Handbook of Kitchen Management

Table of Contents

  1. Preface
  2. A Guide to Kitchen Hygiene
  3. A Guide to Kitchen Ergonomics
  4. Work Must Be Economical
  5. A Guide to Cookware
  6. Prevent Food from Sticking to Cookware
  7. A Guide to Food Packaging
  8. A Guide to Food Containers
  9. A Guide to Kitchen Knives
  10. A Guide to Cutting techniques
  11. A Guide to Sharpening Knives
  12. A Guide to Cutting Boards
  13. A Guide to Washing Food
  14. What's Next?

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A Guide to Washing Food

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From dirt, small stones and pecks of wood, impurities in food has now graduated to contain toxic elements such as plastics, paints, pesticides, etc. leached from food packaging and storage. Conventional washing methods can no longer guarantee the elimination of these impurities from food. So, here are some deviant methods for safer food.

Grains, Lentils and Legumes

Most people wash grains, lentils and legumes in a bowl of water. If they were stored in paint buckets or low quality plastic containers, such washing will not remove any contamination of paint and plastic particles from the containers. These particles need not float in the bowl to be drained out.

A better way — although not perfect — is to also wash them using a strainer under running water. This will allow any waste particles in the food to drain off.

This process requires a source for running water, which may not be always available in all circumstances. Also, some contaminants can still stay in food. The ultimate solution is to keep foreign elements away from food during it's production, processing, packaging and storage.

Fruits and Vegetables

Fruits and vegetables can contain residues of pesticides, insecticides and even fertilisers on their surface1. Ignorance and lethargic washing may result in the consumption of these elements.

Rinsing fruits and vegetables under running water can reduce the concentration of the chemicals from their surfaces irrespective of the water solubility of the chemicals1.

Then, wash the fruit or vegetable in a solution containing water, salt and vinegar in 88:2:10 ratio. This will reduce the number of bacteria and viruses by about 90%2. A simpler calculation would be to make a solution of 9 parts water and 1 part vinegar, and add some salt to it.

Another study pertaining to strawberries found that submerging them in cool water (22°C) water and agitating them would reduce bacteria from 41% to 79%. The effects are 62% to 90% more if the water is warmer (43°C). Considering that the agitation is easy and warm water is hostile environment for most bacteria, this result can be assumed to be applicable to other fruits and vegetables too.

A healthier choice is to shift to organic produces since they contain no chemicals residues. The dirt and bacteria can be reduced by the methods stated above.

  1. Reduction of Pesticide Residues on Produce by Rinsing. View resource. ↩ ↩

  2. Reduction of Poliovirus 1, Bacteriophages, Salmonella Montevideo, and Escherichia coli O157:H7 on Strawberries by Physical and Disinfectant Washes. View resource. ↩

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Corrections?

We base our writings on science and reasoning, but we could be victims of cognitive biases whilst doing our research. If there are any inaccuracies in our writings, please do let us know.

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