Kitchen Tips
Helpful tips on keeping our kitchens neat, tidy, and easy to manage?
Our Q&A: Other people’s kitchen series gives us many interesting tips on managing things easily in our kitchens. Whenever a food writer invites us into their kitchens, I ask them this question.
‘What tips can you give us that will help keep our kitchens neat and tidy, and easy to manage?’
I’ve collated them on one page and will add more whenever a Q&A post is published.
Q&A with Sophia Real. First Published 11th September 2024
This is what
of Real Simple Foods had to say.My biggest tips for keeping the kitchen tidy are (i) always having a rubbish bowl next to you while you cook or bake (to save you from multiple trips to the bin), (ii) tidying up and washing up as you go along and (iii) washing up anything that is left right after a meal or at least putting any pots and pans that need soaking to soak. Also, the luxury of having a weekly cleaner should not be underestimated!
Another organisation trick I find super helpful is that the moment my husband or I finish one of our staples, we immediately put it on our shared running grocery list.
Otherwise I like to keep a few staples in our pantry and freezer that allow us to assemble quick meals even when we are otherwise low on groceries - that includes things like rice, pasta, passata plus a few tinned foods like tuna, sardines, chickpeas etc., some frozen vegetables and frozen gyoza. It is nice to know that even when our fridge is bare we can have a tasty and nutritious meal on the table in under 30 minutes.
Q&A with Brianna Plaza First published 4th September 2024
This is what
of had to say.I try not to buy too many things I don’t need, hence why I don’t have a lot of kitchen gadgets or extra tools. I also try not to make too many recipes that require buying a ton of new ingredients and instead I prefer to work with what I have. There are exceptions to both rules, sure, but not having too much stuff helps keep my kitchen less cluttered. I have gotten very good at restraining myself when I go to New York’s specialty stores because I simply don’t have the room to store things.
I also try to be a clean as I go person, though admittedly, I sometimes give up at some point during the cooking process and the dishes pile up in the sink. But when I clean as I go, it does make cleaning at the end feel way less annoying.
Q&A: with Christi Flaherty First published 28th August 2024
This is what
of had to say.
Generally, I’m not a super neat and tidy person. My husband comes behind me and straightens out my spice jars so all the labels face the same direction. I’m just not super detailed which is why I’m a cook, not a baker. As I said, I have ADD tendencies and having to pay attention to details escapes me many times.
That said, I do at least have all my spices in matching 4 oz mason jars with cute little labels (photo) and I organized at least one shelf of my pantry with labeled containers. I felt pretty accomplished in the world of organization with these two areas being somewhat neat.
Q&A with Martin Sorge. First published 14th August 2024
These useful tips came from
of .
Tidy up before you start. Before you embark on a recipe, clear away the clutter, put things away, empty the dishwasher, and calm your mind. I think about my time on the Baking Show. We always started with a clean bench (a huge thanks to the folks who cleaned up after us), and our ingredients set out for us. A tidy station helps avoid chaos and stress, which, for me, means fewer mistakes.
After baking, you can use the residual heat in the oven to dry some of your dishes. After you wash your dishes, instead of drying them off, put anything oven-proof, especially baking pans, into a turned-off oven that still has a bit of heat left. If the oven is still warm, they’ll dry out quickly.
Lynn says. This is such a useful tip that I have used a few times myself. See the above images. Just remember to remove them before you switch the oven on again.
Don’t buy a new gadget/pan/etc. unless you think you’ll use it at least three times. If I see a recipe that calls for an odd pan or gadget that I don’t have, like a mini-muffin pan, then I won’t make it right away. I’ll wait until I come across (or think of) two other recipes that use that item, and then I'll make the purchase. That way you don’t have a kitchen full of single-use items.
Q&A: with Rachel Ciordas. First published 7th August 2024
of is a gluten free cook, and I asked her, What tips can you give a Gluten Free cook that will help keep their kitchen neat and tidy?
Gluten free bakers and cooks often have many specialty ingredients and flours. Invest in some mason jars or similar canisters to be able to easily see what ingredients you have and access them easily.
Also, in kitchens that are shared gluten and gluten free it is important to have separate storage of the gluten free dedicated equipment that you own, whether it is separate cupboards or bins inside the cupboard it is easy to get confused and nobody wants that!
When I bring my dedicated gluten free cooking utensils (rolling pins, nonstick pans etc) to other kitchens for cooking classes I mark them with a certain color of painters tape, which helps me and others know which items are dedicated gluten free easily and really helps prevent mixing things up!
Q&A: with George and Linda. First published 31st July 2024
These are the tips
of George’s Kitchen gave us.It’s quite simple. Do your prep well in advance of when you start to cook.
And when you do something - clean up immediately once done and put all your ingredients away.
Salad dressings are a good example. We always make our own.
I get all the ingredients and utensils, make the dressing and then put the ingredients away with the utensils going into the dishwasher. If you don’t do that, you have a super messy kitchen and cleaning up becomes a Herculean and distasteful task.
Q&A with Suzy First published 24th July 2024
of shared this with us about using her mudroom.
What helps me is the space in the mudroom for all the produce, potatoes, and onions. All the fruits and veg used to cause a lot of clutter in any kitchen I had before this one.
The mudroom I have is not large, but it gives me that extra space for storing things. I suppose a pantry type of area or some shelving if one can't fit a mudroom would get the job done nicely as well!
Q&A with Christina Fiore, first published 10th July 2024
of gave us these tips when I asked if she had any baking tips to share with us. Use an oven thermometer: Always use an oven thermometer because the temperature you set on your oven might not match the actual temperature that is reached. I keep an oven-safe thermometer in both of my ovens to check the temperature before baking.
Read the entire recipe: Read the entire recipe - including all the ingredients and instructions - before you start. Sometimes, the accompanying post also has helpful tips that aren't in the printable recipe. For my recipes, I always add extra tips in the post to help you succeed.
Organize your ingredients: After reading the recipe, prepare and measure all your ingredients. This makes it easier to follow the recipe and reduces stress while cooking or baking.