r/Cooking • u/sebisheep • 18h ago
What’s in the spray bottle that’s used to wipe the cutting board?
Hello! I don’t know if this is a silly question, but I’m curious to know what sort of solution is in those spray bottles that people use to wipe their cutting boards. I was watching a YouTube short and after the person cut some chicken, he sprayed some liquid onto to cutting board to wipe. Is it just alcohol? Is that enough to clean/disinfect the cutting board and proceed to prepare other ingredients?
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u/RW_McRae 8h ago
Starsan, most likely. It's used as a sanitizer. It doesn't actually clean the board, you still have to wash it, but if you leave it on it sanitizes it. I use it for home brewing and spray my cutting board after I've washed it.
You have to leave it on, though. Spraying and wiping it off doesn't do much
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u/TooManyDraculas 5h ago
Starsan is pretty aggressive, at least before you mix it down. And also comparatively expensive. It's a brewing product that most food youtubers have probably never heard of.
You have to leave it on, though. Spraying and wiping it off doesn't do much
Also another reason it doesn't typically get used for this. Multi-quat sanitizer and most anti-bacterial multi-surface cleaners don't tend to have a soak time. Spray on, wipe off, sanitized by the time the residue dries.
But I doubt most of these people are using a specific sanitizer.
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u/RW_McRae 3h ago
I've only ever used Starsan so I don't know about the others. You definitely do have to dilute it down. It's great because it's food safe, so you can use it in beer and mead bottles or leave it on surfaces and not have to worry about cleaning it out. Even if it looks like the bottle is filled with bubbles, they're safe to consume.
The others might do the same *shrug*
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u/TooManyDraculas 2h ago
Yeah regular quats work identically on that front, but they're cheaper and standard in food prep and medical contexts. So they're more widely available.
They're also available pre-mixed and far less harsh if used undiluted. Sanitize pretty much on contact, spray on wipe off. A lot of the products available are dual use cleaner/sanitizers so they're a common "all in one" solution.
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u/cathbadh 7h ago
I know the videos you're talking a out. IMO it's more performative than anything else - demonstrating a clean cutting service, as a TikTok with 45 seconds of scrubbing and maybe rewaxing isn't good content.
Fwiw, that checkerboard cutting board of his is for sale, for like 250 bucks. I like it, but not at that price.
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u/tokillaworm 48m ago
Those commas put me, in a coma.
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u/cathbadh 45m ago
Mobile took over at some point. The only one I remember putting in was after FWIW.
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u/Cutsdeep- 15h ago
Why is there an issue with cutting veg straight away on the same board as chicken if you're just about to cook both?
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u/Rimalda 11h ago
I'll generally prep veg first then chicken last, unless cooking the meat first then I'll use two different chopping boards.
For me, it's all about habit as I'll often snack on an offcut of veg whilst prepping, and if I do that accidentally on a "contaminated" board then that could end badly for me. I might also use the veg board to chop herbs towards the end of cooking.
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u/Kaiyn 14h ago
Realistically, not much. But in commercial kitchens it’s all about mitigation. The 20 minutes that those veges might sit before being cooked could encourage bacteria. Again, very unlikely but it is possible. However if you’re just cooking at home and it’s all gonna be cooked in the same pot, go for it.
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u/Fiztz 13h ago
It's more about having foolproof habits so that a little mistake doesn't cause a big issue, if you're thinking about a big stew and cutting the veg but then do a couple of bits for a salad and think "I'm cutting veggies so this is fine" forgetting you haven't cleaned since the chicken. Similar to fears about refreezing meat, you can do it once no drama if it wasn't thawed long but you don't know if 5 other people have done the same thing already or for how long which would make it dangerous.
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u/WrennyWrenegade 10h ago
I had a few too many occurrences where I'd go to prep the last item for dinner only to remember I needed a green onion or herb garnish but my board had raw chicken on it. And then having to wash or get out a whole new cutting board and knife to slice one goddamned green onion.
