by Kimberly Smith

Created on: March 24, 2009

I have found that the best way to keep a kitchen clean when you cook is to clean as you go. Don't wait until you have everything cooked and go back to work your way through the tons of kitchen mayhem. There are simple easy to follow steps to make cooking and clean as you go a natural flowing process.

If you are working on a particular dish, take out the ingredients you will need for that dish first. Get all the tools, bowls, measuring spoons/cups, knives, everything you will need to prepare the dish right at hand. As you work along if you empty a container, such as a can or box, go ahead and throw it in the garbage can. Place the kitchen can right beside the counter you are working on to save steps back and forth. When peeling things like potatoes, you can peel them directly into the garbage can and save the step of having to pick up the peels when you are finished. If you are chopping several different vegetables such as onions, celery and carrots you can chop them all at the same time, using different corners of your cutting board for each item. When you are ready to add the ingredients to your dishes, simply pick up the chopping board and use your chef's knife to rake them into the dishes they go in as needed. Then you can wash and dry your cutting board, and put it away with all of the chopping completed at one time.

You should wash all tools, bowls, and measuring cups that were used to make the dish and hand dry each so they are ready for the next task. I find that washing things by hand as I go helps me have them ready and clean for the next dish and it saves me time at the end. I don't have a sink full of dirty preparation tools and containers to wash when all of my dishes are cooking.

You should also take this time to put away any ingredients you are finished using. This includes spices, milk or dairy products, flour, oils, and any other item you will not need in any other dish. If you will need it again, close it and set it aside until you are ready to work on the next dish.

Use a clean kitchen cloth and wipe down the surfaces you have worked on to keep them clean at all times. If you have used poultry or some other meat product, you should use an approved antibacterial cleaner and clean the surface with it. Give it sufficient time to dry completely before you begin using the work area again.

While your dishes are cooking you can go ahead and plan which serving platters, or dishes you want to use for the finished product. By doing this, you can rinse them if they haven't been used in a while and have become dusty and you can was wash the pot or pan used to cook the dish once you have transferred it to the serving container.

I personally use a lot of corning ware for serving container and they come with rubber lids to store the leftovers in the refrigerator. You can also use these containers for reheating the dish the next day. This saves a lot of clean up after the meal and gives you storage for leftovers and a container to reheat and server them from again all in one container.

There are lots of little time saving ways you can clean up and put things away as you go while you are cooking. This makes the task easier and more enjoyable for you and all those you love to cook for.

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