⏱Kitchen Time Savers – More Cleanup Tips

Previously I wrote about some kitchen cleanup tips used at Hectic Manor. I presented strategies for attacking messes and how to efficiently get work done. But that’s one side of the coin. The other is to avoid making messes altogether. It’s been a hard lesson for me to learn, but I’m slowly incorporating these into my own portfolio.

First off, reconsider how you prep your meals. Use less stuff. If you’re making pasta, add any vegetables to the boiling water for the last few minutes. Instead of using two pots, use just one. It’s not a huge difference in time savings, but we’re talking about tiny changes that accumulate over time.

When marinating, consider using a zippered bag instead of a bowl. The bag saves you twice: No bowl to cleanup and to distribute the marinade, shake the bag instead of stirring with a spoon. No dirty bowl, no dirty spoon. Win + win.

Next, use cooking spray liberally. I wrote an entire post about innovative cooking spray uses, that’s how much of a difference it can make! While it doesn’t reduce the number of pots & pans for cleanup, it makes cleaning loads easier. Again, we’re talking small wins!

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Another way to avoid heavy-duty cleaning chores is to line pans with parchment paper or foil. I’d only used parchment paper for keeping my cookies from burning, then in dawned on me that greasy foods can benefit too…the parchment paper collects the grease. The food ends up healthier and the pans are easier to clean. Heck, if you line your broiler pan (the part underneath the slotted cover) with foil you can dispense with the cooking spray and make cleanup easier!

When you’re making a casserole, there’s no rule you have to use a mixing bowl. Combine everything in the casserole dish, push everything to one side, spray half the pan, move the ingredients on top of the sprayed side, spray the other side, and spread everything out. The same goes for your slow-cooker or Instant Pot…use them for the mixing duties too!

Even if you followed all my advice, you may still have a mess at the end of the day. I’m the king of leaving dishes with baked on gunk sitting for too long. You can clean your baked on disasters with denture cleaning tablets. Fill the offending dish with water and drop in two tablets. Go do something else for 30-45 minutes (maybe clean the rest of the kitchen?). When the denture tablets are done the cleanup will be gobs easier!

Finally, there is going to be cleaning to do. It’s a fact of life, but the cleaning doesn’t have to be dreary. Find a musical mix you like, preferably one with a good beat. Crank up the tunes and get working. If you’re ever close enough to Hectic Manor on a cleaning day don’t be surprised when you see me dancing. It’s not a pretty sight, but so? What matters is I’m making it a great day in the kitchen even during the dullest of tasks!