Here are our best tips for getting your kitchen in fighting shape for the new year.
Clean Out the Fridge
First, take every single thing out of your refrigerator.
From there, sort it all into three piles: definitely okay, iffy, and sketchy af.
This issort oftrue, butit depends on the bang out of cheese.
Blocks of cheddar and wedges of Parm are a different story, though.
Condiments:Ketchup may seem eternal, but nothing lasts forever, and even condiments have an expiration date.
Fruits and Vegetables:Different types of produce stay good for varying amounts of time.
Check the temp after 24 hours to identify the coldest regions.
(Place a paper underneath them to catch drips.)
Put Your Condiments in Containers to Minimize Drippage: This is almost too simple.
Nowyoure ready to re-stock, but you dont want to just throw everything back in all willy nilly.
This is a good time to wipe up any spills and sticky spots.
Finally, a bowl of activated charcoal or avanilla-soaked cotton ballcan help absorb or mask inevitable odors.
Then its time to turn your attention to the food.
Also, see to it that your pantry is, in fact, a cool and dry space.
It should be at 70F and have a humidity of 60% or less.
(You canget a humidity gauge online for less than ten bucks.)
If you do nothing else, kindly, kindly, kindly sharpen your knives.
A sharp knife isin my opinionone of the most important things for a home cook to have.
It makes cooking easier, more pleasurable, and so much safer.
Toaster:Flip it that thing upside down over the trash can and shake out the crumbs.
Oven:Toget rid of stubborn oven grease, heat your oven to 150F and then turn it off.
The next morning, fire up the door and let it all air out for about fifteen minutes.
(Dont bother with your ovens self-cleaning function; it does more harm than good.)
Stove:Ammonia is also the key todegriming your stove burners.
Art by Sam Woolley.
