Do you wear gloves to handle raw meat?

[Tralliam]

Only if I have a cut or if I'm putting a rub on a brisket or slab of ribs. I feel like the rub sticks less to the glove than my hands so I get more on the meat by using gloves.

 

[aprilgail2]

Lol...no!! I would crack up too if I saw someone doing that at their house.

I would crack up too seeing someone using gloves for that LOL!!!

 

[NoSoup4U]

No, I choose not to live my life with the fear that every little germ is going to kill me.

I do, however, use common sense, and wash my hands before and after handling raw meat.

This is me too. Dont wear gloves. I wash my hands after.

 

[ForMyBoys]

No, I choose not to live my life with the fear that every little germ is going to kill me.

I do, however, use common sense, and wash my hands before and after handling raw meat.

Perfectly said, this is my thought too

Nope, but I do when cutting up hot peppers. Learned my lesson on that one!!!


Side note, is uncooked bacon really considered "raw"?

Edit: I do usually wear gloves when gutting deer, and sometimes when butchering. Not once it's been packaged though.

Yes, I would consider uncooked bacon raw.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

I do but it's because I never trusted myself to wash my hand thoroughly enough for there not to be stuff in my nails. I wash my hands for a long time with soap and painfully hot water, but Im just paranoid. Also, I have dry hands so I often have little cracks in my hands and I don't want anything getting in the cracks.

I also wear gloves when handling stinky stuff like onions and garlic. I really hate smelling those things on my hand.

 

[SueInBoston]

I do...and probably a bit overboard...

Not only do I wear gloves handling raw meat (not because of fear of germs), I basically wear gloves with everything I do in the kitchen. From peeling one clove of garlic to cooking. Heck...I even wear cotton gloves to open mail and packages...I've been gloving up for years and it's just a habit.

 

[whatname]

Yes, I wear gloves. I think raw meat is disgusting. I will not touch it, so always wear gloves. I use tongs for bacon sometimes.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My spouse is off to India and I ended up having a casual dinner with friends last night. After the dishes were put away and while talking I started to package up ground beef I had purchased at Costco into 1 LB packs to freeze.

Before I started I put on a pair of those blue Nitrile gloves. My friend said I cracked her up and she kept calling me Princess and Dexter. Is it really that strange to not handle raw meat with your bare hands? I do this with everything from ground beef, steaks, chicken to bacon this morning at breakfast.

Anyone else put on gloves when handing raw meat?

Absolutely. I have a box of food handling gloves.

I have eczema and my dermatologist said to wear gloves when handling raw meat. It is a matter of safety to ME.

 

[AnnaS]

When I remember, I do put them on when handling ground beef when making meatballs or meatloaf. It's not that it grosses me out or I am afraid of germs or anything like that. It takes forever to get the grease off when washing so it is just easier to wear gloves. Again - when I remember.

As far as the cashiers and people in supermarkets starting to wear them - your hands get filthy from handling all kinds of products (meat, chicken liquid, soaps, flour, etc.) and money. One is constantly touching their face, hair, etc - so if one does not have the opportunity to wash them every five minutes - switching gloves is the next best option.

 

[Candleinthewind]

When I remember, I do put them on when handling ground beef when making meatballs or meatloaf. It's not that it grosses me out or I am afraid of germs or anything like that. It takes forever to get the grease off when washing so it is just easier to wear gloves.

This exactly!

 

[MIGrandma]

No, I do not wear gloves when handling raw meat.

I was my hands before handling it, and after, with hot water and soap.

I can understand why some want to use them though and wouldn't laugh at anyone for using them.

 

[NotUrsula]

My first thought is that it strikes me as a bit wasteful, but if you prefer to do it, go ahead. I find that nitrile gloves have an odor that I would be afraid of transferring to the food, but that's just me -- I'm hypersensitive to odors.

BTW, for those of you with issues getting your hands free of pepper residue and/or onion/garlic odors, here are a couple of simple remedies:

For peppers: the heat in peppers is in the oil, so you need to use oil to dissolve the residue so that you can wash it off. What I do is really slather my hands with rich hand lotion after handling peppers, leave it on for about 5 minutes, then wash thoroughly with dishwashing liquid; the pepper oil residue will be gone. (Cooking oil works equally well, but doesn't smell as nice when you have to leave it on your hands for 5 minutes.)

For onion/garlic odor: the remedy for this is actually stainless steel. To get rid of the smell, hold a stainless steel fork, spoon, etc. in your hands and hold it under running cold water. Rub your hands all over the steel item with the water running for about 30 seconds, and there will be absolutely no residual odor. (Don't ask me to explain why it works, but a chemist taught me this trick; it is some kind of chemical reaction between the steel and the enzymes in the plant.)

 

[EeyoreEma]

I do. I still wash my hands afterwards though. Raw meat is one of those things that to me I don't want to mess around with.

 

[NHdisneylover]

No, I just wash my hands well.

The environmental impact of throwing away disposable gloves every time I cook meat (even at 3-4 times a week only) would other me far more than any worry about germs.

 

[Candleinthewind]

My first thought is that it strikes me as a bit wasteful, but if you prefer to do it, go ahead.

Personally I would rather throw away gloves each time I do it rather use the amount of water necessary to get my sink completely HOT (takes forever) and to scrub all of the grease off my hands!

 

[tvguy]

I do remember my dad taking a pinch of raw ground beef and eating it every time my mom was about to cook it. But that was like in 1962 when they grocery store didn't have prepackaged ground beef, the butcher departments ground the beef to order while you watched.

 

[tasha99]

Bring on the meat!

Dexter

 

[Poohforyou]

I personally don't ever buy ground meat so handling it isn't an issue but I do find wearing gloves to handle it odd. Do you eat it or just serve it to your family?

 

[MamaLema]

No, never.

 

[Talking Hands]

Don't use gloves to handle meat. I do wash my hands both before and after handling meats.