Joined: Jul 28, 2009
Posts: 12
Location: Atlanta
Birthday: Feb 03
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:17 am
indydebi wrote:
Win wrote:
And, does anyone else think it MORE gross to see sweaty chefs dripping into their food as seen on challenges like Chopped, Iron Chef, and Top Chef? Gag.
Saw that on Hell's Kitchen a couple of times. Oh. My. God.
YES! Every time my DH and I watch those shows it makes us shudder to think of the "extra" salt that's being dripped into the food from their faces. Yuck.
grandmom Forum Addict
Joined: Jun 08, 2006
Posts: 561
Location: Frankfort, KY
Birthday: Jan 14
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:20 am
flamingobaker,
Yes, piping takes skill and steady hands (some of us don't have that steady hand anymore), plus an artful (is that a word?) eye to know what to pipe where. That same artful eye for shape, color, size, space is required for a pleasing arrangement of fondant shapes.
It's all art, just different medium.
K8memphis- Forum SuperStar!
Joined: Mar 21, 2005
Posts: 5166
Location: Memphis 10 C
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:20 am
flamingobaker wrote:
I KNOW hands are clean and/or gloved. And I know about all the hidden germs. But, for example, she is looking at it as going right from "manipulate, squeeze, mold" to being eaten. Cookies, rolls, are cooked in between.
And by skills I guess I do mean piping.
Yes, leveling and fondanting (is that a word?) a cake takes skill and practice, but after that, cutting out strips and dots and flowers does not.
Cutting strips and dots and flowers does too take skill and practice.
And after the cookies are baked they are never again touched by human hands? they magically dance off the sheet trays and blablabla...
Your friend is getting on my nerves.
Ok look. Your vegetables sit out in the weather where rodents walk and where birds poop on them--salad anyone?
sadsmile Forum Fanatic
Joined: Jun 22, 2008
Posts: 1578
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 11:48 am
I don't like peoples hands all over food either. I don't care if you just washed them. Most people do not ever wash their hands correctly. You are supposed to have sudsy soap and vigorously scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds and rinse under running water. Sing Happy Birthday twice folks. I usually spend a little more time on my hands, front, back in between my fingers and making sure to scrub under my nails with a finger brush. I just like super clean hands.
But even then our hands shed about 40-60 thousand-THOUSAND cells a day.
There is no way to completely avoid this and most have healthy immune systems and you are never phased by it physically. But knowing it is gross.
If you don't ware gloves you are literally baking a piece of yourself into everything you make. ~Shudders~
I think chefs should ware head bands or something and be given a break every hour to wash up and wash off the sweat. Most just use a towel and mop their heads while cooking-some don't and just drip that salty goodness right into your food. And most who do have a sweat mop towel will use that to dry their hands after washing them. UHHHG! It's so gross.
sadsmile Forum Fanatic
Joined: Jun 22, 2008
Posts: 1578
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 12:03 pm
Not only that Kate...LOL Lots of pickers have dogs to help keep away birds and rodents and they will lift a leg now and again. And lets also not mention that usually there are no restroom facilities out there in the fields. So even if they do bring in Port-a-potties I doubt there is hand washing going on there.
The veggies and fruit are picked by hand if not by machine, sorted by hands, boxed by hands, unpacked at stores by hands, and then riffled through and picked over by countless consumer hands before you even touch that tomato.
That is why we wash our food.
My mom said rinsing is fine...LOL When she saw me pull out my scrub brush and go to town with actual soap on some fruit and tomatoes. "You'll bruise those tomatoes!", she warned.
But when I went through it all and her little light bulb flashed brightly for a second or two and, by Georgie- she got it! Yes we even vigorously wash fruit we cut. While cutting right through the rind or skin those germs can be dragged right through the food on the knife. Washing is the only way.
Lambshack Regular Member
Joined: Mar 17, 2006
Posts: 167
Location: Texas
Birthday: Aug 28
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 12:12 pm
I have to say that any decorated sugar cookies are almost always handled by hand - in order to flood coat evenly, to rotate or get the right angle when applying extra details. Then you may have to transfer to a drying rack in order to make more room for the next tray of cookies. And let's not even go into bagging them up!!! My hands are soooooooo darn chapped after a large cookie order, I can hardly bend them to wrap around a pastry bag for the next order. I am meticulous with my cleanliness and always have my hair pulled back. And yet, you just never know...
We had a lady come thru our office today selling banana bread for some church mission project, and while we don't necessarily care for solicitors, we allow her since its a good cause, and yet all I can think of is 'where was this baked? did your cat lick on it before it gat wrapped up? how many tasting spoons went back and forth into the batter? etc"
Sad, as I am doing the same thing with cakes and hoping that people trust me to be as clean as possible, but I couldn't help but wonder... (and yes, its very good banana bread!)
sadsmile Forum Fanatic
Joined: Jun 22, 2008
Posts: 1578
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 12:38 pm
The nose is also a big no-no. The average person touches their nose or face many, many, many times an hour.
The germs and bacteria that live in the nose include Cold and Flu germs of a sick person, Staff like MRSA and E-colli bacterias.
One swipe of an itchy nose with out washing your hands can make others sick.
MRSA is every where right now. And just a light hand washing is not enough.
