WineLovers Discussion Group

Bob Ross wrote:Chef, how about sending me an email with a brand name. They suggested one at CIA during Boot Camp but I can't find it here and the disinfectants here usually have alcohol. I'm not sure that's very effective.

I use it several times during prep -- after every new ingredient for example, but not so good in big areas like cutting boards or counter tops.

email: robcurtross@hotmail.com

Many thanks, Bob

For what it's worth, Bob, I raised a boy with hemophilia, so we had blood products, syringes, sharps etc. to worry about. There was always danger of spreading hepatitis. All we ever used to disinfect was a homemade 10% Clorox solution and that was relatively strong. At least that's what the Hemophilia Center and the tons of medical literature we got suggested and my first wife, a pediatric nurse, agreed.

Now, my second wife, a gentle germophobe, was a medical technologist and she came in contact with all manner of organic samples drawn from humans. She, too, kept a few spray bottles of 10% Clorox solution stationed strategically around the house and at work. Alcohol, on the other hand, didn't do diddly except maybe inebriate the germs, so you kind of had a bacterial Bacchanalia. I'm sure one of our medical professionals or chemists can chime in, but I've been dealing with heightened sanitation for years and have found the do-it-yourself spray bottle of 1 part Clorox (unscented) to 9 parts water to be the best defense.

Thanks, Gary. I can do that. Chlorox -- cut a bit with water -- for the surfaces -- alcohol at 62% for my hands. That ought to work -- especially since they've started to cut the price on the alcohol sprays.

I would use the Clorox on my hands as well, but Janet thinks it dries my skin into a kind of sand paper.

Got to please the customer you know. :-)

Thanks very much. Chlorox it is. Bob

Bob Ross wrote:Thanks, Gary. I can do that. Chlorox -- cut a bit with water -- for the surfaces -- alcohol at 62% for my hands. That ought to work -- especially since they've started to cut the price on the alcohol sprays.

I would use the Clorox on my hands as well, but Janet thinks it dries my skin into a kind of sand paper.

Got to please the customer you know.

Thanks very much. Chlorox it is. Bob

Get some udder cream. I have my hands in the bleach solution every day and they used me as a hand model on the cover of Chef on Fire. The only reason I didn't mention a brand name (unlike everyone else in this thread) is part of my curmudgeonly objection to brand names becoming synonymous with a product - Chlorox=bleach, Kleenex=tissue etc.

Yeah Bob - Clorox is what we sell - there's cheaper bleach out there, but the chlorine is very unstable and after a period of time, it dissapates completely. One of the things the Clorox guy did when giving us the presentation on his bleach vs brand x was to drink the cheap bleach out of the bottle. I kid you not. He took a random bottle out of our stock and took a sip of it. Convinced me.

Supposedly, and I wouldn't stake my life on this, Clorox is the only bleach approved by the FDA for sanitizing purposes. It also says "ultra-germicidal" on the label.

Make sure you get the commercial one.

Chlorine bleach is sodium hypochlorite. It is a by-product of one of the chemical processes at the plant where I work and I'm quite familiar with it. It is made by mixing chlorine gas with sodium hydroxide solution. It is a quite stable chemical compound in dilute form. Just don't mix it with acids or amonia, as it will then break down and release the chlorine gas. In fact, it is so stable we have to go through extreme measures in a dedicated process to neutralize it before discharging it to the sewer. The Clorox(R) brand may have better quality control than generic brands, but as long as its 5.25% solution before diluting for laundry or sanitizing purposes, I don't believe it can be any more effective. I always buy store brands. I keep a squirt bottle diluted 1:5 under the sink and add a squirt to every sink full of dirty dishes and into the automatic dishwasher. This also keeps the dish rags clean.

EDIT - I also use the dilute solution for sterilizing wine bottles and for cleaning grape stains off my hands.

Howie Hart wrote:Chlorine bleach is sodium hypochlorite. It is a by-product of one of the chemical processes at the plant where I work and I'm quite familiar with it. It is made by mixing chlorine gas with sodium hydroxide solution. It is a quite stable chemical compound in dilute form. Just don't mix it with acids or amonia, as it will then break down and release the chlorine gas. In fact, it is so stable we have to go through extreme measures in a dedicated process to neutralize it before discharging it to the sewer. The Clorox(R) brand may have better quality control than generic brands, but as long as its 5.25% solution before diluting for laundry or sanitizing purposes, I don't believe it can be any more effective. I always buy store brands. I keep a squirt bottle diluted 1:5 under the sink and add a squirt to every sink full of dirty dishes and into the automatic dishwasher. This also keeps the dish rags clean.

I had a dishwasher employee who was a thinker. He tought that if bleach was a good cleaner and ammonia was a good cleaner the two together would be a great cleaner. In the mop bucket and all over the floor. The effect was almost instantaneous. Everyone had to leave the kitchen and it took a little while for the gas to dissipate.

If I remember my chemistry, he may have made phosgene gas. Shades of WWI.

That sounds like a very effective sales technique- drinking a sip of bleach that you say is no good. Unfortunately, it sounds like a huge sham to me. Here's why:

A few years ago, when my son was about 3, he accidentally (obviously) drank a big gulp of straight bleach. This was not brand x, it was Chlorox. I instantly dialed poison control, with visions of bleach eating through my son's stomach lining and worse. The very kind woman at poison control calmed me down and explained that the worst that could happen was that he could throw up. Even that was not terribly likely, but it is a stomach irritant, nothing more. I got him to eat some bread to soak it up and nothing at all happened, as she had assured me would be the case.

Also, I wanted to point out that eating a medium rare steak is not relevant to any danger of e coli poisoning. It is not present IN the meat, but can be on the surface of it if bowel contents got onto the meat during faulty/messy butchering. That is the sole means of transmission to beef. Cow poop has to get on the meat for there to be any danger whatsoever.

As long as any cut surfaces are brought to a temperature that kills e coli, the degree to which you eat said steak (or roast, or whatever) is irrelevant. Ground beef is another issue, as it is nothing but cut surfaces.