Handling raw meat is messy; you can't touch raw meat and then touch anything else. For most home chefs, this results in hand-washing about every two minutes, which leaves your hands dry and takes up tons of time -- in fact, it's tempting to forego the hand-washing and just touch stuff and irresponsibly spread contamination.

That's why I keep a box of latex goves around. About $2.50 from Target, these boxes last months. I just put on the latex gloves when I handle raw meat, and, every time I need to touch something else, I take off the gloves and throw them away. Sanitary, easy, and doesn't require non-stop hand-washing.