Now I do all the veg first, then meat. I clean up any meaty dishes or tools as soon as I'm done with them. Then I don't even need to think about if something is going to be eaten raw or cooked. I don't have to remember whether or not I handled that knife after the chicken. If a family member wanders in, there are no hidden dangers from contaminated surfaces or ingredients. It's a kitchen safety thing I can just put on auto-pilot and never have to worry about.
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u/theeaglejax 8h ago
Came here to comment this. I have forced myself to build muscle memory that meat is last on the cutting board of if needed to prep meat first I grab a separate for the meat get it marinading or whatever then carry on with veg on butcher block that lives on counter.
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u/PhotojournalistOk592 12h ago
Commercial/restaurant kitchens usually prep food that won't immediately be cooked. Veg contaminated by raw chicken might sit for 2 days before it's cooked, assuming it gets cooked, which will increase the amount of bacteria potentially in the final product
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u/TooManyDraculas 5h ago
And to be clear the risk is in that veg cross contaminating other things. Whether that be your hands, tools, another surface or what have. Or being used in uncooked applications as well.
Heat will still destroy the pathogens on the veg itself, if it goes to be cooked. But if that contamination is just jumping around the kitchen, it has a high chance on ending up on cooked food or something that will be served uncooked.
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u/XY-chromos 4h ago
Yea we know. Good thing the contamination is not sentient and cannot jump anywhere.
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u/TooManyDraculas 2h ago
But your filthy human hands can.
The main source of cross contamination is hands. Which why hand washing is the primary thing.
The main thing introducing it in the first place is your own ass too.
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u/PhotojournalistOk592 3h ago
Also, the more bacteria in/on something before it's cooked, even to 165°F, the more bacteria that will be left after cooking, and the more likely you are to get sick. That's also why proper cooling procedure is so important. You have to properly cool your food after cooking it so that the bacteria that is left won't grow back to where it was before it was cooked
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u/Cutsdeep- 10h ago
Right, but neither YouTubers nor this sub are about commercial cooking
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u/nifty-necromancer 8h ago
Some people for some reason act like they’re running a restaurant at home. Super Safety™, no food out longer than five minutes, bleach every surface lest the Fae spoil the milk, etc.
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u/GEEK-IP 8h ago
I prep the veggies first, then the meat. That just seems logical, you're not worried about contaminating chicken with carrots.
I don't want to contaminate the veggies for two reasons. First, I don't like them well done, and am often just heating them mor than cooking them. Second, I (or someone else) might have a nibble of that carrot, or asparagus, or whatever before cooking it. ;)
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u/scarby2 6h ago
But then you don't get the chicken flavoring on your carrots /s
Although personally I have no specific order of operations usually I end up preparing things in the order they need to be cooked which is often meat first as it's cooking for hours.
Edit: I also only like most veggies fully cooked and the only way I'm nibbling on something raw is if it's onion.
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u/samtresler 9h ago
Many times I have over prepped veg and half an diced onion or tomato or what not goes in a later dish.
Even if it gets cooked at that point - how l9ng is it in the fridge cross contaminated?
I just have a giant wood butcher's block for veg/cheese/etc, and a polycarbonate one for meat.
Veg gets sprayed down with vinegar and wiped (and regularly deep cleaned and oiled), meat gets washed and maybe sanitized.
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u/Character-Ad9225 8h ago
Its not an issue, at the moment.
Its more of a restaurant thing, and a long term contamination issue. Many commercial kitchens have different coloured boards for different items for this exact reason (green for veg, yellow for poultry, blue for fish, red for red meat, etc).
I personally also do this, but just because I don't like the thought of cross contamination. Like you just used it for chicken. The next guy is going to grab that chopping board and use it to chop veg for a raw salad. Sure, it has been washed. But how well? Are you sure its been done right, that that item is actually free from harmful bacteria? Many people don't realize how much of a problem cross contamination actually is.
