The Importance of Kitchen Organization
If you're familiar with culinary arts, you're probably familiar with the term "Mis En Place", meaning everything in its place. Attending culinary school most definitely helped me adopt some pretty valuable skills that I didn't even recognize at that time would impact how I live my daily life. I have become accustomed to having things in their respected places all around my home. This is especially true for my kitchen. Organization all around is something that can be appreciated no matter who you are or what industry you currently work in.
How irritating is it to need something, but not remember where it's been placed because it did not have a designated assigned placement? Do you ever notice how upon entering into the grocery store or market, products are constantly stocked on shelves and in their respected places? Produce, seafood and poultry, dry goods, frozen goods, and dairy, all have their place. This is how I believe every kitchen should be whether commercial or home. China, plastic, aluminum, cleaning supplies, seasonings, produce, dairy, vegetables, meat, and seafood should all have their respected places to make cooking and cleaning a less challenging chore.
Understanding certain kitchen principles especially during Covid-19 could definitely help us maintain a cleaner kitchen. Let's start with the refrigerator. This is a commonplace people tend to use as a common storage area for things they do not want or may want at a later time. This causes severe clutter and if you're not using FIFO (first in, first out ) method in your kitchen you're definitely making room for products to expire and produce foul smells, mold and an overall disgusting, cluttered refrigerator. Here are some tips to help you maintain your refrigerator. These tips are great for keeping your foods fresher and your refrigerator cleaner and organized.
Tip 1: Never store raw meat on the top shelf of your refrigerator. Juices tend to leak from meat and seafood even when packaged. These juices could potentially leak into already cooked foods that are partially or completely uncovered causing cross-contamination and increasing you and your family's risk to food-borne illnesses such as Norovirus and Salmonella. The benefits of a plant-based diet are that you will never have to worry about storing raw meat in your refrigerator or cross-contaminating your foods with meat and seafood.
Tip 2: Keep produce (fruits and vegetables) separate and clean from everything else. There should always be a drawer specifically designated to fruits and vegetables. Try not to overcrowd your drawers. If you will be using the foods within the week, it would a great idea to prep some of them leaving more room for food storage. Place a piece of parchment paper on the bottom of the refrigerator drawer and store produce on top. This will make cleaning out your refrigerator drawers much easier.
Tip 3: Wipe down the handles on your refrigerator with disinfectant every day. If you do not have a housekeeper providing regular maintenance of your home, this should be a regular routine to help keep down the spread of germs. We open our refrigerators often, and the more people in the home, the more people you have that can spread germs. Make disinfecting a regular part of your kitchen cleaning. For those who just do not have the time to do it, there are companies that will clean your kitchen for you, help organize your pantry, deep clean, and even meal prep. Gorgeous Green Chef is one of those companies.
Gorgeous Green Chef is passionate about healthy eating and green living. Using environmentally friendly cleaning products, this company will give your kitchen a total organization makeover. These services include organizing and decluttering, preparing kitchens for the market, unpacking new home kitchens, and more. Visit Gorgeous Green Chef and find out more information about their Kitchen Organization Services.