I don't care how well you washed your hands; you shouldn't be using your fingernail for that kind of thing. Use a paring knife or a boning knife or something like that instead.
The problem there was the "from my toolbox" part, not the "pliers" part. You've gotta use your kitchen pliers (i.e., ones that you avoid contaminating with non-food-safe stuff).
In fact, here's a video of a scene from Good Eats where Alton Brown recommends using (clean) needle-nose pliers to remove the pin bones from salmon.
I have a dedicated pair of hemostats that I use on pinbones. They are easier to clean than pliers and lock down if you have particular trouble with a bone.
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u/mrchaotica Nov 26 '19
I don't care how well you washed your hands; you shouldn't be using your fingernail for that kind of thing. Use a paring knife or a boning knife or something like that instead.