My mum says skipping the chicken rinse is careless. How can we cook together without arguing at the sink?
FoodI had the roasting tray ready when Mum asked, "Aren't you going to wash that first?" She was looking at the raw chicken, still in its packaging.
I said I wasn't rinsing it. She set down the potatoes and said she didn't want to help make dinner if I was going to skip the cleaning. I heard that as a judgment on my kitchen. She probably heard my answer as a judgment on hers.
The [CDC's chicken guidance](https://www.cdc.gov/food-safety/foods/chicken.html) says raw chicken doesn't need washing and stresses keeping raw juices away from ready-to-eat food. It recommends checking a safe internal cooking temperature of 165°F, about 74°C, with a food thermometer. I have one, and I'll follow that guidance.
Dinner hasn't started, so this is still a conversation rather than a spill to clean up. I want her help and company, but I don't want us rinsing chicken to end the disagreement. How would you explain the change without making forty years of her family meals the subject of the argument?
