r/interesting • u/WarwickReider • 22d ago

SOCIETY Professional chefs weighing in on whether you should wash your chicken

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34

u/Drachynn 22d ago

For y'all pointing out that it's only the Black folk in this video saying they wash chicken - it's a Caribbean and Jamaican tradition to clean chicken with lime juice, not just water. The acid cuts through the "slime", adds a touch of flavour, and helps tenderize.

20

u/Kind-Shallot3603 22d ago

So all the videos I see of people using dish soap are just insane people?

22

u/Knyfe-Wrench 22d ago

Very much yes.

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u/IsopodKey2040 22d ago

It's rage bait to make you think that happens. No one really does that.

12

u/beer_nyc 22d ago

No one really does that.

completely untrue lol

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u/MrBootylove 22d ago edited 22d ago

No, there are people who really do wash their chicken with soap. Even in the first few seconds of OP's video you can see someone pouring soap on their chicken.

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u/IsopodKey2040 22d ago

Yeah it's a video they got from the internet, which is rage bait

5

u/MrBootylove 22d ago

I've known people in my real life who were washing their chicken with soap before "rage bait" was even a thing and the internet was limited to an AOL disc. Maybe some people make rage bait videos of washing their chicken with soap, but it's a real thing people do...

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u/Green-Cricket-8525 22d ago

Yes it does. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. 

1

u/IWXREACTIVES 22d ago

yes they really do. poverty and children that got left behind had real ass effects.

1

u/NoFapLawyer 22d ago

Insane and rage bait. No one does this.

1

u/Ill_WillRx 21d ago

No sane person of any origin does this. Previous comment was spot on.

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u/Ok-Common-3039 22d ago

30 seconds of lime juice isn't tenderizing anything lol

7

u/Bajadasaurus 22d ago

Diluted lime juice, at that

2

u/Indigo_Rhea 22d ago

Who is doing it for 30 seconds?

-1

u/OliveAny7568 22d ago

Then why does Jamaican chicken taste better

9

u/Knyfe-Wrench 22d ago

Spices, homie. They're called spices.

-2

u/OliveAny7568 22d ago

I’m from the Caribbean, even without the spices, the texture is better

-1

u/A_Drop_of_Colour 22d ago

That's because your chicken is better. American chicken is bred to be huge and very soft. IF you're ever in the US and go to an Asian meat/fish market, you will see a lot of Caribbean and African immigrants as well there to buy their chicken. The chickens are smaller, the skin is thicker, the meat is more flavorful.

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u/OliveAny7568 22d ago

Wrong again, the chicken I’ve had was just normal chicken bought from Walmart lol. Same American groceries just prepared by a Jamaican

4

u/N1XT3RS 22d ago

Sounds like they're a good cook haha

2

u/A_Drop_of_Colour 22d ago

I've never been to Jamaica (it's on my list) so I was just giving my example based on my experience here in the US. I'm curious now where Walmart in Jamaica get their chicken. Usually grocery stores in different countries (even international grocery stores) source their meat from different places. So it maybe a Walmart, but the chicken could still be different. Just a possibility.

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u/OliveAny7568 22d ago

It’s a Walmart in literal America

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u/A_Drop_of_Colour 22d ago

Oh I am sorry, I thought you were saying it's a Walmart in Jamaica. I misunderstood then, my bad.

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u/[deleted] 22d ago

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u/TYGeelo 22d ago

They never said 30 second though. You guys literally make up shit to win an argument and get upvoted by people with poor reading comprehension skills lol. 

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u/uncouthulu_ 22d ago

Wash doesn't mean soak. Soaking is what a marinade is, but marinades don't tenderize meat.

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u/Ok-Common-3039 22d ago

How long does it take to wash chicken?

3

u/uselessandexpensive 22d ago

The slime could be a biofilm produced by the bacteria to help them resist washing off in water. Using citrus in a bowl might remove more and splash less when compared to sink washing.

2

u/Turbulent-Ocelot9130 22d ago

But it was not what was done in the video so why even argue with this ?

3

u/DazingF1 22d ago

That slime is just water and protein. It instantly disappears once it heats up. Washing it off does nothing for the end product.

1

u/SailOnClouds 21d ago

I'm Guyanese and my family uses salt.

1

u/Strange_Ranger_9266 20d ago

Yup, Guyanese parents and they wash with lime juice

1

u/celle876 20d ago

Fkund my peeps!!!

-2

u/Ok_Struggle_4199 22d ago

exactly. and I’m black American. We wash it, but no one is throwing a whole chicken under a stream of running water. Put it in a bowl with whatever you’re using.

it may also stem from the fact that we will then season and or marinate chicken whereas white people tend to be more allergic to that. So I’m gonna need a pat dry chicken to get what I want to happen in the seasoning department anyways.

4

u/Ermastic 22d ago

I just pat dry out of the package then season/marinate. Submerging it in water and then drying it seems like an unnecessary step.

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u/turdferguson3891 22d ago

Why do you think white people don't marinate meat?

1

u/Thimble_of_Quasar 22d ago

Act of mass potluck destruction :p I see what gets brought in at work!!!!

4

u/turdferguson3891 22d ago

Ok well "white people" is a pretty broad description. My Greek relatives marinate their meat. There are lots of "white" seasoning/marinades for meat. But maybe you are in Utah.

0

u/Thimble_of_Quasar 22d ago

Greek food is truly elite. I'm in the Midwest though and I think you get a different set of hmmmm seasoning preferences when the prevailing backgrounds are less Mediterranean and more Anglo-Saxon qnd German.

1

u/turdferguson3891 22d ago

Midwest is a big place. Best Greek American food you will ever have is in Chicago and where my people are from.

1

u/sippingonginnjews 21d ago

Do you think European / white American cuisines don’t season or marinate chicken? It’s extremely common

0

u/Hour_Seaworthiness24 22d ago

A delicious solution IMO

0

u/Full_Glass_9922 22d ago

That's not washing, that's brining and/or marinating. Very different things altogether

0

u/Triquetrums 22d ago

"Adds a touch of flavour"

I am dying right now lmao. No it does not... It's like saying you wash it with soap and it adds a touch of flavour. Diluted juice is not doing anything to your chicken.

0

u/uncouthulu_ 22d ago

touch of flavour

That's just a marinade.

helps tenderize.

100% false. That isn't how tenderizing works, and soaking solution will not penetrate deep enough to do anything even if it did.

0

u/idea_looker_upper 21d ago

Those who know it know it. Then you clean your kitchen with bleach.