Question about cooking chicken

helenrosemay
helenrosemay Posts: 375 Member
edited January 31 in Food and Nutrition
I'm really nervous when cooking chicken, making sure it's cooked etc, Anyway I just cooked some chicken breast and cut through it to see if it was cooked, it was still a little pink in the middle so I put it in to cook longer. When I took it out later I used the same knife I'd used earlier to cut through it again without cleaning it first, so is the chicken still ok to eat or did I contaminate it with the knife I used to cut it when it was pink?

Replies

  • AlliBarlik
    AlliBarlik Posts: 111 Member
    You are most likely OK. I am always nervous about cooking chicken, especially if it's with a bone (most of the time we do boneless). Do you feel ok? I've had food poisoning from uncooked chicken and it occurred pretty fast after I ate it.
    Just to be safe, next time just clean the knife.
  • RubyRunner14
    RubyRunner14 Posts: 148 Member
    You should be fine, I've done the same before, just be more careful next time.
  • phatguerilla
    phatguerilla Posts: 188 Member
    Chicken isn't anywhere near as unsafe as we've been made to believe, yes at one time it was but not now. Not advocating rare chicken but also wouldn't worry too much.
  • helenrosemay
    helenrosemay Posts: 375 Member
    I haven't actually eaten it yet, I cooked to eat cold with salads for later. I only ask because I'm on a tight budget and hate to waste 2 chicken breasts, but I'd rather not worry about food poisoning so I think I'm best throwing it.
  • stefjc
    stefjc Posts: 484 Member
    Cooling it too slowly would be something I would worry about more. If the chicken was hot enough to be cooked it would have been hot enough to kill off anything on the knife.
  • allshebe
    allshebe Posts: 423 Member
    bacterial contamination of meat is generally limited to the outer surface, so cutting into a chunk of "muscle" like that is not generally an issue. Where you get into the most potential risk is when dealing with chopped or ground meat, because the "outside surface" is then mixed up with the inside "bits" and any contamination is well mixed up into the whole.
  • helenrosemay
    helenrosemay Posts: 375 Member
    Thanks everyone. I think in future I'll just cook the chicken when I need it and be more careful :smile:
  • Illona88
    Illona88 Posts: 903 Member
    For future reference:

    To check if it's cooked through, it's easier to just stab the chicken with a wooden or metal skewer.
    If the liquid coming out of it is clear, the chicken is cooked. If the liquid isn't clear, you need to cook it longer.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories