How often should I wash my hands when cooking?

I often buy bunches of fresh herbs for a recipe only to use a small amount. Can I freeze them? J. Cathie

Hard herbs such as sage and rosemary are better dried. Hang in loose bunches upside down in an area with plenty of airflow. Soft herbs can be frozen. Freezing is not like cryogenics and your herbs won't spring back to life like Han Solo from the cold carbonite storage in Return of the Jedi. The freezing will break open cells and cause the herbs to be dull and limp. Hand pick leaves, chop, measure into tablespoons, tip into ice block trays and cover into water. Use in soups and slow braises where herb aesthetics are not important.

How often should I wash my hands when cooking? S. Morley

I saw a woman at the juice franchise at the train station lick her fingers between handling the syrup and chopped fruit this morning. That is definitely a no-no. Wash your hands before cooking, after handling meat, fish and chicken, after sneezing or coughing or smoking. Wash hands between switching tasks, for example, from chopping chook to peeling boiled eggs. Use soap and warm water and wash vigourously for 20 seconds. Dry thoroughly.

You know those marinated chickens, butterflied chickens? How the hell do you barbecue them without incinerating them? S. Anderson.

Unfortunately the best thing for most food marinated in butcher shops is incineration. Those marinades are another form of junk food. Sugar, maltodextrin, vegetable powder, vegetable gum, MSG, and artificial colour are just the top line ingredients. The reason those chooks burn so quickly is the sugar in the marinade. You could wash or wipe it off - something I would advise. You could roast it. If you're barbecuing any meat with a sweet coating always preheat the grill then turn the heat down to low and cook the meat low and slow, turning frequently. Rest the meat, including chicken, covered before serving to complete the cooking and retain its juices.

My mother insists that 'home-brand' butter is exactly the same product as all the other butter at the supermarket. Is she right? M. McInnis

First lesson in Mother Issues 101 reads, "Not everything your mother tells you is true". My mother told me the Mr Whippy vans only played Greensleeves when they had run out of ice-cream. Until recently, I would have mostly agreed with your mother. Several years ago almost all Australian butter was sold in waxed paper. This paper let in light and some air and caused rancidity. The dairy industry has a quaint name for that dark ring encasing butter: "primrosing". Thankfully the dairy industry saw the light, or lack thereof, and started wrapping their butter in foil. This stopped the problem. The flavour of our butter and hence breakfasts and baking have improved remarkably since then. House branded butter, however, is still sold in cheaper paper and, in my humble opinion, is an inferior product.

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