How to Keep the Kitchen Clean While Cooking
Whether it be simply cooking an evening's meal for your family or entertaining for a big group, chances are that you will have quite a feat to face in cleaning the kitchen afterward. Even despite having a dishwasher, there is often a lot of work to do. There are, however, steps you can take throughout the cooking process that will ease the task of cleanup when the evening is over, and do not require further time or take time away from the process of preparing a meal. Following a few simple procedures will help to keep the kitchen clean while cooking. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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The Problem
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Often when cooking several side dishes along with the main dish, there will be (presumably) a need for many different cooking utensils and dishware. One mixing bowl is used and thrown in the sink while another is pulled out for another dish preparation. Utensils are used once and get dirty, then thrown aside. Food and other waste or trash is slopped about only to be cleaned up after dinner. Trash piles up in the garbage can, and on and on. As if there is not enough to clean up at the time of serving dinner, there is soon to be the colossal pile of dishes and waste after the meal is done. All of this adds up to the feat of dinner cleanup.
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The first thing to remember when cooking is that you don't have to use separate preparation bowls for each dish. For example, let's say you are boiling rice in one pot while the chicken cooks in the oven, the rice finishes and you put it in the serving bowl. Rather than putting the pot you boiled the rice in into the sink or dishwasher, use it for the next dish you are cooking--say broccoli. Don't be afraid to serve dishes in the same dishes they were prepared in or to prepare dishes in the dishes they will be served in. This idea can be applied to any number of things that might be prepared, from sauces to drinks or mixing bowls to strainers. Doing this greatly reduces the amount of dishes that will need to be done after the meal. Another necessity in regard to the dishware is to keep the dishwasher running while you're cooking and continually emptying it and maintaining the cycle. This also eliminates the pileup.
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When you're cooking, your kitchen counter and kitchen floor are bound to get a little or a lot dirty depending on the size of the meal. Taking a few minutes here and there to sweep, wipe or just take out the garbage that is piling up will help greatly in lessening the responsibility at the end. Putting away things like condiments or half-used items immediately after you use them will also help to keep the clutter from piling up. It is important to put things that would normally be put away after the meal away right after you use them, thus helping to keep the kitchen clean while you are cooking.
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Tips & Warnings
Always give yourself plenty of time to cook, especially if it is a big meal. That way you will have that little extra time to clean during the cooking process.
It is important that if you serve food in the same dish you prepared it in, that you be sure to maintain cleanliness. Obviously, you wouldn't serve chicken in the same raw, juice-filled bowl that it was sitting in before it cooked.