You'd actually be surprised how many people don't wash items properly, or change their washing water enough for it to actually be effective
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u/PhotojournalistOk592 12h ago
It's probably quat san (a mixture of ammonia chlorides) or dilute bleach. Most other solutions are going to take longer than 10sec to sanitize
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u/JustCallMeJennifer 7h ago
I soak my boards weekly in Milton baby bottle steriliser. Seems to work ok
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u/mynameisnotsparta 5h ago
If I use a cutting board for meat / chicken it gets sprayed with bleach and goes in the sink as well as the knife. Then I’ll use a clean board and knife for veggies, etc. otherwise veggies get cut first and meat after and then board gets bleached and washed.
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u/baby_armadillo 5h ago
For a home cook, the risk is pretty low. What you do at home is going to be very different that what people do in commercial kitchens, because you’re likely preparing food that you’re planning on cooking in the near future, in relatively small amounts, and the risk of getting sick is pretty low.
In a commercial kitchen, they’re often prepping large amounts of food that will be held for several hours or days, it’s a very busy environment where it’s easy to forget what you last used a utensil or cutting board for, people might be dropping and picking up tasks mid-task, and you’ll be feeding lots of people which a wide range of health issues and vulnerabilities. There’s a much higher standard for cleanliness, sanitation, and food safety because the volume of people you’re feeding is higher and the risk of contamination is higher.
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u/angiexbby 3h ago
OP I’ve had the same question as you for a very long time and done some research, my answer is that they do it for show because such magic spray doesn’t exist.. :/
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u/rubikscanopener 25m ago
Ugh. If I cut up chicken on a cutting board, it's going into the dishwasher and I'll get another out for prepping the rest of the meal.
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u/brando7commando 13h ago
I thought peroxide
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u/AndyinAK49 9h ago
Hydrogen peroxide isn’t stable enough. I use sodium percarbonate or “oxygen bleach”. It’s sold in brewing stores as one-step no rinse sanitizer. It’s basically hydrogen peroxide in powdered form.
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u/RUKiddingMeReddit 9h ago
Yeah, I used to manage a coffee shop. We had automatic dispensers of thus stuff to sanitize almost everything.
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u/AndyinAK49 8h ago
I also use it to soak cookware in. Gets the most burnt on crap off.
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u/RUKiddingMeReddit 8h ago
It's good stuff. If I'm brewing, though, I always go back with iodine just to be safe.
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u/AndyinAK49 8h ago
Do you have issues with flavor if you rinse with iodine? It makes me nervous. How much do you dilute it? I have never had an issue with just using one-step.
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u/RUKiddingMeReddit 8h ago
10-12 ppm. Never an issue with flavor. Had a whole batch of brown ale get contaminated once, so now I'd rather be safe than sorry.
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u/Teleguido 6h ago
You’re confusing two very different products. StarSan is a one step, no rinse sanitizer that is used on surfaces that have already been cleaned. You can literally drink it (but please don’t).
Sodium percarbonate is an ingredient in cleaning products such as PBW (powdered brewery wash) and OxyClean, and it absolutely should be rinsed off when used in the typical concentrations for cleaning brewing equipment.
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u/AndyinAK49 6h ago
Weird, because the instructions and the labels on 1Step say that no rinsing is required. 1Step’s ingredients do include sodium percarbonate, which is essentially hydrogen peroxide in crystalline form. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O3) becomes a sanitizer when the molecules collide with organic carbons and the extra Oxygen molecule breaks the carbon chain and forms a H2O molecule and a CO2 molecule. This killing the germs that are made of carbon and creating water and carbon dioxide as an end product. Granted, I am speaking from my own decades of successful experience with the product. Also, please note that I am referring the actual product called 1step, not oxyclean. Oxyclean contains other ingredients and fragrances.
