^ It's suppose to read: "I'm really really new to cooking"

Are you in good health? Anyone you are cooking for have a health issue?

dcarch

You planning on cooking that steak or chicken breast? Putting it over a hot fire or in a hot pan? That will kill all germs that you could possibly wash off.
Now what you DO need to be concerned about is the bugs that grow after you cook it or which are endemic in the chicken....that is 'inside" the meat.....and that's why you cook chicken to an internal temp of 160, and don't leave food sitting out of the refrig for more than 2 hours.
I don't wash meat, unless it has obvious bone chips from the saw or bits of blood....or I sprinkle it with cinnamon instead of chili powder!!

I sometimes rinse meat with vinegar and blot dry - freshens and rinses off package juices.

Nope, I don't wash meat or chicken. As mentioned, cooking will destroy any organisms on the exterior of the meat. Ground meat should be especially cooked to a safe temperature as you don't know what pathogens might be introduced in the grinding process. Beef, pork, chicken, whatever, could all be ground on the same grinding surface and who knows what else could added.

I grow my own beef so I'm comfortable eating it nearly raw, but even growing my own chickens I make sure I cook them to 160F and then let it rest to finish cooking. Pork used to be cooked to death, but trichinosis is killed at 138F so above that is good.

The only time I rinse meat or chicken is when I have a coating that I want to stick and it sticks better to meat that's been moistened or dipped in a wash of some type.

Annie

If you're new to cooking, you may not realize that your greatest danger is from cutting boards or plates that you placed the raw meat on. Wash those very well!

You should be able to glean some helpful information from the link below. -Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: USDA - Safe Food Handling Fact Sheets

In all my years of cooking - I have never "cleaned" raw meat before. Totally unnecessary.

Hi & welcome to Gardenweb. I don't blame you one bit for subconsciously wanting a cookie it seems. Fear of eating contaminated food is a good reason to cook at home MORE! I've never once gotten sick from eating something at home, but have definitely gotten food that made me sick from restaurants.

Always check the date on meat. Fresh meat should not have any unpleasant odor. If you open a package of meat that has a wrong smell, don't cook that for dinner. Chicken parts (the meat, not the skin if any) should be pink. Same with steak, but a darker pink, there should be no gray or differently colored areas. Any package of meat that is leaking juices is not wrapped well and I avoid those. Also, any package of meat that has a larger amount of moisture/juices is just going to cost more than it should. Liquid is heavy.

If you don't trust a steak to eat rare, don't buy that one. Ground beef should be cooked thoroughly, and although hopefully it is not, kitchen sanitation regarding it should assume it is contaminated with bacteria (which are killed by cooking but need to be cleaned from sink and utensils.)

Rinsing any raw meat is more dangerous to kitchen sanitation than not because it contaminates your sink, and probably the faucet handle. Agree, anything that touches raw poultry, pork, ground beef should be washed immediately. A utensil you used to manipulate raw meat should be washed before you use it again to touch the cooked meat.

When I'm going to touch raw meat very quickly, I turn the faucet on first so I don't have to touch the handle to wash my hands. If I'm going to have my hands in the meat for too long to waste running water, like mixing up a meatloaf, I lay a paper towel on the handle. When ready to wash hands, use the paper towel to turn on the faucet, drop it in the trash, then wash hands.

I do wash chicken. But I am very careful about clean-up. I disinfect the sink and counter afterwards, and the faucet if I have touched it.
Meat that has been cut and may have bone fragments, like steaks or chops, I wipe with a wet paper towel.