Everybody is worried about food poisoning these days. It started with the salmonella threat, so people stopped eating raw eggs. Then there was a warning about eating rice from the night before that had not been thoroughly reheated, because it could cause campylobacter. That was followed by mad cow disease, which was followed by scrapies and the blue tongue, now it' chicken flu and swine flu. When will it all stop?
The answer is probably that it will not, so all you can do is make sure that your kitchen is scrupiously clean. That means, pots, pans, work surfaces, your fridge and your pets. One day we will all be so clean that something really small will get the lot of us. Anyway, cleanliness is next to Godliness, so they say. With that in mind, I offer you five top tips for keeping things clean in the kitchen.
Oven Ready: the oven is a notoriously difficult place to clean, which is why it is often ignored, which is why it is often a breeding ground for germs and cockroaches, especially if it is not used often, as they are not these days, because the microwave has taken over. So, mix a tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda with a pint of boiling water and set aside in a screw-top jar, after it has finished frothing over. Then clean your oven. Sorry, not with the bicarb mixture. When it is clean, warm it up and paint the oven with your mixture. Seal the jar and keep. After a month or two, easily wash the bicarb skin off and repaint. It is a home-made Teflon coating really.
What A Waste: the waste disposal unit also provides enough food for generations of cockroaches, especially as the grease of weeks builds up. You can usually clean and clear it without tipping dangerous chemicals into the environment, by tipping a pint of ice cubes through it while it is working. No water, only ice.
Economies Of Scale: if you live in a hard water area, you will know about the problem of things that use a lot of water furring up. It is not too bad having to buy a new kettle, but a dish washer of washing machine is a different matter. You can keep all these items and yourself in perfect running order with Vitamin C. It can be bought quite cheap in a pharmacy or health food store. Put a handful in each of the larger machines and run a normal cycle. You can put a dessert spoonful in the kettle regularly and drink it or if it is really bad, discard it. Take a teaspoonful for yourself.
The Japanese Solution: if you have a heavily stained saucepan, cover the stain with Saki and bring it almost to the boil. Amazingly, when you tip the Saki out, the pan will be as clean as new.
Put Out To Grass: if an oven or casserole dish of the glass or Pyrex type gets badly burned, do not despair and do not throw it away. Instead, lay it open end down on the lawn over night. In the morning, you will be able to wipe it clean very easily.
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