If someone can cook in the kitchen without creating any mess, I would like them to show me how they do it. The only way I can think of to accomplish this is if the following guidelines are followed.
Before You Start, Make a Game Plan
Planning is nothing but thinking before actually carrying out an action. In this scenario, if you want to achieve the desired goal of keeping your kitchen clean even after cooking, the first and foremost activity is to plan your whole cooking process. You need to decide beforehand what is to be done and how it is to be done.
If you want to prepare an Italian dish, for example, you need to think of all the ingredients you will use and how much. If you want, you can also cut down on the number of dirty dishes by overseeing the whole cooking process and deciding in advance all the necessary tools you will be using.
Buy Only What You Need
When going grocery shopping, it’s very easy and tempting to buy stuff that you won’t need. Some people even have the tendency of buying the same type of items without realizing what they’ve done.
If you don’t want your kitchen to be jammed with unnecessary items, make sure you stick to your shopping list. And, most importantly, avoid impulse buying. Not only will it help in keeping your kitchen clutter-free, you’ll also save money and waste less food.
Always Start With a Clean Kitchen
A kitchen is a place where you cook and eat food so you have to keep it clean and tidy. So, here is a daily cleaning schedule for your kitchen:
- Start by putting away all the things that usually have a place on the shelves like spices, jars and etc.
- Pile all the dirty dishes of yesterday’s dinner and wash them properly with soap and water. Or, you can also use a dishwasher. Once all the dishes have been washed, clean the sink.
- Using a damp kitchen towel, wipe the stove and the oven.
- Wipe the kitchen counters and get rid of any food crumbs or liquid spills.
- Then, finish by sweeping the floors.
There is a common perception that you can get the kitchen cleaned within five or ten minutes; that’s nothing but a myth. Even if you rushed through it all and half-assed the entire cleaning process, you wouldn’t get it done that quickly. The fact that you can get it done in thirty minutes is already a hell of an accomplishment.
Reuse Tools
For each new task, it’s very tempting to use a new tool and throw the previously-used one in the sink. If you keep going at this pace, your kitchen sink will be filled with measuring cups, spoons and knives in no time.
If you’ve used a cutting board for vegetables, just rinse it and use the same one to cut the meat. If you’ve used a measuring cup to measure flour, you can just wipe or rinse it off and use the same one to measure sugar. Also, instead of using a new spatula or spoon each time for the same dish, why don’t you rest them all on a plate?
Clean as You Go
The best advice you can receive is to clean as you cook.
There is a reason why most chefs on TV have a towel slung over their shoulders; they use it to wipe off any sauce that splattered on the counter or clean any liquid that spilled onto the stovetop.
While waiting for something to boil or cook, you can unload the dishwasher. In between stirring something, for example, you can rinse off dirty bowls and spoons. While the vegetables or onions are being sautéed, you can have around 30-40 seconds to wipe down the cutting surface and run the hot water to clean off your knife.
