knife hygiene.
- Thread starter Asa Samuel
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Or keep it so sharp even bugs are scared of it!
A peck is a quarter bushel, or two dry gallons.....basically about a builder's bucketful
I meant that you'll probably get some dirt, bugs and general muck in your food no matter what you do (when you're bush or otherwise) so I'd just put up with it and not worry too much.
Think of it as an informal immunisation process
Here in the U.S. when I was a boy, there were still some things occasionally sold by the peck. Apples, potatoes, onions, oranges, peaches were all sold by the peck. Now, you get a few in a plastic bag. No charge for the salmonella. It is for all intents and purposes a dead measurement.
One day while eating a cookie, I dropped it and my grandfather picked it up and handed it to me and said "You got to eat a peck of dirt before you die." It looks like that was an old saying that made it across the Atlantic. I remember that I didn't know if he was serious or not. Never worried much about a little dirt after that.
One day while eating a cookie, I dropped it and my grandfather picked it up and handed it to me and said "You got to eat a peck of dirt before you die." It looks like that was an old saying that made it across the Atlantic. I remember that I didn't know if he was serious or not. Never worried much about a little dirt after that.
I'm not worried about a little regular dirt, but I don't want to be cutting my cheese or cured meat with a knife that's just been used to prep fish or fowl... That's what I meant by "clean food prep" - stuff that isn't going to get cooked.
Spoke to my tame Bio-chemist today
I was right, no steel is any more bactericidal then any other
However, Silver does have those properties*
A mirror polish is easier to keep free of dirt/rust/organic matter, and ceramic/glass has a very fine surface and is therefore also easy to clean
Killing germs in the field is very easy, boil water and 'swish' (his words not mine) the metal parts in it(no need to soak or use soap), avoid flame as (as we all know) heat kills blades as well as bugs
Don't use a knife (or anything for that matter) on raw meat/ fish then cooked food (or stuff eaten raw ) best option is keep a blade just for cooked food (or stuff eaten raw)
I shall now teach you all to suck eggs
* I thought this might be of interest. Some of the Oldtimers (mountainmen and the like) were supposed to keep a silver dollar in their canteens to stop the water going bad
I was right, no steel is any more bactericidal then any other
However, Silver does have those properties*
A mirror polish is easier to keep free of dirt/rust/organic matter, and ceramic/glass has a very fine surface and is therefore also easy to clean
Killing germs in the field is very easy, boil water and 'swish' (his words not mine) the metal parts in it(no need to soak or use soap), avoid flame as (as we all know) heat kills blades as well as bugs
Don't use a knife (or anything for that matter) on raw meat/ fish then cooked food (or stuff eaten raw ) best option is keep a blade just for cooked food (or stuff eaten raw)
I shall now teach you all to suck eggs
* I thought this might be of interest. Some of the Oldtimers (mountainmen and the like) were supposed to keep a silver dollar in their canteens to stop the water going bad
A search of the internet reveals that some tests have shown that stainless steel has some, albeit weak, antimicrobial properties. Other studies have said there is none.
Some kitchen knife manufactures, apparently the Japanese and Chinese, are adding very tiny amounts of silver, or cobalt or copper to their stainless steel alloys and are getting remarkably good antibacterial results. Apparently it doesn't take anything near as drastic as silver coating your blade. As far as I could tell this was being done only on kitchen ware and has not yet made it to field knives.
Some kitchen knife manufactures, apparently the Japanese and Chinese, are adding very tiny amounts of silver, or cobalt or copper to their stainless steel alloys and are getting remarkably good antibacterial results. Apparently it doesn't take anything near as drastic as silver coating your blade. As far as I could tell this was being done only on kitchen ware and has not yet made it to field knives.
I think the idea of eating a bit of dirt with your food is good for you because it does helps the body build up some resistance to common "germs and bugs".
We in the west have become so paranoid about dirt and so obsessed with keeping everything "clean and fresh" that our immune systems have actually become less resistant to infections and so on.
(all good for the manufacturers of cleaning products, and then they can sell you the stuff to repair the damages caused by the cleaning products...not so good for us! I know, I am a cynical ol'bugger )
Which is not to say that I would use a knife to prepare fresh meat and then cut up an apple and eat it
but perhaps that we should chill out about hygiene and be sensible rather than obsessed.
Which remind me that the other weak, our dog inadvertently bit my wife's hand, nothing nasty, just broke the skin with a tooth (they were playing with a ball and he was rather enthusiastic about getting it) She spoke to a doc over the phone and he was saying that because it was our dog and therefore lived in close proximity to him, our body had likely built up some immunity to him: had it been another dog though he would have strongly advised to have anti tetanus injections.
We in the west have become so paranoid about dirt and so obsessed with keeping everything "clean and fresh" that our immune systems have actually become less resistant to infections and so on.
(all good for the manufacturers of cleaning products, and then they can sell you the stuff to repair the damages caused by the cleaning products...not so good for us! I know, I am a cynical ol'bugger
)Which is not to say that I would use a knife to prepare fresh meat and then cut up an apple and eat it
but perhaps that we should chill out about hygiene and be sensible rather than obsessed.Which remind me that the other weak, our dog inadvertently bit my wife's hand, nothing nasty, just broke the skin with a tooth (they were playing with a ball and he was rather enthusiastic about getting it) She spoke to a doc over the phone and he was saying that because it was our dog and therefore lived in close proximity to him, our body had likely built up some immunity to him: had it been another dog though he would have strongly advised to have anti tetanus injections.
Like most people here I just use a bit of common sense.
Different knives for raw and cooked food for example.
Don't do much more than a quick wipe down though and a rub of veg oil overnight and for storage.
More to the point, I wonder how many of us keep track of how long since our last tetanus jab?
It's something that a lot of the re-enactment crowd forget until it's too late. I know at least two people that picked it up from simple cuts.
Don't take that as any sort of example. The whole project was sabotaged from the outset to make "good television"
Lots of the gear they were provided with, like shoes, was deliberately substandard and anybody that knew what they were doing couldn't even get a look in.
Different knives for raw and cooked food for example.
Don't do much more than a quick wipe down though and a rub of veg oil overnight and for storage.
More to the point, I wonder how many of us keep track of how long since our last tetanus jab?
It's something that a lot of the re-enactment crowd forget until it's too late. I know at least two people that picked it up from simple cuts.
Slightly off topic
Do any of you remember a tv program late 70s early 80s when they got some people to live in an Iron-age village (full living history style), they did a version of the same thing recently.
In the older program they didn't have any problems with illness (apart from one of the kids got some sort of medical problem that ment his family had to leave, can't remember what though), in the newer one they had no end of hassles with minor illnesses, the trots, bad footwear (I think borderline trenchfoot might of been involved) and no one wanted to help slaughter and butcher the livestock except the two veggies who decided that as they were going to eat meat 'for the duration' they should as least assist in that side of it.
It goes to show that modern life is bad for your health<Snip
Don't take that as any sort of example. The whole project was sabotaged from the outset to make "good television"
Lots of the gear they were provided with, like shoes, was deliberately substandard and anybody that knew what they were doing couldn't even get a look in.
Me too!
Mind you - they still give you a booster if you go in for stitches...or so I have been told...
