The kitchen is a crucial place to consider food safety in your home. And it starts with making sure you’re properly cleaning and sanitising it. In today’s post, we are covering some hotspots in the kitchen and giving you some tips on how to make them safe.
Dishcloths and sponges
Your dishcloth or sponge is one of the most used cleaning tools in your kitchen. It’s unsurprising then that it’s also one of the most common sources of kitchen contamination.
Think about it; you use your dishcloth to wipe away all manner of things including raw meat and poultry juices, dirt and grime on your kitchen counter and mess around the sink. A contaminated dishcloth has the potential to produce millions of bacteria in only a few hours. Ick!
So what can we do about it?
- For the dirtiest of messes and high-risk things like meat juices, try using disposable paper towels instead and throw them straight in the bin.
- Use a fresh dishcloth daily and throw out a highly contaminated one immediately.
- Machine wash used cloths in hot water and air dry.
The rubbish bin
Not surprisingly disposing of rubbish and waste is vital to keeping a kitchen clean and sanitary. Here are our tips:
- Keep your garbage well separated from food and surfaces and utensils which will come into contact with food.
- Empty your bin or bins regularly to avoid a build-up of trash.
- Line your bin with a bin liner or plastic bag.
- Clean your bin regularly with hot soap and water.
The fridge
The refrigerator may just be the heart of the kitchen, but it can also be quickly forgotten when it comes to cleaning practices.
Here are our top tips for keeping your fridge clean and safe:
- Wipe up any spills immediately.
- Clean up any spills on bottles, jars or containers before they go into the fridge.
- Check the use by dates and for spoilage weekly. Throw out anything that doesn’t make the cut.
- Place anything likely to leak on a plate and below any ready to eat foods.
- Wipe down the front, inside edges and handles of your fridge regularly.
- Every few months, empty the fridge contents into a suitable cooler and power it down. Wipe down the insides after removing shelves and crisper drawers. Soak shelves and drawers before drying thoroughly and returning to the fridge.
The kitchen sink
The sink is a place where dirty things come to get clean, so it’s no shock it can harbour dodgy bacteria. We suggest:
- Using a separate dishcloth or sponge to clean your sink.
- Sanitise regularly by popping in the plug, filling with warm water and a tablespoon of bleach. Use this liquid to wipe down the edges, tap and mixer. Leave the sink filled for about five to ten minutes before draining. Rinse with fresh water and allow to air dry.
- Don’t leave dirty dishes in the sink. Either stack the dishwasher or wash your dishes straight away.
- If you have a dishwasher, run it empty on its hottest cycle twice a year.