Your kitchen gadgets is the workhorse behind the scenes when you prepare your daily meals. With use of your gadgets, they tend to need a good cleaning. This post will provide you with some quick tips on how to clean some of your kitchen gadgets and tricks to keep them cleaner.
1) Microwave Splatter Cleaning Tips
Weeks have gone by and the splatter of soup, chicken and leftovers line your microwave's interior like paintings on an art gallery. The best way to clean the hardened splatter is to use a microwave-safe bowl filled with water and to heat it up for about five minutes- The steam from the bowl will loosen up the "art work" along the walls and will allow you to clean with ease. Use a sponge to clean the inside, remove the rotating glass and wash separately. To maintain a clean interior wall in your microwave, purchase a food cover and keep it inside your microwave. The one I use can support a dish of food or items that do not need covering but really comes in handy when I need to cover and not waste money by using saran wrap each time.
2) Tea and Coffee Stained Gadgets
Your teapot, mugs and coffee pot is lined with the sludge. The best way to clean these stained items:
1. Rinse with hot water
2. Use liquid soap or vinegar on a sponge with a dash of table salt (acts as an abrasive) and gently scrub away the unwanted stains.
3. For fine China: Mix a tablespoon of baking soda with a few drops of lemon juice- then rub the paste onto the stain. Let the past sit for about an hour, then wash the item clean.
1. Unplug before cleaning
2. Remove tray, racks and any pans
3. Spray the removed items with all purpose cleaner
4. Wipe the removed items with a non abrasive sponge
5. Rinse with water and allow to dry
6. Do not spray the oven directly, but use a sponge (plain sponge for non-stick interior or a scrubber sponge for regular interiors) and wipe the interior
7. Avoid the heating elements when cleaning
8. Wipe the exterior with the cleaning sponge and allow toaster oven to dry
9. Do not plug in the toaster oven until it completely dries
10. Maintain the toaster oven by cleaning the oven's drip tray regularly.
1. Fill reservoir with half water and half white vinegar
2. Place a filter leaving it empty and place the carafe to catch the flow
3. Run the coffee maker halfway and pause the brewing halfway
4. Let it sit for about 45 minutes on pause/or stop
5. After the pause, re-continue the brewing
6. Empty the filtered vinegar water
7. Rinse out the coffee maker by placing another clean filter, fill coffee maker with water and run through the rinse cycle twice with water and clean filter. Use full water with each rinse cycle.
8. To clean carafe, add water and rice (for an abrasive), swirl water and rice mix- then use sponge to wipe after swirling the rice mix.
9. Keep a schedule to clean your coffee maker- you use this daily so keep it flowing clean
3) Dirty Toaster Oven
The toaster goes through a beating throughout the week and is left with the burned crumbs that falls, melted cheese and bits of food clings on as hardened crusts. Here are some quick tips to clean your toaster and to keep it clean:
* Do not be lazy and line the drip tray with aluminum foil- This creates extra heat, overheating and is a fire hazard!
4) The Clogged and Stained Coffee Maker
We love our coffee makers, but with use over time, the drip feature gets slower and is time for a cleaning to clear the flow for optimum coffee flow. Our coffee makers get slower due to the collection of hard water minerals. Details to flush these hard water minerals are usually shown on the owner's manual and below we are providing another option to flush these out to clear the path for the better flow.
5) Recondition the Non-Stick Pan
Non-Stick surfaces lose their non-stickyness with buildup of gunk. An easy home remedy can remove the gunk to help renew the surface. Another option is to buy a new non-stick pan, but below are tips to renew the one you already have- a more economical approach.
1. Fill the pan halfway with a mixture of baking soda and a half cup of liquid household bleach and water.
2. Simmer the solution for five minutes in the pan.
3. After 5 minutes, remove the pan and check the surface to see if stains are still present- if it is repeat the steps provided above.
4. *Use caution- if it boils over, the solution might stain the outside of the pan!
5. Remember this oxidizing solution will cause changes in color for PTFE- this bleaching effect does not reduce the non-stick performance of the pan.
6. Do not substitute any of the ingredients for this solution: Baking Soda, liquid household bleach and Water!
7. After using the solution, wash the pan thoroughly, dry and condition by using cooking oil.
8. If you see a spotted white film, it is due to the minerals in the water. You can remove this film by using a cloth saturated with lemon juice or vinegar, and wiping the pan with this soaked cloth. After wiping the pan, wash again, dry and condition with cooking oil again.
9. *Teflon® from Dupont- that wear off cannot be repaired at home. They would have to be re-coated at very high temperatures in factory processes, which is not economical to do on a single pan.
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