Cleanup & Mess Prevention Tips

• If you have burned food on the bottom of a cooking pan, let sit overnight with vinegar and Comet covering the burned area. It wipes out easily the next day.
• To give burned food the brush off, let a mixture of half water and half vinegar soak in the pan overnight. The burned food comes off easily the next day with a light scouring.
• When you scorch a pan, try sprinkling dry baking soda over the scorch. Let stand awhile and clean as usual.
• To remove burned-on food stuck to enamel saucepans, place a strong salt solution in the pot and let soak several hours. Cover the pot, place it on the stove and bring solution to a slow boil. This usually removes the burned food safely.
• To clean your garbage disposal, make vinegar ice cubes and feed them down the disposal. After grinding, run cold water through. The grinding effect of the ice will sort out any stubborn items and the vinegar will remove the odors.
• For fragrant, clean sinks, pour 1/2 cup of baking soda, followed by one cup vinegar, down the drain. Let bubble 15 minutes, then rinse with warm water.
• Nina Rodrigues from Toronto, Ontario says "Kitchen counter rags go along way if you keep them clean and germ free by rinsing them through warm water, dish antibacterial soap and pop them in the microwave for a quick 2 minutes to kill of those pesty germs. Do be careful as your rag will be very hot, so handle it with care.
• Vida Mann from Monroeville, Ohio sent in the following two tips: After chopping or mincing onions or green peppers I put them in freezer bags and press them flat. Makes breaking off the amount needed easy.
• To devein shrimp, instead of an icepick, use a small Philips-head screwdriver with a short handle -- it works quite well !
• The folks from Hayles Farm in South Alabama say baking soda in the drain, followed with Vinegar, helps clean and freshen the sink, do it several times a week.
• Jan say she husks corn and removes most of the silk inside a plastic grocery bag to prevent a kitchen . She then uses a paper towel instead of a brush to remove excess silk from the corn, with no damage to the kernels.
• Tracey Burnt says "To avoid milk from boiling over and spilling, add a drop of vinegar to the milk at boiling point, it won't boil over.
• When reheating soup, Granny from Winnipeg suggests using a double boiler. The hot water in the bottom part of the boiler does the trick with no burned or boiled over soup.
• A tip from Molly's House: When I make potato salad or any other type of food that need's to be mixed, I slip on a pair of latex surgical type gloves and gently fold the dressing in without damaging the potatoes, tomatoes or any other ingredients you need to mix. Your hands never have to touch the ingredients, it's totally sanitary and it takes a fraction of the time to mix. If you are making anything else all you have to do is wash off the gloves and continue with your other kitchen preparations. When you are finished, just throw them away. Purchase gloves cheaply at any hardware or home center.
• Dottie from Pensacola, Florida wrote in with another use for the plastic bags from cereal boxes. Use them for coating or breading chicken or other meats and vegetables to be fried. The bags are sturdy enough to handle the job and it's much neater than dredging.
• The Danbury Clan from Trenton, New Jersey writes in with the following tip: To save pot watching and burning of the bottom of the pots when making spaghetti sauce, place your sauce in an oven safe dish and place in the oven -- no higher than 300 degrees. It can be left to cook slowly for hours without burning -- just stir every now and then.
• Lou Ann Cates from Aurora, Illinois says "To remove the odor from your hands after slicing foods such as onions or garlic, just hold a spoon between your hands and run cold water over them! It's amazing.... it really works!
• Remove scratches from china by gently rubbing with a paste made from baking soda and water.
• Keep a large bowl in the counter when cooking. Put all trash, cuttings, etc. into it as you go. Then, make ONE trip to the trash can when the meal and cleanup is done. Saves time and steps! (also from Sue O.)
• Monica G. from Los Angeles, California wrote in with the following: "My Godson, Peter, gave me this kitchen tip. To clean messy bbq grills, use 1/2 onion to scrape off grease and burnt on food pieces. You use the 1/2 onion like you would a scouring pad. I didn't believe it would work myself until I tried it.
• Try this trick for cleaning metal shish kabob skewers: clean with a dry, soap filled scrubbing pad (such as SOS). Burnt on food seems to come off much easier this way, then all you have to do is rinse. Especially handy when camping!
• From NeNe in Tennesse - "When ever I need to mix tuna for tuna salad I first put all ingredients in a 1 gallon sealable plastic bag, remove excess air, then I just blend ingredients by squeezing the bag. Then I snip off 1 corner to squeeze out the amount I need for sandwiches, salads, and etc. This idea can be used with many other foods such as deviled eggs, seafood salad, meatloaf, seasoned ground beef for the grill and so on. This is extra nice to prepare foods on camp-outs, picnics, or carry dish for get-togethers (and a lot easier to transport). Enjoy the food and an EASY clean-up.
