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The Health of It All...
Chicken and Poultry Safety, Temperature of the Meat, Cleanup...
Unfortunately, in this day and age you have to be very careful when handling chicken. The estimates by the CDC of contamination with bacteria are frightening.
Use the freshest chicken possible. If there is any odd odor don't use it. Rinse the chicken thoroughly in cold water prior to preparing it.
Only cut chicken on a plastic cutting board and wash the cutting board, your hands, and your knives in soapy water as soon as you are finished. This reduces the risk of spreading the bacteria to other foods.
Cooking thoroughly is the key to good handling of chicken. Use a small instant thermometer to check for the right temperatures. Whole chicken (or any poultry) should reach 180 °F in the thigh or 170 °F in the breast. The recommendation is similar for pieces of cut chicken.
Free range chickens have not been proven to be safer. Many of the growers of free range chickens don’t use antibiotics and feed their chickens carefully, but there is no proof that this results in a bacteria-free bird. My experience is, however, that free range chickens taste better.
