Alton Brown's gloves don't match his shoes

[Robin Garr]

I notice that Alton Brown, in Good Eats (about the only decent remaining show on Food Network) has taken to pulling on a pair of latex gloves every time he handles meat and often when handling anything that's sticky or messy.

Maybe it's just me, but wearing rubber gloves to cook seems very uncomfortable, not to mention a little too much like, er, taking a shower in a raincoat. I can't see me doing that unless I was working in a restaurant where policy (or local law) required it, and I'm really at a loss as to why anyone would do it for home cooking. I understand that cross-contamination is very Bad Eats indeed, but frequent washing is just as effective a way to deter it, at less cost and effort.

Do you think the lawyers make AB do this? Or is there actually a good case for gloving up when you're breaking down a chicken? Do any of you do this at home? Any of our pros do it at work?

I wear them when I'm handling particularly hot chiles, just so that if Nature calls, I can answer without delay or the risk of a very painful (if funny to other people) incident.

Like Stuart, I often wear gloves when working with chiles. But not for anything else except sometimes when washing dishes. (I like the water as hot as I can get it.)

Perhaps Alton has some kind of skin issue that makes getting certain kinds of things on his hands a problem.

[Robin Garr]

Perhaps Alton has some kind of skin issue that makes getting certain kinds of things on his hands a problem.

Interesting hypothesis, but he does frequently talk about sanitation and cross-contamination while he's putting them on.

I must confess I've never seen the show, being televisionless.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, I usually tend toward medical explanations of things like that. But maybe he's developing an irrational fear. Hard to say.

[Robin Garr]

I must confess I've never seen the show, being televisionless.

Good Eats is one of the few television shows on any channel that I usually watch. He's a wacky, funny guy who brings food science into the kitchen and makes it fun. He's not perfect. He makes some mistakes and dumbs down some of his recipes - but he's still the best act going.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, I usually tend toward medical explanations of things like that. But maybe he's developing an irrational fear. Hard to say.

I usually tend toward a political explanation, and suspected the network's lawyers of requiring it out of fear of litigation if somebody watches him cooking bare-handed and then succumbs to a massive food-born illness.

Mainly, though, I'm curious whether regular AB watchers agree that this is a fairly recent development for him.

OK, so I offered up my personal contact data on the FoodNetwork.com website and asked them what was up with the gloves. Dollars to doughnuts, I'll be getting a lot of SPAM, maybe prepared à la Brown, but I doubt I'll get an answer.

Ditto with using them when working with chiles.

The other reason would be if I have a cut or infection on my hands. Especially when handling raw chicken you risk getting infected by the food (as opposed to the other way around).

Julia Child must be rolling over in her grave. She was always an advocate of getting in there with both (very clean, of course) hands and extolled the virtues of the tactile sensation of cooking.

-Paul W.

I laugh so hard when I see the kids behind the deli counter wearing the latex or vinyl gloves. Why does this give the public such a sense of security?
Instead of the germs being on the hands, they're on the gloves. Gloves are no cleaner than skin, and unless they change them every few minutes, they aren't as effective as a hand wash.

I don't mind - I sell them to practically every customer I call on. But still, I just have to laugh.

Hmmm....let's see. I use latex gloves in the kitchen when I am making a meat loaf or shaping meat balls. I dislike that messy feel on my hands, and I especially dislike the mess getting under my nails.

I use heavy rubber gloves when making tacos, a bit cumbersome, but it protects my fingers from the hot shells coming out of the oil while filling on a paper towel lined plate, and transferring to a serving platter.

I have used them while cutting up a chicken, again because of the greasy mess. They have their place.

John, at work, we lab tested the sanitation of cork handling with our workers gloved versus ungloved with periodic and convenient hand washing. Ungloved was better. But, of course, they still use gloves if anyone is coming for a tour, since there's an irrational fear of clean hands.

Instead of the germs being on the hands, they're on the gloves

I think this all started because of some very highly publicized cases of Hepatitis A that were traced to food workers not practicing good hygiene, not from cross-contamination issues with food products. If you read some of the published numbers of people who do not wash their hands after using toilet facilities, it could make some people feel better, and definitely help prevent outbreaks.

I am firmly of the opinion though that this society at large has gotten way way way carried away with this stuff. I won't even start on the unpastuerized cheese issue!

I think the Food Network in general, across all shows, has been stressing hand washing/gloves/cleanliness very pointedly for some time now. I noticed the very obvious shift some time ago and I think it was because of consistent transgressions on camera and the fear that some poor novice cook was going to get the runs or worse.

Before the shift I noticed many stomach turning practices but I think they have gone way overboard in the opposite direction. But... gloves?!!!

And I agree that all those fast food jockeys behind the counter with their oh-so-clean gloves on are a joke. They take your money with the gloves on, make change, scratch their nose, then hand you your food. Yum.

I laugh so hard when I see the kids behind the deli counter wearing the latex or vinyl gloves. Why does this give the public such a sense of security?
Instead of the germs being on the hands, they're on the gloves. Gloves are no cleaner than skin, and unless they change them every few minutes, they aren't as effective as a hand wash.

Well, it at least keeps the crap under their nails away from us.

-Paul W.

Ironically, gloves, being smoother, are more likely to transfer icky stuff than hands, to which the icky stuff will adhere more tenaciously.

-Paul W.

I think Alton is trying to convey the importance of sanitary practice. Gloves reinforces that message visually the way words do not.

Also, on the set they may have to shoot a sequence many times. If Alton kept having to wash between takes, it could take a toll on their budget and endurance, not to mention his skin quality.

