"Giusi" > wrote:
>"sf" > wrote:
>
>> Most people don't clean as they go, so they have big, congealed messes> to
>> clean up after they finish cooking. I can't stand grease
>> splatters, for instance, so I take care of them up as I cook and general
>> clean up is minimal when I'm finished.
>
>I have no idea how I compare to others in terms of messiness or cleanliness.
>A lot is dictated by the kitchen in which you work. Mine is compact with
>one sink, so I can't stack dirty dishes in it. I try to have DW empty so I
>can rinse and fill, but I certainly don't stop cooking to clean fat spatters
>off.
>
>> As far as abrasives> go, we had ss in my childhood kitchen and I think my
>> mother did use
>> abrasives on every surface... I think the abrasives put a nice patina
>> on ss. People seem to want everything to look like it just came out
>> of the box these days and are afraid of scratches, when in fact enough
>> scratches will improve the appearance of the object.
>
>When I designed that was my mantra "you are patinating!" "Do you want to be
>the only thing in your kitchen that is aging?" OTH, I don't use many
>abrasives because they are usually chemical bound. Occasionally for a
>stained pot bottom. Otherwise it's those scrubby things and dish detergent
>only. Copper is cleaned with lemon halves and salt. Microfiber cloths do
>fine polishing. Being allergic to a lot of thing takes you right back to
>basics.

When someone actually knows how to cook there is no reason whatsoever
for any clean-up left from prep and cooking when the meal is served...
even with a roasting pan/fry pan it's cleaned and put away while the
roast rests, and I don't use non-stick, not even for eggs. And the
more compact the kitchen the more one needs to cook organized, to plan
ahead and with no wasted motion.

Last night I already prepped everything for my beef barley 'shoom
soup; 2lbs of carrots peeled and neatly diced, an entire bunch of
celery neatly sliced, 3 1/2 lb hunk of chuck well trimmed and neatly
diced (didn't look sufficient so quickly defrosted and added 2 lbs
more from my freezer). All is in covered bowls in my fridge, pot is
on the stove, even got a gallon of water from my RO in the fridge so
it can replenish over night, got all my seasonings out on the counter,
even cleaned the loose paper skin from five onions that are waiting to
fine dice last minute... I never cut into onions in advance, they get
woofy quickly. I still need to harvest the parsley, was raining too
hard yesterday but now the sun is shining. I'll begin browning the
diced meat shortly, in a 16 qt heavy SS pot, a fairly tall pot so
there'll be no spatter on my stove. Got 2 lbs of barley out too. I'll
use dehy 'shrooms and a couple of canned for good measure, dehy red n'
green diced bell pepper too. Should be a very relaxing day.

Anyone who takes cruises on those behemoth floating hotels really
ought to ask to tour the galley (including storage facilities -
reefers, freezers, dry goods holds), all the prep you see will be for
the next meals... and everything will be cleaner than brand new at all
times... for anyone who cooks the tour will be the most interesting
part of the cruise. There is NEVER a reason ones kitchen shouldn't be
absolutely spotless at all times, especially during cooking. I defy
anyone to inspect my kitchen (and entire abode) unannounced and find
anything less than white glove military shipshape clean... and that BS
about cat schmutz is just that, BS!