5 Foods You Should Never Ever Wash Before Cooking & 5 That You Always Should

Water is our solution to all kinds of health issues; we wash our bodies to cleanse ourselves, we wash our clothes, we wash our stuff and we wash all our food! Well, health is important, and water seems to do the cleansing job most of the time, but there are several situations it doesn’t, some of which are explained below. Has anyone ever told you that some foods are better left unwashed? Well, here they are, the five foods you should wash and those five that you totally shouldn’t!

Foods you shouldn’t be washing

5. Eggs:

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Eggs are a delicacy, aren’t they? We use eggs in so many things, and there isn’t a cuisine that hasn’t found a special way to make them, now should we wash our morning breakfast companions? Well, we usually end up washing our eggs, at times out of habit and at times out of our health concerns, but mostly egg producing companies place substances that help reduce the production and multiplication of bacteria on the surface. Washing it isn’t really a good idea, don’t you think? This substance provides protection from bacteria and pathogens.

4. Chicken:

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Now this is a compulsory practice, isn’t it? We’ve all heard the salmonella story and you know you don’t want that thing in your system, even if you don’t know the details. Well, the best way to avoid avian transmitted diseases is to better not wash that breast piece you have in your fridge. The only sure way to kill bacteria is boiling and temperature, the only thing washing does is get the bacteria onto your hands and onto the kitchen sink and where else your taking those wet hands around the kitchen, so it is better not to wash your breast piece, but lets boil it twice for good measure.

3. Meat:

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Meat is no different from chicken; we wash it thoroughly before we even think of putting it in the curry, (maybe you are making steak today? Well its the same thing either way). In fact, it is better to take out the juice of the meat by using a few napkins, before boiling it or frying it. The method of boiling should be applied to almost all kinds of meat. Its the only sure way to get rid of unwanted bacteria or pathogens that can be harmful to the human body. In fact, it is a well-known fact that salmonella exists in water contaminated with blood from meat left frozen for a longer period of time.

2. Pasta:

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You don’t need to wash the pasta. You know that right? In fact, it is a bad idea to even think of washing the thing, its just bad energy to have in the kitchen. Chefs have even ended up arguing that washing pasta should be made illegal. Washing takes away the pastas essence, its starch. The starch is what makes it easy for the food to absorb the starch, its actually what brings out the flavor. You can only wash the pasta after its cooked if you are putting it in a wok or a salad.

1. Mushrooms:

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We always wash our vegetables, its standard procedure and its okay for standard vegetables and plants, but what we don’t usually get is that mushrooms are different. Mushrooms are actually fungi, a completely different kingdom from plants and essentially with a totally different makeup, being consisted entirely of mycelium (thread-like structures that constitute the body of fungi) they have a very large capacity to absorb the water that they’re supposed to be washed from. So it is better to simply rinse mushrooms for a few seconds before immediately using them for cooking.

Foods you should totally wash:

5. Fruits and vegetables with edible skin:

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This is something we almost always do and its extremely necessary, edible skin foods have no buffer to protect us from the bacteria and the harmful microbes that usually find homes on their surfaces. So it is essential that they’re properly rinsed and then cleaned off with a paper towel. So if its shiny and looks clean, you can’t just bite into it!

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4. Tin Cans:

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Tin cans and all cans alike are our major method of preservation of vegetables and fruits. And these tin cans are usually protected from the inside from bacteria by the lid and the many layers of packing and preservation, but that doesn’t say that the bacteria cant get inside if you haven’t washed the outside of the can properly. That’s why it is extremely important to make sure you’ve rinsed the can before you’ve started taking out the produce.

3. Fruits and vegetables with inedible skin:

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Fruits and vegetables with inedible skin are usually protected from the outside from harmful microbes by the barriers imposed by nature to protect them from external threats. Of course, that doesn’t mean that your knife can’t carry these pathogens into the edible portion on the inside. That’s why it is usually recommended that you wash your product that has inedible skin before cutting it open. This is usually because these food are usually stored in places where harmful bacteria often grow and thrive. Like the back of your trunk that you used to carry home that melon you bought. It’s worth thinking through.

2. Nuts:

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Everyone loves to eat nuts, and we all have a preference. And who washes packaged nuts right? Well, maybe it should be you. Washing nuts is extremely important. One never knows how they were transported or where they were stored, the packaging itself is at times dirty and questionable in regards to health, which is why it is important to not just wash peeled nuts but it is essential to wash those with covers as well. Packaging and storage usually are a sure way for the product to acquire harmful microbes which is why nuts should always be washed.

1. Dried fruits:

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Dried foods are one of our favorite winter eatables, they are one of the kind of agricultural produce that is most commonly sold by weight and measure, that means that they’re transported in extremely unhealthy and dirty conditions, the kinds that usually are responsible for transmitting the worst kind of pathogens there are. And we don’t want that now, do we? It’s important to carefully and fully rinse these foods before they are used in dishes and as toppings or even if they are being eaten simply.

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Article by: Born Realist