Guilty of These 10 Bad Kitchen Habits? They May be Impacting Your Health

Everyone assumes their kitchen is safe and all the food they make will be healthy. In most cases, that is true. But, there are 10 bad habits that can affect the quality and safety of the food you prepare. Once you know practices to avoid, you will have a healthier kitchen and family.

Some Kitchens Need Renovations

Some kitchens are out of date, worn out, and inconvenient to work in. They may not have adequate lighting or enough counter space. Hiring Kitchen Contractors in Columbus Ohio to renovate that old, drab kitchen into a show space that is convenient and safe to work in is worth the investment. Homeowners can visit a showroom for ideas and design help. They can have the kitchen contractor come to the home and help them with a better kitchen layout and design and can get free quotes.

Kitchens are one of the most often remodeled rooms in homes and for good reason. A kitchen that has a bad layout and worn surfaces may not be very convenient or safe to prepare meals in. When the house goes up for sale, a dated, worn-out kitchen will drag the selling price down and turn off some buyers. When the kitchen remodel is complete, you will have a nice space to prepare family meals and treats and it will increase the home’s value.

10 Bad Kitchen Habits To Avoid

Even people with new kitchens can make mistakes that can be harmful to food quality and safety. These 10 mistakes should be avoided.

1. Defrosting meat and poultry on the counter at room temperature is not safe. Think ahead and defrost it overnight in the refrigerator or the same day in the microwave.
2. Using reusable grocery bags over and over without washing them can cause bacteria to get on your food.
3. Rinsing meats, fish, and poultry under a sink faucet before cooking is not a good idea. Instead, pat it down with paper towels. Rinsing meat will spread any bacteria to the sink and countertops.
4. Do not store raw meat, fish, or poultry above fresh produce in the refrigerator. Juices can drip down and contaminate them. Instead, store meat at the bottom of the refrigerator and use a shallow pan if it might drip.
5. Tasting food to determine if it is safe to eat is a bad idea. If it is not safe and you can get sick. Instead, go by the freshness date, smell, and sight. When in doubt, get rid of it.
6. Using one cutting board for everything is not a good idea. You do not want to spread disease-causing germs from raw meat to vegetables or fruits when preparing a meal. Use two cutting boards or wash the one cutting board well before reusing.
7. When food sits out at room temperature for longer than two hours it may no longer be safe to eat, so throw it away rather than putting it back in the refrigerator.
8. Cooking meats to the correct temperature by using a thermometer is safer than depending on how they look to determine doneness.
9. Not preheating your oven or cooking surface will mess up the cooking time, and food will stick or burn as well as cooking unevenly.
10. Using nonstick pans at high heat with metal utensils can cause PFCs or perfluorocarbons to be released as gas. Check with the pan manufacturer for proper cooking temperatures. Those PFCs can cause liver damage and other health problems.

These are some of the most important bad habits in the kitchen that need changing. Some other bad mistakes include putting pyrex or glass pans under the broiler, mishandling hot liquids, and cooking or storing acidic foods in reactive pans such as cast-iron or aluminum. Acidic foods include tomatoes, lemon juice, and others. Take a few steps to correct bad kitchen habits and replace them with safer cooking techniques and you will have better tasting, safer food.