Quick Tip: Keep One Hand Meat-Free!

I went to a cooking class last night, and our teacher offered a simple, oh-and-by-the-way tip while she was rubbing seasonings into our pork tenderloins.

It was one of those cooking moments where you think, "That is so unbelievably practical, and yet I've never thought of it before." Keep one hand meat-free. Why?

It's not even a high-falutin' reason, either. It has nothing to do with the taste of your food or the technique of working with raw meat. It's this: The phone is inevitably going to ring. Or you need to answer the door. Fill in the blank however you want (wipe a child's runny nose... grab another ingredient from the refrigerator...).

The simple truth is that you need a clean hand at the ready. And it's not that hard to rub spices into a piece of meat with one hand. Then, you can dip your other hand back into the salt.

I am constantly getting both hands dirty and having to wash them when I need to open a bottle of olive oil or get something out of the cabinets. Or, yes, answer the phone. Doesn't that happen all the time?

If any New Yorkers are interested, here's the cooking class. The food was excellent.
• Rustico Cooking

(Image: Flickr member busbeytheelder, licensed for use under Creative Commons)

Comments (14)

Common Sense. I have always done this. One hand gets a fork or tongs to stay clean while the other hand rubs or mixes. It also makes it easier to turn the water on to wash up.

I always try to keep one hand clean for these reasons!

Yep, I do the same. Practice almost every night now that I cook regularly again :)

Yeah...I always do that. Getting into cupboards, moving pots...plus I really, really hate handling raw meat, and I do it as little as absolutely possible!

I agree with the first commenter on this being a Common Sense thing. I have also, always done this. One hand is for flipping and turning the raw meat around, the other is for sprinkling salt and seasonings.

I've always done this. And, actually these days I wear disposable food service gloves when handling raw meat -- I can quickly slip one off to grab the phone, etc. Works great!

I do this as well and this is why I got a one-handled squeeze-style pepper mill too. Handle with one hand, season with the other as caseoftornados mentioned.

Any one-handed suggestions for meatloaf?

I love this - I always always keep a meat free hand, but it's really just because it feels dirty to me to have two dirty hands. If I have to, for some reason, use my "clean hand" I get really annoyed. I don't realize I'm keeping it clean until I need to grab the chicken with two hands. Such a bummer. Throws off my game.

Difficult when gutting a bird or fish

i dont really see much of a point. if you're getting one hand dirty, you're gonna have to wash em both anyways, and who only washes one hand?

Isn't it funny that sometimes you need someone else to point out something so obvious?! Good suggestion.

I always use disposable gloves in the kitchen because of skin irritations. So if this happens, I just carefully slip off the 'meaty hands', and voila, clean hands!!