I notice that Alton Brown, in Good Eats (about the only decent remaining show on Food Network) has taken to pulling on a pair of latex gloves every time he handles meat and often when handling anything that's sticky or messy.

Maybe it's just me, but wearing rubber gloves to cook seems very uncomfortable, not to mention a little too much like, er, taking a shower in a raincoat. I can't see me doing that unless I was working in a restaurant where policy (or local law) required it, and I'm really at a loss as to why anyone would do it for home cooking. I understand that cross-contamination is very Bad Eats indeed, but frequent washing is just as effective a way to deter it, at less cost and effort.

Do you think the lawyers make AB do this? Or is there actually a good case for gloving up when you're breaking down a chicken? Do any of you do this at home? Any of our pros do it at work?

Never worn them unless I had an open cut or wound on one of my hands.

Kept a box at the school - and in restaurant kitchens - for just that reason. I told the students up front if they had a cut or wound they would wear them. (Bandages in the food are, for some odd reason, frowned upon by diners.)

Otherwise, frequent hand washing is the answer. I've had many, many days where I washed my hands 50 times plus. (The only reason I came to know that is a student counted on an eraser board a couple of times and made me conscious of it.) 50 seemed to be about average.

Well, that makes me feel better about my own practices. Thanks, Chef!

I watch AB's show too Robin and really enjoy it.

I am not bothered by him wearing gloves...in my mind he is more of a "Food Scientist" rather than a "Chef" and thus, I think the gloves actually give the impression of chemistry and science. I kinda thought it might be part of his whole kooky mad scientist apparatus.

I am a clean/hygiene fanatic...but I don't wear gloves. I do wash my hand after touching anything and everything though (a little OCD and some of it because of my son's food allergies). I do like to see my "Food Handlers" with gloves (unless I am in an upscale restaurant). I know that even with gloves, obviously, they can still cough and sneeze in their hands and scratch their face, so they don't stop you from getting some bug, BUT, it is unlikely that a person will go to the bathroom and wipe with their gloves on...and that is wear I get my comfort. Stomach viruses are not airborne (TMI here, but you have to ingest fecal matter of an infected person to get a stomach virus). So, I DEFINITELY want an employee who goes to the bathroom and might not wash their hands to put on some gloves!

it is unlikely that a person will go to the bathroom and wipe with their gloves on...

That's when they SHOULD be wearing gloves. That would solve everything.

I think the Food Network in general, across all shows, has been stressing hand washing/gloves/cleanliness very pointedly for some time now. I noticed the very obvious shift some time ago and I think it was because of consistent transgressions on camera and the fear that some poor novice cook was going to get the runs or worse.

Before the shift I noticed many stomach turning practices but I think they have gone way overboard in the opposite direction. But... gloves?!!!

Dear Fred,

I think you are right, there were a lot of comments about unsanitary practices on the earlier shows. Things like touching raw meat and then turning on the faucet or grabbing a bowl. To my mind, if they can't demonstrate good sanitary procedure during a TV show with a script, how are home cooks supposed to do it? The gloves are a fast way to be sanitary, though as Mr. Bourdain has commented, people wear them like a universal anti-everything shield, and that is not at all the case.

Walt

[Robin Garr]

frequent hand washing is the answer. I've had many, many days where I washed my hands 50 times plus. (The only reason I came to know that is a student counted on an eraser board a couple of times and made me conscious of it.) 50 seemed to be about average.

I absolutely agree. I wash constantly even when I'm just cooking at home for two, and of course it's much more important when a professional chef is cooking in a restaurant.

I once "shadowed" a health inspector for a couple of days on his rounds for a story, and noticed that he was constantly washing his own hands in every restaurant he visited ... part obsession, he said, and partly his quick way to check that the sinks were handy, soap available and the water hot.

[Robin Garr]

I think Alton is trying to convey the importance of sanitary practice. Gloves reinforces that message visually the way words do not.

Also, on the set they may have to shoot a sequence many times. If Alton kept having to wash between takes, it could take a toll on their budget and endurance, not to mention his skin quality.

All reasonable enough, but this doesn't really explain the sudden shift of practice on his program from no gloves ever to frequent glove use. I think the hypothesis about a network edict based on criticism (and possible liability) has the ring of truth.

Frequent washing is just as effective, and chefs and cooks - as Joseph notes - do it dozens of times a day. (As an aside, I wonder how many retakes Alton does ... you'll often see him fumble or drop things, and he generally just laughs and goes on.)

I think Alton is trying to convey the importance of sanitary practice. Gloves reinforces that message visually the way words do not.

Also, on the set they may have to shoot a sequence many times. If Alton kept having to wash between takes, it could take a toll on their budget and endurance, not to mention his skin quality.

All reasonable enough, but this doesn't really explain the sudden shift of practice on his program from no gloves ever to frequent glove use. I think the hypothesis about a network edict based on criticism (and possible liability) has the ring of truth.

Frequent washing is just as effective, and chefs and cooks - as Joseph notes - do it dozens of times a day. (As an aside, I wonder how many retakes Alton does ... you'll often see him fumble or drop things, and he generally just laughs and goes on.)

Robin,

For reasons that should be obvious to most here, I no longer often watch the food network, though I do try and catch Alton's show. Has this practice extended to other FoodTV shows? I suppose it could be just his production company that is concerned, but I would think that such a paradigm shift would come down from the network. As someone who washes his hands probably 25+ times a day with antimicrobial detergent, I can tell you that during certain times of the year my hands are severely chapped, cracked and bleeding.

I really enjoy Alton's show. It hearkens back to a time when I watched the Food Network to learn something.