• To freshen a smelly garbage disposal, run lemon, lime or orange rinds through while running hot water.
• M.A. Ebling from Rhinebeck, New York suggests: "Recycle 'bubble wrap' from breakable packaging by placing between glass mixing bowls, teflon pans or anything else that you don't want scratched or broken."
• Lynda Norvitch from St. Paul, Minnesota says, "I place a plastic bag under any raw meat or poultry that I store in the fridge to catch any leakage."
• To loosen baked or dried on food in pan, gently boil some water with a little baking soda mixed in. Cool when food is loosened then wipe clean.
• Stained plastic storage containers can be cleaned with a mixture of baking soda and lemon juice.
• Bring old sponges, nylon scrubbers and brushes back to life by soaking them overnight in a solution of 1 quart water to 4 tablespoons baking soda.
• Clean stainless steel by sprinkling on baking soda or using a baking soda paste as your cleaning agent.
• 1/2 cup baking soda mixed in a bucket of water makes a great natural floor cleaner. Make a baking soda paste for tough spots like black heel marks or rust stains.
• Margaret Murphy from Beaufort, Victoria, Australia says "In commercial kitchens salt is sprinkled onto oil spills on floors, it is less messy than adding flour."
• Tip from Barbie Irmischer, Tomahawk, Wisconsin: When you need to bleach a cup,mug or cooler, etc.to remove stains or odors and would rather it didn't smell or taste of bleach afterwards just rinse again with vanilla mixed with water -- it smells better and has no bad aftertaste. Some people also use lemon juice.
• Chandana Suggala suggests sprinkling some flour on oil that is accidentally spilled on the floor. The flour absorbs the oil making clean up a snap.
• Sherie Walden from Purcell, Oklahoma keeps dampened washcloth, sealed in a plastic zipper bag, on the dash of the car during trips with the kids. That way she has a hot wash cloth for cleaning hands and faces after snacks and spills.
• While waiting for a full load in the dishwasher before washing, sprinkle a little baking soda over the dishes or in the bottom of the machine in ordr to neutralize odors.
• To clean foods that have burnt on a barbecue grill, enclose them in a large plastic garbage bag. Mix 1 cup baking soda with 1/2 cup ammonia, pour over the grills, close the bag and let sit overnight. The burnt on pieces will have loosened making the grills easy to clean.
• Clean coolers with a water and baking solution to eliminate odors.
• Here's a tip we saw on a recent episode of Oprah: If you spill red wine on a carpet, pour white wine right over it. The white will neutralize the red wine. Follow with light soap and water and blot with a thick towel.
• An easy and neat way to fill a pastry bag is to stand it upright in a tall glass (a half pint pub beer glass works well) and fold the edges of the bag around the rim of the glass. Fill the bag, then gather up the edge before decorating.
• To get that baked-on grease off cookie sheets, just spray with oven cleaner and let sit for about 15 minutes before cleaning.
• Stephanie Beuning from Post Falls, Idaho had this unique clean-up tip: "When you burn food on a pan, or it just sticks badly, place a couple of fabric softener sheets in the bottom of the pan with a little hot water, and soak for a little while. Then use the sheets to clean the pan(s). Works great. I use it on my stainless steel pans all of the time. Try it!"
• Stephanie also suggests that when a recipe calls for spraying an oil on the pan, to place it inside of the dishwasher and spray. Any excess will run into the dishwasher not on the counters.
• Add a cup of water to the bottom of a broiling pan to absorb grease and smoke.
• Ann M. Hall from Florida sent in onion tip: "To remove onion odor from hands, rub your hands over your stainless steel sink. I don't know how or why this works but it does. I use this method every time I cut up an onion."
• For flouring or breading food it's easier if you put it in a plastic bag with the flour and shake the bag. Quick and clean.
• Joan wrote in to say that she always makes up two or three recipes of the dry ingredients for cakes, cookies, breads, etc. then labels them, and tucks in a copy of the recipe,and put them in the cupboard. This way you're only dealing with flour etc. that is messy to clean up once. When you're in a hurry its great to have everything ready.
• Cak from Wisconsin writes: Whenever a pie boils over in the oven I coat the run-over with soda to prevent smelling or burning in the over and it comes out easily after.
• Use a toothbrush to clean the grime from can openers.
• A toothbrush can also help clean off a grater.
• Another method of making clean up of a grater is to lightly coat it with salad oil before using.
• Remove food that is stuck onto a casserole dish, fill it with boiling water and mix in 3 tablespoons of baking soda or salt. Let sit until water cools, then wash as usual.
