How do you disinfect various cooking items that have touched raw meat?

Question

As a novice cook I am looking to perfect my approach to cleaning and disinfecting various things I use to handle raw meat such as cutlery, tongs, large knives, plates, bowls and cutting boards to ensure that no harmful bacteria is spread.

I clean, then disinfect. During the cleaning stage, your sponge or dishbrush can come into contact with the harmful bacteria. Does this mean you should throw those things out after? Or do you keep them and disinfect them as well? How do you clean your cleaning tools?

Currently I buy large amounts of cheap sponges and chuck them out after I have used them to clean (I know this is wasteful). Then, to disinfect, I spray everything with hydrogen peroxide and white vinegar and let sit for 10 minutes.

I am not happy with my approach so I am looking for advice on how to improve.

Answer 1

Personally I just use hot water and soap. Generally bacteria don't last long on surfaces that have been thoroughly cleaned with soap and dried.

Also, if you're using a wooden cutting board once it's dry 99.9% of any bacteria on there will be dead.

If you're concerned about this though this review recommends:

1. Keep the sponge away from raw meat. "If you're dealing with raw juices from meat or poultry, you should be using paper that can be disposed of," Quinlan says.

2. Don't keep sponges around for too long. "I replace mine every one to two weeks," she says. "That's reasonable to me."

3. Clean the sponge every few days. The USDA recommends putting it in the dishwasher with a heated dry cycle, or wetting the sponge and popping it in the microwave for a minute.

Answer 2

(Assuming you wash by hand, if you have a dishwasher, just put everything in ... )

Just use plain'ol dishwasher soap and hot water.

If you have really dirty dishes, scrub them them first before washing them; so that the water you use to wash them after will be clean(er).

In general, Keep a clean cooking environment.

Your cleaning equipment (brush, scrubbing pads, sponges...) should be replaced on a regular basis, especially sponges.

If you like using sponges, you could put them in the microwave (one of many ways to clean them) to sanitize them.

For cutting boards (you should be using wooden ones), just clean them up by scrubbing them lightly with salt and lemon and rinse and dry.