Guest Blogger: Kitchen Cleaning Tips for Germ-Free Cooking by Kaitlin Krull

Kitchen Cleaning Tips for Germ-Free Cooking

Kaitlin Krull

 

For many of us, preparing a tasty, home-cooked meal in the comfort of our own kitchen is absolute bliss. Keeping the kitchen clean, on the other hand, is not. If, like us at Modernize, you’re concerned about keeping your house clean and beautiful, then check out these cleaning tips for a germ-free kitchen.

 

Food preparation

Always wash hands after touching raw meat. Use paper towels while cooking with raw meats rather than dish towels to avoid contamination and the spread of harmful bacteria.

 

Use glass or plastic cutting boards, or replace old wooden ones often as bacteria gets trapped inside grooves and cracks (and most can’t be washed in the dishwasher). Even better, use different boards for different kinds of food prep to avoid cross contamination.

 

Do not rinse raw meats before cooking! The bacteria dispersed during splashback far outweighs any bacteria you may be removing from the surface of the meat, which gets cooked off anyway, and you are not making the meat taste better.

 

via Modernize

 

Cleaning up

After preparing food, disinfect surfaces thoroughly with antibacterial wipes or sprays. Don’t forget cupboard handles, light switches, and door knobs, or anywhere else you might have touched while cooking.

 

Remember that bleach is your friend. Chopping boards, sponges, sinks, and anywhere salmonella and other bacteria tend to linger can be sprayed with, soaked in, or scrubbed with a mixture of bleach and water. Just make sure to protect your hands and clothes!

 

Make sure to wash dish towels and sponges regularly. You’d be amazed at the amount of bacteria your cleaning accessories can accumulate in a short amount of time.

 

Did you know that knife blocks can get moldy? Save yourself from this grossest of kitchen fates by completely drying knives after washing, or storing them on magnetic strips instead of blocks.

 

When washing dishes, use a dishwasher when possible (as it runs at a higher temperature than hand washing) or hand wash dishes thoroughly with dish soap and the hottest water you can tolerate, starting with the cleanest items to avoid dirtying your water too early.

 

via Modernize

 

Storage

When storing leftovers, make sure to cool them to room temperature and refrigerate or freeze them within one to two hours of cooking. If you put hot food into your fridge and freezer you run the risk of raising their internal temperature and damaging other food stored inside.

 

Speaking of refrigeration, keep track of your fridge and freezer temperatures. Keep fridges between 37° and 40° Fahrenheit (3°-5°Celsius) and freezers below 0°Fahrenheit (-18° Celsius). Don’t forget to clean your refrigerator coils regularly to keep the temperatures steady and your appliances working as well as they should.

 

via Modernize