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u/Teleguido 5h ago
Ah! Sorry, I had forgotten about that product! I think it’s not as commonly used in brewing as a combination of PBW (cleaning) and then StarSan (sanitizing). So yeah, as long as you’re following the recommended dilution then I’m sure you’re fine.
And regarding OxyClean, you should only use OxyClean Free for cleaning cooking items at it doesn’t contain any fragrances or anything like that.
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u/TooManyDraculas 5h ago
That's PBW, it's similar to Oxyclean. It's a cleaner/detergent. Not a sanitizer.
VERY useful stuff, but does not sanitize. I also don't think it's stable pre-mixed.
And food youtubers are probably unaware of it. Brewery/Homebrew products are not commonly used or mentioned in general cooking, or even commercial kitchens.
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u/AndyinAK49 5h ago
PBW is not 1Step. They are very different products. Powdered Brewery Wash is a buffered alkaline cleaner that is not a sanitizer and requires rinsing. 1Step is a Sodium Percarbonate based cleanser/sanitizer that doesn’t require rinsing. The product itself and the science endorses this. Can I suggest you review your google searches more thoroughly before replying? Might I suggest simply putting in the search bar “is PBW and 1Step the same?”
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u/TooManyDraculas 5h ago edited 5h ago
Right but PBW is mostly sodium percarbonate. Which is a cleaner/detergent.
Percarbonate won't sanitize.
One Step is mostly Sodium Carbonate peroxyhydrate, and doesn't have any percarbonate in it.
It's gots sodium carbonate in it, which is also a cleaner that doesn't sanitize, and I think it's the peroxyhydrate that does the santizer bit as well as most of the cleaning there.
I don't how much "science" endorses what. But you can literally check the manufacturers specs on these products:
https://www.ecologiccleansers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/One-Step-SDS-2.2.pdf
For the record these products are also not stable in storage. And can't be pre-mixed into a spray bottle and kept to hand for regular use.
Which means they're not appropriate for spritzy spritzy in food prep contexts.
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u/MemoryHouse1994 9h ago
I agree, BUT, after sitting 10" and a thorough wash and dry. NEVER bleach. People don't realize how dangerous it is. Though 3% hydrogen peroxide IS a chemical also, and to NEVER consume, it REVERTS back to WATER. quickly when water is added and agitated, but always wash when raw food is used. I use a designated chicken cutting board and the same for fish, and veggies. A carving board for cooked meats. J.K. Adams is my go-to for all quality wood products. Great customer service. Fast shipping. Mostly buy on sale items.
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u/AndyinAK49 5h ago
The 3% solutions of H2O3 usually has a stabilizing agent that makes people nauseous if ingested. Stronger concentrations are available, but have warning labels out the wazoo and are only available in specific stores. Sodium Perchlorate is a mineralized form of hydrogen peroxide and is an effect cleaner/sanitizer.
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u/metahivemind 7h ago
There's all this bullshit, and this will get downvoted to fuck, but the reality is that you shove it into your dishwasher.
It will be fucking years of brilliantly sanitised cutting boards every day for years before you have to replace it, while all these trolls tell you that you fucked it up with one wash.
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u/_0110111001101111_ 7h ago
This is fine for anything not wooden. Try putting a wooden cutting board in the dishwasher and see how that goes.
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u/cathbadh 7h ago
The video they're talking about has a $250 wooden cutting board. That's not going into the dish washer.
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u/metahivemind 5h ago
I did shove it in.
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u/cathbadh 44m ago
Cool. I for one can't waste $250 on something that looks nice only to warp, dry, and crack it in a dishwasher.
Of course I don't own a $250 cutting board or a dishwasher, so I suppose this is all in theory.
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u/traypo 7h ago
Microbiologists here sharing a life hack from the lab. 70% ethanol is a far safer for food contact cleaning and sanitizing than the commercial products. For food safety it has to be food grade. Stores that sell spirits will have it as grain alcohol or something like Everclear. For best sanitizing, all sanitizers should be left on for a minute minimum to penetrate biofilms.