Posted on 03/24/2017 7:48:03 AM PDT by Jamestown1630
We’ve had requests for a thread on ‘kitchen problems’, so I thought we’d do it this week.
* I cleaned out my refrigerator a few days ago, and was reminded of something I used to do and must start to do again. No matter how careful you are, there are always drips and leaks, or mess from a forgotten, rotten vegetable, staining up your refrigerator – especially the little shelves on the door. A good idea is to cut craft paper – or a brown paper bag – to fit those spaces, and then just change the paper out a few times per year, when you do a complete cleaning of the fridge. The few minutes of work this takes will save you a lot more time later.
* I keep the cans that vegetables, tomato sauce, etc. come in – I rip off the labels, run them through the dishwasher, and use them to deal with the leftover fats and juices from cooking that I don’t want to put through the drain/garbage disposal (the dregs from a beef roast have seemed in my experience to be especially bad for the disposal system). I freeze these, and then they go easily into the trash the morning of trash pickup. If your neighborhood recycles, and you don’t want to dispose of the cans along with garbage, you can just pop the frozen stuff out.
* Sponges in the kitchen are great collectors of bacteria, but you can kill it by routinely microwaving your sponges in a MW-safe bowl or dish, for a couple of minutes. Make sure they contain no metal, and are WET when you do this; and be careful when you take them out, because they’ll be very hot.
* We never seem to have enough space in our freezer, and I’ve started taking prepared frozen foods out of the big boxes that they come in – the boxes take up much more space than the contents, and the contents are usually wrapped anyway. Cut out the part of the box that has the instructions and save it someplace convenient – you’ll only have to do this once for each item. If you have a vacuum packer (a great investment, by the way) use it to re-pack items that you will store long-term; otherwise, things can just be put into a plastic ‘baggie’ for protection.
* If you make a lot of soups, and your own stocks, another great space-saver is Helen Witty’s Chicken Extract – a way of reducing stock to where you can freeze a tablespoon in each section of an ice-cube tray, and then pop the cubes into a bag or container. Generally, you will reconstitute one of these cubes per cup of water, to make stock. You will appreciate the added space in the deep freeze, and the convenience of having the cubes of stock on hand. Here are the directions for this – it’s long and drawn-out process, but depending on your frequency of use, you only have to do it a couple or three times per year:
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1990-04-19/features/9001030683_1_chicken-broth-pot
* Save all the little plastic ‘twisty-ties’ from bread and other items, and keep them in the ‘everything-drawer’; you’ll always find a use for them.
* Invest in something like a Swiffer Wet Mop, or some other very easy to grab-and-use floor cleaning implement, and run it quickly over your kitchen floor EVERY NIGHT! This will save you a lot of work when you go to do your general kitchen cleaning (especially if you have a very ‘Exuberant’ cook in your family – like my hubby ;-)
* Finally: when you are cooking, clean everything *as you use it* - that way you don’t wind up with a depressing sinkful of stuff that has to be dealt with all at once, when you’re done. Cooking is much more pleasurable then.
-JT
This week: tips, tricks, and solutions to Kitchen Problems!
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-JT
Some great tips there, thanks. I especially like the one about putting paper lining on the fridge shelves.
My most recent problem is that buns stored in my freezer are having all the moisture pulled out & are as hard as a rock when I go to use them. Even microwaving gently with a glass of water in the oven doesn’t help much. I guess I’m going to have to wrap them individually in Saran wrap before going back into the bag & into the freezer. Cooking for only two has its drawbacks. We just don’t go through whole bags of buns very quickly. :-)
Working with filo dough:
If you have ever worked with filo, you already know that it takes about 2 minutes in open air to turn the dough into parchment. Many suggest covering with a moist towel, which works pretty well, but tends to make the edges gummy and difficult to separate. I’ve had good luck covering the sheets with plastic wrap, taking care to smooth out the air bubbles. I make baklava often and stack a pile of the filo next to my work area and cover it with plastic wrap. I peel the wrap back when I need a sheet, and then immediately smooth the wrap back over the stack before I start using the new sheet. I’ve had the filo remain workable for at least 25 minutes using this approach.
Great Tip!
We Freeper cooks must have an ESP bond - have thought of suggesting this myself this year. Not only for kitchen problems - but household suggestions and comments, remedies and solutions.
FLY LADY has a site of her own and vast experience in such matters
http://www.flylady.net/
You Tube has been very helpful when DH failed to cover containers placed in the microwave leaving bits of food particles on the walls and ceilings of same. We saved $100 or more/less by repairing our new microwave oven with the help of you tube. No more sparking and fireworks - it purrs like a charm.
Thanks JT!
We’re a two-person family, too, and I haven’t found a real solution to this when I buy a big pack of dinner rolls for a holiday or other party. I’ve had some success steaming baked goods on a rack, over a pan of simmering water.
You may have success freezing the extras on a tray, and then vacuum-packing.
I like Fly Lady - there are some very good tips there. I’ve never managed ‘putting on shoes’ every morning - my ‘feets’ don’t like shoes ;-) - but the ‘shiny sink’ idea is a great motivator.
My kitchen problem is a big one that will hopefully be fixed soon. We bought a “unique “ property one and a half years ago and the kitchen/dining room is the first area to be remodeled. It’s a need at this point-it was a halfway house so it’s kind of like an old church kitchen that’s falling apart. Literally falling apart. We are DIYers, helps that my husband is a carpenter;-), and on a tiny budget.
He will be building the cabinets and to further save money we are planning on wood counters. I’m wondering if anyone has experience with them. It gives the farmhouse look for a fraction of the cost of marble. Water with wood is a concern.
Great tips! Thanks.
Does anyone have a tip on how to clean le creuset lids to get the baked on stuff off on the outside of the lid? I have soaked them in dish soap and even cascade to no avail and I still can’t get it off with lots of elbow grease. I have one very large pot I use every week as my dutch oven to roast goodies in for our pups and that lid is looking rather horrible. Any ideas?
I have no experience with construction, but I love the look of wood counters, and I’m sure there are either types of wood - if they’re available to you - or finishes for wood that would be more durable than others.
I imagine a google search would bring up some info; a lot of the home-improvement magazines contain info about materials used in homes that are featured, or you could contact the builder of a home you see that has a feature you like.
I need to do serious cleaning on my stove’s drip pans, and I saw an idea recently that involved putting the pans in a plastic bag with a little ammonia, closing it up and letting it sit for a day. I have no idea if this might harm the enamel on your lid, but perhaps someone more accomplished in chemistry will respond.
I wrap baguettes, rolls, etc. In two separate layers of foil & when I reheat I keep them in the foil wrapping. It works like a charm. We have no microwave, so it’s oven ready.
I will try that!
Speaking of foil, I’ve found that wrapping celery in aluminum foil helps it to last much longer than the plastic bag it’s sold in.
Thanks JT!
Pinterest is my friend in this, but bloggers usually post their experiences soon after implementing the change. I don’t personally know anyone who has used this unorthodox approach. I have a plan to use standard 2x boards, stain them and finish with Waterlox.
I’m hoping that a yearly application of Waterlox is enough to protect it.
Sorry about not including you in my reply, realized after I sent. ; )
I’m sure there are lots of ‘home-improvement’ fora where you could post a question. I’ve been amazed at all the expertise there is on the Web, given away ‘for free’ simply because people are enthusiasts and enjoy sharing their knowledge.
I’ll try both foil & saran wrap next time I buy buns & see which works best. We almost never use our oven, & it seems overkill to heat one bun. I’m trying to stay on an Atkins-style diet, so I’m avoiding bread. But hubby still likes his...
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