Does anyone use food handling gloves?

[eleny]

I'm looking for recommendations for gloves to wear while working with raw chicken. I can't stand all the slippery sliminess and would like to buy a box of gloves. So if anyone has experience with these and has a favorite type, I'd appreciate hearing about it. Thx.

[Duer 157099]

1. All the time. And for everything.

I'm a glove fanatic.

The ones I currently have (a case from ebay) are called:

"QuickServe Gloves with Microban" by Handgards

They come in bunches of 50 and a cardboard thing that you can hang somewhere so you just slip your hand in and pull one off. I love them.

edit: Oh, and btw, those are just basically plastic hand coverings, not good for doing anything that requires dexterity of any sort. For that, I have a second type that I get in boxes at Costco, the Nitrile Exam gloves.

[eleny]

2. Sounds like the exam gloves would be a choice for deboning raw chicken

And thanks for replying.

[kestrel91316]

6. Latex exam gloves are overmuch for food handling. They make food handlers

plastic gloves that are probably super-cheap. Smart & Final is a source around these parts, IIRC.

You can get them online:

http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&source=hp&q=plastic+food+handlers+gloves&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=W1UVS6uCLIvIsAP1rtyJBA&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CDMQrQQwAw

[eleny]

12. They look good - so long as they hold up while deboning chickens

I'll only work on one chicken at any time. So these look like they'd be a good choice.

[grasswire]

3. I wished I had gloves yesterday...

...when I was handling a whole salmon that was defrosted from the freezer. Not that it was contaminated or anything; it just felt icky.

Gee. Gloves would be useful for some pet-related tasks. Hm.

[eleny]

4. I avoid cutting up chickens and often opt for parts

But tonight I watched a couple of videos demonstrating how to debone a whole chicken. It all started with a video about butterflying chickens. I really want to do this but realized that I avoid dealing with raw icky chicken when I can avoid it. One of the chefs in a video was wearing gloves and that's the answer to my dilemma. A good pair of gloves and a sharp knife and I'm in business.

[Warpy]

5. I do

but I use them for jobs like picking up the hairballs the cat just hocked up.

I have latex gloves for other jobs, like cleaning the ring out of the toilet bowl with pumice stone.

For jobs that are just germy and not disgusting, like handling raw chicken, I'd go bare handed and wash my hands as soon as the prep work is done, along with the knife and plastic cutting board.

[hippywife]

7. Nope.

I've just convinced myself over the years that I need to just stick my hands in and do what needs to be done, can always wash them after. :hi:

[eleny]

14. Thanks anyway but I have a light case of hand exema which blooms when I wash my hands too often

It's on the knuckles on top of my right hand. Just dry and very itchy. So if I can avoid the hand washings I'll be better off.

[woofless]

8. I use them whenever I cut meat or poultry.

I like just being able to strip them off and chuck them, and continue with another task. Reglove as needed. I buy the cheapest latex exam gloves I can find. You can feel things well through them and knife control is good.

[eleny]

13. Thanks!

[Paper Roses]

9. I must admit that cleaning the innards from poultry is not my favorite job but

it would take me twice as long to do if I was wearing gloves, Toughen up, get it done , wash hands and board and be done with it.

I have a friend who just stuffs her hands into a baggie to take care of the bird. Just shakes them into the rubbish when done.

[eleny]

15. See my reply #14

[katkat]

10. I try not to use gloves for anything

they wind up in the landfill and never degrade. Some wind up in the islands of plastic trash in the oceans. Just imho.

[hippywife]

11. Bingo!

The less non-biodegradable items in the landfills and the great ocean gyres, the better. :hi:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch

The Eastern Garbage Patch has one of the highest levels known of plastic particulate suspended in the upper water column. As a result, it is one of several oceanic regions where researchers have studied the effects and impact of plastic photodegradation in the neustonic layer of water.<18> Unlike debris which biodegrades, the photodegraded plastic disintegrates into ever smaller pieces while remaining a polymer. This process continues down to the molecular level.

As the plastic flotsam photodegrades into smaller and smaller pieces, it concentrates in the upper water column. As it disintegrates, the plastic ultimately becomes small enough to be ingested by aquatic organisms which reside near the ocean's surface. Plastic waste thus enters the food chain through its concentration in the neuston.

Some plastics decompose within a year of entering the water, leaching potentially toxic chemicals such as bisphenol A and derivatives of polystyrene.<19>

[eleny]

16. See my reply #14

[katkat]

17. eleny

Try Neutrogena hand cream and taking flaxseed oil. It seems for me anyway to be dryness that causes a problem.

[eleny]

18. I'm being treated by my doc

I use hand cream just about every time I wash my hands and an ointment on the area. It helps. But hand eczema is a thing that doesn't go away easily.

Thanks for your ideas!

[japple]

21. Hey eleny, I have eczema as well and I use "Bluettes" heavy-duty

lined gloves for lots of kitchen chores. I wash them after using, just as I would wash my hands. They are invaluable during canning time for handling the scalded jam jars, etc. I would be lost without my bluettes. They last forever.

[Retrograde]

20. I use kitchen towels

the cheap white kind I buy in bulk. Use them to pull the skin off chickens, then toss them into the wash (hot, with bleach).

I use latex gloves for some applications, like working with planting soil or dyes. I have large hands, and most gloves are uncomfortable: if they're wide enough across the palm the fingers are too long. So I rely a lot on soap and hot water when dissecting chickens by hand. An assistant to fetch utensils and turn on the tap helps, too.

[Tab]

19. Yeah, I do

Not for health reasons, just because the stuff stinks and takes forever to get rid of. Same with handling garlic.

[gizmonic]

22. Would nitrile gloves be ok to use while mixing dough, pastry, etc.

or do I have to look for a food safe type of glove? Problem is I can't find anything of the sort around here and I've a bit of baking to do.

Normally I'd use my impeccably clean hands to mix the dough but a couple of my fingers recently met the nasty end of a cheese grater (not too serious -- just a few inconvenient gouges :) ).

I have some nitrile gloves I bought from the hardware store. Would these be acceptable to use?

[Paper Roses]

23. Hi eleny, I just thought of something that might help.

When I paint--and I am the messiest painter- I use the cheap poly film gloves that I pick up at a dollar store. They are full length but are a flat shape and very thin. To counteract the thinness, I double up on the gloves so that the friction between the hand and glove is not a problem. Two gloves on each hand seems to be the answer. They rub against each other and not against your skin making them last longer. When done, I peel them off into the trash. I buy them in bundles at a dollar store when I see them. About #1.00 for about a hundred. Can't beat the price. THey are big, fat gloves that look lime a child's tracing of a hand. Does the job for me. THey would keep your hands out of the water and away from the bird.

[eleny]

24. They sound good and we have several dollar stores around here

Thanks!

[katkat]

25. wash and reuse?

How about washing and reusing those gloves, can they stand up to that? That would at least reduce the environmental impact. I think I saw some stand thing for them so they'd dry.

Or getting those heavier duty gloves that last a long time?

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. I use the average latex gloves

doctors use...

Nothing special. Costco at times has them at a good price.