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Most people think the best way to remove bacteria is by rinsing the bird beforehand.

Let’s just admit it: Americans chow down on a lot of chicken—82.2 pounds per person in 2010 alone! So here are 10 things you should know about our favorite fowl, safety tips included.

For the best possible bird, DON’T:

1. Wash the Chicken
This may come as a shock to all of you who automatically rinse your poultry just before cooking. It certainly was for me. So what’s the big deal? Cross contamination! Rinsing your chicken is an ideal way to spew nasty pathogens all over your sink and the surrounding area. Rinsing never did get rid of pathogens anyway. Instead, try to get the meat onto the baking pan with as little contact as possible. Then wipe down your counter with hot soapy water or a mixture of hot water and 1 tablespoon liquid bleach.

Read more: Don’t Wash Your Chicken Before You Cook It and 9 Other Surprising Tips

This snapshot appears to show a sunny day at the beach — but that’s only half right.

Fans of the addictive sandwiches of  Chick-fil-A who also support gay marriage are facing a dilemma: Should one follow the dictates of the stomach or the conscience?

The privately owned chain, famous for closing on Sundays in deference to its founder’s evangelical Christian values, donates to many Christian causes, scholarships, and organizations through its charitable arm.

But when a Pennsylvania restaurant donated sandwiches and brownies to a Harrisburg meeting of The Pennsylvania Family Group, a group that works to outlaw gay marriage, pro-gay marriage bloggers and gay rights organizations went on the offensive. The news quickly trickled into the mainstream. Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton wrote about it, and so did the food blog Grub Street, with the headline “Chick-fil-A is anti-gay.”

Read more: Popular chicken chain under fire for anti-gay marriage donations

Tandoori chicken gets its name from the bell-shaped tandoor clay oven which is also used to make naan, or Indian flatbread. Skinless legs and thighs are marinated in a tenderizing mixture of yogurt, lemon juice, and spices and the meat is slashed to the bone in several places helping the marinade penetrate and the chicken cook more quickly. The chicken gets its characteristic red hue from either lots of fiery chile or the addition of red food dye. We’re not that big on food dyes here, so we’ve skipped it, but if you must have your chicken bright red, feel free to add a bit of red food dye to the marinade. Now, you don’t need a tandoor oven to make tandoori chicken (thank goodness). You can cook it over a grill (charcoal preferred) or just in an oven with a broiler.

Here’s the recipe: Tandoori Chicken

Kids love this combination of refried white beans and chicken tenders. If you’re concerned about making it too spicy, omit the jalapeno. Serve with extra cheese to sprinkle on top.

Read more here: Golden Chicken with Spicy Refried Beans

In culinary school I learned how to barbecue chicken “the right way.” It involved closely monitoring a live fire on a charcoal grill, keeping the flame low and painstakingly checking the temperature. If it was too hot, the skin would burn. And if I kept it on too long, the chicken would be dry and stringy—kind of like eating dental floss. (Find our favorite, easy BBQ chicken recipes here.)

Read more here: Secrets to the best BBQ chicken

Lamb chops or pork chops, bison burgers or veal breast, round roast or Porterhouse steak? Sure, you know meat’s high in cholesterol and saturated fat and that it’s less healthy than fish and poultry, but what if you really, really need to tear into some red meat now and then?

Use this guide to find the slimmest, trimmest cuts and kinds. Now enjoy — not just the flavors, the health benefits: Most meat is rich in top-quality protein, iron, zinc, B12, and other nutrients that aren’t easy to get elsewhere.

Read more here: Red meat that makes you skinny?