The kitchen is the heart of your home base. This means it should be clean and functional for the daily skirmish of preparing meals for your family.
However, there are dangers present in the kitchen as well, considering that it is where you keep flammable and sharp objects.
That said, here are a few cautionary tactics for cleaning your kitchen safely:
Wash up often
It’s only common sense that washing your hands after meal preparation is necessary. But don’t forget to wash the utensils you use for making your meal . .
Pots, pans, spatulas, and even that old wooden spoon you’ve saved for those classic home dishes. Wash them all up after making each meal. Make sure to use warm water and soap to really clean them of any food scraps and bacteria that might still be lingering.
Additionally, make sure that your hands are always cleaned prior and after preparing food for your home.
Wipe surfaces
Counters and other surfaces where you prepare meals have dust and grime that must be wiped off.
The surfaces where you lay the cutting board, peel your potatoes, or where you generally prepare your food every day might contain microorganisms.
Put some time aside for cleaning the kitchen counters and food preparation surfaces. There’s no need to buy an expensive bottle of cleaner to do it, either. Warm water, a rag, and some vinegar would work just fine.
Keep food organized
You can’t just chuck all your food into one spot in the fridge and call it a day. Doing that presents more of a health risk than anything else.
Certain kinds of food need to be kept separate, such as eggs, meat, poultry, and fish. Don’t group them all in one spot, and put each item where they need to be. It keeps your kitchen cleaner more than you think, your fridge in particular.
Clean your stove regularly
Your stove is a reliable tool when it comes to preparing meals.
Of course, cleaning it should be a priority when keeping your kitchen clean. Not doing so poses the risks of contaminated food, your stove breaking down, and especially grease build-up which can lead to fire hazards.
Additionally, an unclean stove can make any food that comes off it really unappetizing.
A decent scrub brush and some baking soda usually do the trick for most stoves, especially gas ones. Just make sure to really wipe away any cleaning chemicals that drop on your stove to avoid making it into more of a health hazard.