re-wash my stuffer body by hand before when I did not pre-wash it and let it sit too long as even the dishwasher did not get all the dried bits off. Do it right, do it once.
My logic is store it clean, sanitize right before use, clean after use, and store it clean.
1 TBL of bleach to 1 gallon of water for sanitizing surfaces and tools, or as an alternative you can use 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide straight from the bottle.
Sounds very similar to the processes when I was homebrewing. I got really good at watching water boil and doing dishes.
S&P - I'm a big vinegar fan. To increase the effectiveness of bleach you can add some vinegar to it as well. Research shows that vinegar + bleach is hard to beat at killing (1 gallon water, 1 oz. bleach, 1 oz. vinegar) - vinegar reduces the PH of bleach to kill nasties.
Or as Rich pointed hydrogen peroxide also works great and added with vinegar also increases its effectiveness.
Another thing I do is use plastic coated freezer paper to make a work area on my table. It's inexpensive, sanitary (made to wrap food with) and easy to clean up - just roll it up and toss it. And you can mark on it for cutting stuff to length to fit in the smoker. Plastic side up of course.
Dave
I love coming home. My back porch smells just like a BBQ joint.....
If I'm doing game, I'll use dettol surface cleaner disenfecting spray for a wipe down.
But otherwise just wash up in sink with hot soapy water (dish liquid claims antiseptic qualities).
Guess you can't actually over do it.
But you can probably do a fair amount of unnecessary stuff :-)
for those of you using bleach, ammonia or other harsh chemicals, Do you rinse afterwards? I would imagine you wouldn't want that stuff, even in tiny amounts, getting into food. And if you are rinsing does it concern you that you're rinsing your sanitized surface with unsanitized water? Or do you boil the rinse water first? I know there's been quite a discussion in the homebrewing world that rinsing with tap water after sanitizing basically negates the sanitizing.
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