# Do you wash the pot/pan handles? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 9, 2011, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-the-pot-pan-handles/602388 "2011-11-09T13:59:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-the-pot-pan-handles/602388/21 "2011-11-10T15:49:33Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Related: I have the spatula/spoon/slotted spoon set, for years. the backs of these plastic things are indented and stuff collects in them. I could get a toothbrush and scrub them clean, I guess, but I bought new ones with solid round handles and threw the old grubby ones away. Good lord, this must be the most boring and inane thing I’ve ever typed, LOL! ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-the-pot-pan-handles/602388/22 "2011-11-10T15:55:48Z")
If I’m washing the pot, I’m washing the whole pot. I guess I don’t see why I would only wash the inside of it. I don’t scrub the handles unless I see anything there to be scrubbed off, but I wipe the soapy sponge over all surfaces of the pots, including the handles. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-the-pot-pan-handles/602388/23 "2011-11-10T17:27:14Z")
Always. As the child of a former chef and the Grandchild of a caterer I was taught early about kitchen safety and cross-contamination. The handle is the part of the pot most likely to have been cross-contaminated by raw meat or egg which was not then cooked to a safe temperature. Germovision: I has it. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-the-pot-pan-handles/602388/24 "2011-11-10T18:55:53Z")
I wash every part of every item (except cast iron). I’m there in the soapy water with the pan and the dishcloth anyway, so why wouldn’t I wash the handle? It would almost be more difficult to _not_ wash it. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-the-pot-pan-handles/602388/25 "2011-11-11T01:22:17Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Always. As the child of a former chef and the Grandchild of a caterer I was taught early about kitchen safety and cross-contamination. The handle is the part of the pot most likely to have been cross-contaminated by raw meat or egg which was not then cooked to a safe temperature. > > Germovision: I has it. One of the benefits of maintaining a wholly vegetarian kitchen. I guess I still have to worry about eggs, but far less often. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-the-pot-pan-handles/602388/26 "2011-11-11T04:56:02Z")
I have bi-polar disorder and once went 3 months without washing any dishes. When I ran out of clean ones (This includes eating cereal out of a Tupper/maid container with a serving spoon) I started eating off paper plates, frozen dinners, or eating out. Finally, after I killed all the fruit flies with Raid, I threw them all into the trash and took it to the dumpster. Went to Target and bought all new dishes. So no. Washing the handles is the least of my worries. ---
**Author:** ![highrollinwooded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/71c47a/32.png) [@highrollinwooded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/highrollinwooded)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-the-pot-pan-handles/602388/27 "2011-11-11T09:36:50Z")
I don’t unless they are obviously dirty. I pride myself on being a clean cook, and don’t cook things on high heat, thus splattering stuff. My pans are clean as a whistle!!! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-the-pot-pan-handles/602388/28 "2011-11-11T10:48:14Z")
All surfaces of the pot, including the handle are rubbed with the soapy sponge. Unless I used the pot and immediately wash it with clean dish water. It depends on what got on my hands while cooking. If I just opened a can of soup then my hands and pot handles should still be clean. If I was handling meat or even chopping vegetables then I want that pot handle washed afterward. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-the-pot-pan-handles/602388/29 "2011-11-11T11:13:58Z")
Yes, all surfaces outside, inside. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-the-pot-pan-handles/602388/30 "2011-11-11T15:46:39Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > I have bi-polar disorder and once went 3 months without washing any dishes. When I ran out of clean ones (This includes eating cereal out of a Tupper/maid container with a serving spoon) I started eating off paper plates, frozen dinners, or eating out. Finally, after I killed all the fruit flies with Raid, I threw them all into the trash and took it to the dumpster. Went to Target and bought all new dishes. > > So no. Washing the handles is the least of my worries. ☹ I’m sorry to hear about that incident. I’m bipolar, too, and have had bad episodes that made me slack off on chores, and climbing out from that position afterward is very hard. I hope you’re doing better these days. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-the-pot-pan-handles/602388/31 "2011-11-11T15:48:54Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > It depends on what got on my hands while cooking. If I just opened a can of soup then my hands and pot handles should still be clean. If I was handling meat or even chopping vegetables then I want that pot handle washed afterward. I generally wash my hands after handling food before touching things like pot handles/spoons/lids/etc. so I don’t think that my hands get stuff on the handles. I wash my hands a ridiculous number of times during the process of cooking. For anyone wondering, I voted “sometimes” because while I’ll usually run water over it, I only wash it with the soapy brush maybe one in five times, unless I can see that there is something on it (almost always something that has splashed out of the pot/out of a different pan). ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-the-pot-pan-handles/602388/32 "2011-11-11T16:07:50Z")
This is a good poll question. It sort of drives me nuts when you see a pot or a pan that is clean on the inside but the outside is all cruddy and stained. So yes I wash the handle; but also the outside of the pot/pan. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-the-pot-pan-handles/602388/33 "2011-11-11T16:29:38Z")
I don’t have a dishwasher; everything, including pots, goes into soapy hot water in the sink; it’s as easy to wash handles as anything else so yes, I wash (and rinse) handles. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-the-pot-pan-handles/602388/34 "2011-11-12T00:36:01Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > ☹ I’m sorry to hear about that incident. I’m bipolar, too, and have had bad episodes that made me slack off on chores, and climbing out from that position afterward is very hard. I hope you’re doing better these days. Thanks. I did get in a good round of tidying up last night in fact. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-the-pot-pan-handles/602388/35 "2011-11-12T13:28:47Z")
Not if I’m about to use it right away, and the handle doesn’t fit in the sink. And definitely not for cast iron–I know the handle doesn’t need to be seasoned, but soap rarely stays on just the handle. But otherwise I use the dishwasher, except for the aforementioned cast iron and non-stick pans wish I use a little soap and a gentle brush, rather than trust my dishwasher. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-the-pot-pan-handles/602388.md?page=1)