Group Discussion #1 Rubber gloves

I pretty much wear gloves pretty religiously as my job dictates it. Also, when I'm prepping meat I'll always have a pair of gloves on and I change them constantly. I will sometimes wear two or three pair of gloves at the same time so that I can quick change in the middle of working if I need to grab something else. I also wash my hands liek no-one else. Even at work I probably wash my hands more often than anyone there. I'm not obsesive compulsive, I just don't want someone elses germs on me( I work in a Hospital OR and Recovery Room).

You're welcome Tim , if you run low, let me know.

My problem with gloves is my hands tend to sweat alot. I wash hands quite often & try to use utensil as much as possible to handle the food.

I wear gloves all the time. My bare hands never touch the meat. Personel preference. The Staph thing, it is on you skin and is a common bacteria. However while on bacteria you might as well have gloves that go up to your shoulders, wear a mask, and a hair net. You would be suprised what can be cultured out of your nose and hair. Lets dont go overboard with the OCD.

I hardly ever wear gloves, mainly because i forget to buy them when i goto wallyworld. but i scrub and wash my hands constantly through out the day any way from workin in the medical field, so when i cook at home i use different cutting boards and knifes for everything i do and wash my hands after i touch anything lol.. ill go through 2 rolls of paper towels and two or 3 dish towels prepping and cooking .

I have the same problem as you DJ. Sometimes my hands are so bad in gloves that they actually mottle(sp?) like they've been in the tub for hours. You just have to find gloves that you can work with. With me, standard latex type gloves just won't work. They won't go on, they're like trying to get a small wetsuit onto a 400 lb man. Nitrile gloves are just as bad becuase they don't stretch. I hae a 9+ size had and een the XL size of most gloves are too small. I found a certain type that the hospital I work at has to special order for me. They're Polychloroprene instead of Nitrile. They're strethier than Latex and synthetic. They just cost more than most other types. The hospital originally wasn't willing to get them until I started using Sterile surgical gloves for each individual patient contact. Then, they saw the fiscal reality of the need for those gloves. BIIGGG Price difference there.

Jeff_in_KC said:

I just prefer to wear gloves when handling raw meat because I don't wanna miss getting something completely washed off then end up licking a finger or whatever. I especially use gloves when handling chicken and pork. I wasn't aware that pork was not such a big problem now. That's good to know. Maybe it's just the stygma attached to it but pork and chicken scare me. Beef, I'm OK with. Weird, huh?

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be afraid of beef too.all raw meat may have e-coli and other bacteria that could be dangerous.

in addition to gloves, i will also wear protective glasses to prevent blood from splashing in my eyes
phil

JohnMcD348 said:

I have the same problem as you DJ. Sometimes my hands are so bad in gloves that they actually mottle(sp?) like they've been in the tub for hours. You just have to find gloves that you can work with. With me, standard latex type gloves just won't work. They won't go on, they're like trying to get a small wetsuit onto a 400 lb man. Nitrile gloves are just as bad becuase they don't stretch. I hae a 9+ size had and een the XL size of most gloves are too small. I found a certain type that the hospital I work at has to special order for me. They're Polychloroprene instead of Nitrile. They're strethier than Latex and synthetic. They just cost more than most other types. The hospital originally wasn't willing to get them until I started using Sterile surgical gloves for each individual patient contact. Then, they saw the fiscal reality of the need for those gloves. BIIGGG Price difference there.

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My hands are also large and sweat alot. So much so that I need to change gloves every hour or so because of the liquid build up. Do the Polychloroprene gloves notably help prevent sweating? If so, where can they be ordered economically?

So far I've only used the el cheapo clear gloves and the more expensive latex ones.

Thanks

I hadn't used gloves until my first comp last year, and I found that I like prepping bbq with them. It keeps the rub from caking up on my hands. I use insulated rubber gloves for taking food off the cooker that have been washed and cloroxed and washed again, then nitrile gloves for anything else.

When I prep, I don't change them all the time.. I wash when needed and change between meats.

Great discussion.

All of my cooking is done at home so I have the convenience of preparing everything in my kitchen, right next to the sink. I don’t use gloves, but once I get going, I leave the sink running and am constantly washing my hands before I touch anything. Leaving it running means that I am not even touching the faucet before I have cleaned my hands. Oh yeah, and lots of paper towels, not the kitchen towel.

Containers that I would normally use like spices, etc., I pour into disposable cups (somtimes mixing bowls) before I get going, so I have everything in front of me, and can even I grab the cup with dirty hands, it doesn’t matter because it’s going right into the garbage anyway.

The one great thing about constantly washing before and after touching food, is that you do seem to stay a lot healthier. Staying away from the germs that kids bring home from school doesn’t hurt either.

Interestingly enough there has been a recent outbreak of Hepatitis A (I think it’s A) attributable to food contamination, and when the news station was asking local people if they were doing anything different now, a college student (yes, a college student!) responded “Yeah, like, I am washing my hands every day now.” Every day? Imagine that! You can’t make this stuff up!

So there definitely is a need for education in this area, and obviously our schools aren’t filling it!

Dakaty said:

My hands are also large and sweat alot. So much so that I need to change gloves every hour or so because of the liquid build up. Do the Polychloroprene gloves notably help prevent sweating? If so, where can they be ordered economically?

So far I've only used the el cheapo clear gloves and the more expensive latex ones.

Thanks

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Unfotunately, sweating hands in glove go hand in hand so to speak. The nice thing about these gloves is that they stretch enough that they can still be gotten on even when the hands are wet(sweaty) with alot less effort than with any other gloves. I'd look for them in a medical supply store. They Polychloroprene is just another name for Neoprene( I just googled it).

I too prepare everything at home and I am a fanatick about washing my hands. I only use the 600* resistant rubber gloves for removing butts and briskets from the 'dera.

Interesting read and tidbits! I wear gloves when catering and I need to do a better job handling my rubs, I use the put it in a seperate container and discard the remaining rub technique. Therefore, I am going to try and cover my rubs as well. For removing hot meat from my smoker, I use a rivetless peel (apparatus used to remove pizzas from hot oven).

I wear gloves when prepping. I got a pair of silicone mits. Don't like them either. I use Bear Claws to move meat off smoker.

We use gloves as soon as we arrive at at comp. We like surgical gloves. They may be a couple of bucks more but we feel safer. Everyone thinks that we use the gloves for their safety. They never realize we are using the gloves for our own safety. The gloves are used whenever handling any raw meat. I know people will say not to worry about beef but we change gloves when working with each comp meat. I don't want the pork or poultry contaminating my brisket. It may sound whacky and more expensive but we are comfortable doing it this way.