My mother who was not sick or ill at all had nasal surgery and wound up with a huge MRSA infection in her nose at the surgical site. So we got some info from the lab and her doctor. The lab explained to the doctor that most people are carrying staff bacteria, MRSA and E-colli around in their noses and don't know it at all, until their immune systems are compromised and they get sick and get an infection.
Nasty stuff in the nose.
I don't bake for others except family and friends on occasion. But when I do bake or cook for guests, I tie my hair up and wear a head band and wash and glove. And wouldn't ya know it that is when my nose itches the most. It drives me nuts..LOL So I take off the gloves and go blow in the bathroom and re-wash twice..LOL I wash in the bathroom and then go wash again in the kitchen. IDK until I have washed twice I won't touch food. A Little OCD maybe.
Loucinda Forum SuperStar!
Joined: Jan 26, 2005
Posts: 3413
Location: Central Ohio
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 1:33 pm
Not only do you carry that stuff in your nose, it is on your skin. It is all about common sense.
If everything we used/touched were sterile, guess how sick we all would be then?
cathyscakes Frequent Member
Joined: Jul 18, 2004
Posts: 301
Location: Oregon
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 2:27 pm
I think if we worried about every contamination we would go crazy. It is a real concern though. Dr. Oz's show really adds to all of the fear, they said that all of the fruits and vegetables are touched by human hands 20 times by the time it gets to the store. Then they set up a camera in the store to watch shoppers, and everyone was squeezing the produce, rubbing their noses, it was quite an eye opener. I was basically worried about pesticides, now something else to think about. Also the mrsa problem is scarey, they banned doctors from wearing necktie's in england, because they were so contaminated. Cake decorating shows are kind of hard to watch sometimes, but I enjoy the process so much I try not to think about it.
CakeMommyTX Forum Fanatic
Joined: Aug 07, 2007
Posts: 1160
Location: where the sidewalk ends....
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 2:36 pm
cathyscakes wrote:
they banned doctors from wearing necktie's in england, because they were so contaminated.
I decorate in the nude as to not contaminate the food with anything that might be on my clothes, also saves me on my laundry bill.
Texas_Rose Forum SuperStar!
Joined: Feb 26, 2008
Posts: 3975
Location: San Antonio, TX
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 2:41 pm
CakeMommyTX wrote:
cathyscakes wrote:
they banned doctors from wearing necktie's in england, because they were so contaminated.
I decorate in the nude as to not contaminate the food with anything that might be on my clothes, also saves me on my laundry bill.
Okay, my computer is now wearing my Big Red!!!
ROFLMAO
Just be careful when you're closing the dishwasher, a friend of mine was doing her dishes in the nude and closed her nipple in the dishwasher door!
Jaefamous Junior Member
Joined: May 07, 2009
Posts: 65
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 2:45 pm
CakeMommyTX wrote:
cathyscakes wrote:
they banned doctors from wearing necktie's in england, because they were so contaminated.
I decorate in the nude as to not contaminate the food with anything that might be on my clothes, also saves me on my laundry bill.
hahahaa :] :] :]
sadsmile Forum Fanatic
Joined: Jun 22, 2008
Posts: 1578
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 2:46 pm
There is no way to be sterile nor would I want to try to achieve that. Going too far reduces our good bacteria.
But good washing makes sense and prevents a lot of infection and the spread of illness. Illness and disease are more prevalent in areas with lower hygiene.
indydebi Forum Matriarch
Joined: Jul 07, 2006
Posts: 22149
Location: Indianapolis IN
Birthday: Jan 19
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 3:14 pm
sadsmile wrote:
Going too far reduces our good bacteria.
My 17 yr old got chicken pox a few weeks ago.....for the 2nd time. My married daughter said that her pediatrician told her since kids had started getting the chicken pox vaccine, then older kids and adults were no longer exposed to it like we used to be. Our bodies have forgotten how to battle it. So a lot of older kids and adults are getting chicken pox AGAIN.
In their endeavors to eliminate the disease, they may be actually bringing it back.
Pediatrician said "Follow the money". Drug companies, of course, were pushing for the vaccine, but she said the biggest lobby came from working parents, who were (big sigh!) TIRED of having to take off of work JUST because they had a sick kid!
I shared this with my HD guy and pointed out how kids seemed to have SO many more allergies than when we were kids. I pointed out that we live in an environment where we dont' open windows anymore, we run A/C instead. Office windows don't even open at all. I told him, "Kids aren't exposed to dirt and germs and their bodies never learn to deal with them. Kids just need to eat a little more dirt, like we did as a kid!" As a dad, he totally agreed with me!
good lord, my favorite childhood memory was turning an abandoned chicken coop into our clubhouse, when we lived on a farm. can you imagine a mom letting her kids play in an old dirty chicken coop these days?
__Jamie__ Forum SuperStar!
Joined: Aug 16, 2008
Posts: 5033
Location: The less seriously you take me, the better off we'll all be!
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 3:16 pm
CakeMommyTX wrote:
cathyscakes wrote:
they banned doctors from wearing necktie's in england, because they were so contaminated.
I decorate in the nude as to not contaminate the food with anything that might be on my clothes, also saves me on my laundry bill.
Yup. And shoeless so I don't drag icing all over the front of the studio when I go out to feed to the cats!
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Yes we even vigorously wash fruit we cut. While cutting right through the rind or skin those germs can be dragged right through the food on the knife. Washing is the only way.
