Should You Be Rinsing Your Ground Beef

Do you need to rinse ground beef? The short answer is no. Unless you have some strict dietary restrictions, there is no need to rinse ground beef before or after cooking. Rinsing before cooking will make a mess and could actually spread invisible pathogens around your kitchen due to water splatter.

Washing ground beef after cooking is not recommended either. The U.S. Department of Agriculture warns against rinsing any raw meat because doing so can spread bacteria. Splash back from washing meat can spread up to three feet, meaning rinsing raw meat under a tap is a great way to transfer germs to different parts of your kitchen. If this spray gets onto dish towels, nearby dishes, surfaces, or even other raw foods it can lead to cross-contamination. You'll find it's almost impossible to clean every drop and all it takes is one missed patch of bacteria-ridden water to make a whole family sick. Unlike water, heat will kill bacteria, so the USDA recommends moving ground meat "from package to the pan" to minimize contact with other areas in your kitchen.

Many people who rinse cooked ground beef do so to eliminate the excess fat. However, any chef, butcher, or home cook will tell you, "The fat is where the flavor is." You wouldn't cut away all the fat from a roast or a steak, so why rinse it away from ground beef? Rinsing away the fat will also dry out the ground beef and leave it bland. There is an argument for rinsing ground beef because the cook wants to reduce the fat content and studies from the '90s and early 2000s confirm that rinsing cooked ground beef does have this effect. A 2002 study by Iowa State University found that rinsing cooked 80% lean ground beef reduced the fat content until it was roughly the same as 95% lean beef. However, you can easily buy 95% lean ground beef from the store. 

Buying the 95% lean ground eliminates the step of draining and the unnecessary mess of rinsing. If you still insist on rinsing your meat, set it in a strainer and put the strainer over a bowl. Then, pour a cup or so of hot water over the freshly cooked ground beef. This will keep the meat out of the sink, as the sink can be a source of contamination for cooked food. Overall, avoid rinsing the meat to preserve flavor and to keep the household healthy.