Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cleaning and cooking

Help me make a happy house

cloudsandstars — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:12:07 -0800

Is it possible to be a domestic goddess AND have a full-time job? If so, how? It is my heart's desire to be a frugal yet excellent housekeeper and cook. However, I have a demanding full-time job and a 45-minute (one way) commute so I don't have a whole lot of extra time to devote to accomplishing all that goes into keeping a peaceful, clean, comfortable, organized, efficient home. I am married and thankfully my husband does help with the chores and the lawn. I just can't seem to get a system established for some reason. We don't have children yet, but do plan to in the future, so I'd like to get my routine together before then (and yes, I know a kid will throw things out of whack, but at least I'll have some practice under my belt). To put this all in a nutshell, I would like to be able to succeed in keeping things clean and organized, doing laundry/ironing, planning meals (possibly including gardening), and creating (and staying within) a budget, and other stuff with enough time left over for visiting with family, pursuing leisure activities, and getting 7-8 hours of sleep each night.

I'm interesting in hearing your suggestions on blogs/websites/forums I can visit for ideas, inspiration, and motivation to assist me in achieving (and maintaining) this goal. Also helpful would be great books or magazines on the subjects pertaining to the art of homekeeping. Or tips and tools you may have personally used.

Thanks in advance!

P.S. I have looked at FlyLady, but I don't think it's really my style - a little too "momish" for me at this point in my life.

Are gas stoves supposed to produce a sticky residue?

waldo — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 14:49:48 -0800

I know a couple of folks with gas stoves, and they have trouble with a sticky residue coating their walls and ceiling around the range. They describe it as inherent to cooking with gas. (It's really disgusting.) Yet other folks I know who cook with gas don't report any such problems. Is this a known problem? Any idea why it would affect some people, but not others? Different types of gas (natural vs. propane)? Badly-tuned stoves? Something they're cooking? FWIW, my wife and I are gearing up to build a house, and though we'd like to cook with gas, we don't want to deal with the residue. After extensive googling and asking around, nothing, hence asking MeFi.

How do I clean turbot?

romakimmy — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 03:18:01 -0800

How do I clean turbot? Thanks to the Christmas rush, the fish counter at the supermarket wasn't cleaning purchases. Despite years of fishing with my dad, and generally being pretty handy in the kitchen, I am totally clueless when it come to actually cleaning the fish.

A quick Googling gives me helpful results like "clean the turbot " (Great. How?), "have your fishmonger clean the turbot" (Argh), or "Clean and Unclean foods listed in the bible" (not clean). Help?

Bonus Points: A quicker method for cleaning mussles apart from getting OCD with a wire sponge?

Out of the Frying Pan into the Ire

YamwotIam — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 02:51:50 -0800

What's the sticky glutinous gunk I get on the bottom of the pan when I try to fry rice? Here's how I make it:

Day 1: Make rice (Basmati, if it matters).
Day 2: Attempt to fry rice on medium-high heat with scads of sunflower oil. Gunk results.

Is there a name for it? How do I avoid making it? Alternatively, are there some recipes that thrive on the stuff? I've heard that some cultures use it to good effect, particularly when the gunk fries up into a delicious crispy chip-like substance which I can't, however, scrape off the bottom of my pan without ruining the pan.

Help me graduate from Cooking for Idiot Dads 101!

How to clean sticky egg from pans?

wackybrit — Tue, 09 May 2006 10:50:17 -0800

How do you clean a saucepan and utensils that have been used to prepare eggs? I don't eat eggs, my girlfriend does. I do the washing up in the house. Whenever she cooks eggs she does it in some way they all go 'fluffy' (is this 'scrambled eggs'?). When it comes to washing up, even boiling water can't shift the white sticky gunk from the pan! Instead I have to scour and scrape and end up smushing the white waxy stuff all around the pan. It really is like wax and takes forever to remove. The same applies, to a lesser extent, with utensils, but with a smaller surface area I can eventually scrub the egg off.

As most people tend to eat quite a lot of eggs, surely there's some simple way to clean away the white waxy nastiness without spending five solid minutes with a scouring pad destroying our pans?

I would rather not poison people.

davidriley — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 14:33:13 -0800

How do I keep my kitchen clean and sanitary? How can I effectively wash dishes by hand? What can I do to keep wooden tools clean? How should I go about sterilizing my tools and kitchen surfaces before, during and after food preparation? What bacteria might pose health concerns, how are they spread, and how can I prevent contamination?

I have recently become interested in cooking. However, with my current knowledge in the area of safe food preparation, I would likely poison myself or another. I imagine that quite a deal has been written on this subject, but I have yet to find anything substantial or credible. The nature of this question overwhelms me and I would greatly appreciate receiving some sort of guidance or direction.

How to keep a cast-iron pan clean

starvingartist — Tue, 20 Jan 2004 07:16:53 -0800

How do I keep a cast-iron pan clean? [more inside] First of all, the pan is already seasoned. I know how to do that. But I've started eating bacon in the morning, and the cast-iron seems to do the best job (I can't stand microwaved bacon, and the non-stick isn't big enough). I read somewhere that you shouldn't wash the pan, just coat the inside with salt right after cooking and then wipe it out a bit later. But the bacon leaves spots of cooked fat that don't come off with just a salt wipe. Can I wash it with mild dish detergent?