• If you scorch a pan, simply fill it halfway with water, add 1/4 cup baking soda, and boil until the burned portions loosen and float to the top.
• To remove lime deposits from teakettles, fill with equal parts water and distilled white vinegar. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let sit overnight before washing with soap and water.
• Remove coffee or teas stains (or even cigarette burns) from china by rubbing it with a damp cloth that has been dipped in baking soda.
• The same damp cloth and baking soda will make silver shine.
• Before washing fine china or delicate crystal, place a thick towel in the bottom of the sink to act as a cushion to help prevent breakage and chips.
• If fruit pies boil over in the oven, shake some salt into the spill. This will cause the spills to burn to a crisp, then they can easily be removed with a spatula.
• Do potatoes fly all over the kitchen when you mash them? You can avoid this mess by cutting the potatoes into small pieces before cooking.
• Save time and nutrients by peeling potatoes for potato salad, after boiling.
• To prevent the mess of boiled over potatoes, or other starchy foods, add a pat of butter to the boiling water.
• Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugar cone to keep the ice cream from dripping.
• A cup of baking soda and a cup vinegar poured down a drain can help clear a clogged drain.
• Baking soda can help clean dishes, especially greasy ones .
• Nothing cleans plastic like baking soda and it doesn't scratch the surface -sprinkle on a sponge or rag and use as you would cleanser.
• A general mixture of 5 tablespoons baking soda to 1 quart water makes a good all-purpose cleaning solution for glass, plastics, formica, etc.
• Remove grease from a stovetop by cleaning with a solution of baking soda and white vinegar.
• Remove stubborn cooked on food from dishes by sprinkling pan with a half cup or so of baking soda and an equal amount of white vinegar -- let soak for a few hours before cleaning.
• De-grease and clean barbecue grills by applying a baking soda paste with a wire brush, let set for about 15 minutes, then wipe clean. Let the fire burn away any excess residue before you begin to cook.
• Your blender or food processor can actually help clean themselves. After empying, fill it about half with hot water, add a little detergent and turn it on. Rinse and clean (you may need to a bit more work, depending on what you were cooking).
• Judy Forte from Revenna, Ohio says you can prevent pasta from boiling over while cooking by rubbing a small amount of butter or shortening around the rim of the pan. It really works. No need to add oil to the water and have all that wonderful sauce run off.
• When you have a jar that has a seal of paper across the entire top, (like instant bouillon, coffee creamer and others), rather than rip of the entire cover, if you cut a small triangle at the edge of the jar, it will act as a spout when you want to pour it out. Lots less mess than trying to put the spoon in the jar. Great when you have large jars of a product and want to pour some for immediate use into a smaller one. Tip submitted by Bettye VanderVeen of Bentonville, Arkansas.
• The DeWald's, readers from Reno, Nevada like to use rubbing alcohol to take the sticky stuff off of cabinets and doors. It also works very well to take the tags off place mats.
• To clean stovetop, glass, or percolator coffeepots, fill with cold water, add a little baking soda, boil for a minute or so, and rinse clean.
• Rinse food products off knives immediately after use, especially mayonnaise, which is a highly corrosive substance. If staining should occur, use a non-abrasive polishing compound to remove it.
• Cleaning a skillet after use is simplified by adding a couple of drops of liquid dish soap and a little water to cover the pan. Then bring the liquid to a boil on the top of the stove and wash.
• Kitchen tongs will save time, ingredients and mess when breading foods. Your fingers need never be coated in breading or batter again!
• Keep a small plastic bag in your can of vegetable shortening. When it comes time to grease a pan, just slip your hand in the bag, scoop out what you need and spread it on the pan.
• Running your hands under cold water before making crispy rice cereal treats helps keep the marshmallows from sticking to the fingers.
• Placing a few ounces of lemon juice and water in a cup and heating in the microwave will remove the smell of burned popcorn from the microwave.
• The neatest way to fill a pastry bag is to stand it upright in a tall glass (a pint sized beer glass works perfectly), then fold the top edges down over the glass, and fill. Both hands will be free.
• If you drop an egg on the floor, cover it with salt and leave it alone for a couple of minutes. When you come back, you'll be able to easily clean the mess with a paper towel.
• Parchment paper is one of the best mess saving devices ever. Line baking sheets cake pans and more with parchment first and there's no mess later.
• You can make clean up a snap when measuring shortening by lining the measuring cup with plastic wrap first. The shortening will slip right out and there's no need to wash the cup.
• To make deviled eggs with no mess put eggs yolks from hard boiled eggs in plastic sandwich bag. Add remaining ingredients, close bag and mix. When finished cut small tip off corner of bag and squeeze into hollowed egg white, then simply throw away the bag. No muss, no fuss.