Welcome to the Melbourne Community Daily Discussion Thread.
Today was a rest day for me from exercises but not anything else. Work was flat out, which I don’t have any issues with handling. Everything is organised and scheduled and methodical at work. I can handle every single appliance and piece of equipment running all at once with everyone conversing and the radio over the top with no problems.
It was at home later on that I started to feel a bit overwhelmed and feeling like a kind of chaotic sensory overload was happening. The hasty cooking of dinner for hungry family waiting, quickly trying to tidy the house which is always in a worse state than when I left this morning and my efforts feel futile, noise from everyone’s screens, my MILs TV blaring through the wall from the next room, the drummer from the band a few doors down practising, the wind buffeting the house, the ceaseless requests for post dinner food, drinks, snacks and attention from every family member, Mr Peeler making lots of “in pain and everything is hard” noises… it sort of all got a bit much? I went to my room and did some deep breathing/meditation and managed to calm down and block a lot of it out. Haven’t had to do that for a while. Now I feel sort of muted and tired, a bit deflated or something. Just tired I guess.
Sorry things are tough for you at home at the moment. Is Mr Peeler able to take/share any of your burdens?
Mr Peeler can’t really help as he has a lot of health problems at the moment. It’s just hard for me to juggle everyone’s needs. Thanks for the kind thoughts, it means a lot.
That’s an intense day, I thought mine was bad with the shithead drivers on the way to seek end-of-life care for our eldest kitty at the vets (great news…she’s in for a few more innings yet). Can the post-dinner crowd sort themselves out?
Sorry to hear about your kitty struggling with health, but I’m glad you’ve got some more time with her. The post dinner demands couldprobably be sorted out by themselves but I think in asking me to do it, the kids are asking me to show them I care after not seeing me all day. It’s just hard to juggle everyone’s needs. Thanks for the kind words, it means a lot.
My blackhole of a suburb is finally getting some of todays rain! Honestly, I can’t wait to move back East next year, sick of getting nothing but wind and the odd five second trickle.
Ate too much and now I’m fat
Chillin’ in my oodie with the cat
Rice and broccolini, egg, mettwurst
I’m going nuclear, I’m gonna burst.
It seems there’s a lot of good cooks here. While we’re on the topic of food safety, how do you properly transfer raw meat (especially mince) to the pan?
I learned to cook decades ago at home so plenty of bad habits could have been picked up. It wasn’t unheard of to just push the mince into the pan with the cooking utensil and carry on, but someone who worked hospo told me doing that wasn’t safe/hygienic. (Obviously the browned batch was removed first before adding a new one, or if in a big hurry and the inevitable stewing didn’t really matter it was done all at once. It was cooked thoroughly in a large pan.)
Were they right and I was taught wrong? (Very possible.) Or were they being picky? (They tended to be a highly critical one-up sort of person who would backseat you on any task.)
Maybe it matters less for when there’s further cooking, like for bolognese sauce, but if it’s for something re-added at the end or served straight up I do have doubts.
Since hearing that when I cook I now try to use something separate like tongs or fork to transfer raw meat to the pan. And wash that utensil last/separate.
For mince I open the packet with a knife and up end it into the pan and use my wooden spoon to chop it up. I then use a spoon rest. I think the problem lies with using a utensil on raw chicken or fish then using it on cooked food.
Yes, sometimes I open the packet with a knife and use that to push but thinking on it that introduces bacteria from the packaging.
I use paper towel as a utensil rest or hang the working end off the edge but might stand it vertical in a Pyrex jug
Nothing goes between raw and cooked. I’ve got a 3 set of dedicated chopping boards I don’t mix. I hate my fridge because the coldest compartment for fish/dairy/meat is at the very top and the vegetable crisper at the bottom! You’re not meant to have raw meat stored over other foods 😬 (Seriously why is raw meat stored over the salad)
I use a spoon or fork to put the meat in then use a separate cooking utensil
I use separate everything for raw meat
Mince is a separate category all by itself. High risk of contamination purely because there are a lot of surfaces that have touched implements during the grinding/chopping. However, all meats are pretty much OK if they reach 55 deg celsius which will kill all bacteria. Basically, if it reaches simmer point (just under 100 deg celsius) you are fine as long as the heat has penetrated through the meat. Which is where mince, having small particles, if fine if the mixture simmers for a bit - that is, more than 1 minute.
Roasts and steaks are a bit different, as the interior of the meat hasn’t (usually) been contaminated, only the surface. So the surface has to reach a high enough temperature, but the interior can cook at quite a low temperature and still be OK bacterially speaking. And is juicier that way.
Plastic packaging gives me the heaves. Ideal environment for bacterial and fungal growth - high humidity and temperature range in the danger zone unless your fridge (and shopping basket) is very cold. Vacuum packaging is marginally better but I still reckon is a bit sus. But this could be because I’m a bit old-fashioned that way.
Re: implements. Any implement is fine if it heats up as per above. Wooden spoons are probably the easiest to use as they heat up to bacteria-killing temperature just fine. Some interesting research has been done on bacterial contamination of wooden implements and chopping boards. Apparently it takes 24 hours and a clean wooden spoon/board has killed most bacteria. This doesn’t happen with any other material.
Plastic implements need to be kept scrupulously clean, as they don’t handle high heat as well. Metal implements (if left in the dish to heat up) are fine. Silicone implements worry me a bit, but I consider and treat them as plastic and so far so good.
The really important bit is to wash the chopping board and implements very well in hot soapy water, rinse in cold water and air dry protected from dust. Also to wash hands etc. well before and after handling meat of any sort.
Beyond that, it is possible to be too persnickety.
All very well said. The thing I would add is that contamination is somewhat “dose dependent” and you don’t need to get rid of 100% of the bacteria for it to be safe to eat. You just need to reduce the amount to what your body is able to deal with (which will vary from person to person)
The biggest risk is situations that allow bacteria to breed - so using one set of tongs to move a steak into the pan, then using the same pair to transfer the cooked meat to the plate is quite low risk because the amount of bacteria that could have been transferred to the tongs and back to the steak is pretty tiny and would not be enough to cause harm. However if you were planning on cooling the same steak to cut up and use in a salad the next day it becomes riskier, because that tiny amount of bacteria is being time and opportunity to grow before you eat it. Similarly using the marinade your meat has been in as a baste at the end of cooking is risky because the marinade is an environment that allows bacteria to breen and build up to harmful amounts.
The time issue is also a reason why some things can be safe for a home cook but unsafe in a commercial environment - large batches of food take longer to heat and cool, and are often kept waiting longer to be served, so they are in the “danger zone” where bacteria can breed and increase for a longer time.
I just fed my poor innocent cat her laxative… 😔 There will be tummy aches tonight. Cuddles will be dispensed.
Unrelated, does life lately feel incredibly tough for everyone else? Like you work hard but never catch a break and nothing can ever go smoothly
