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We've all been there. Photo: ptkphoto
We asked our Facebook friends, Twitter followers and some of our favorite food blogs for their most embarrassing, disgusting and, well, relatable secrets. Read on to see which ones you've been guilty of and share your own confessions in the comments:
"Two years ago a jug of maple syrup tipped over and leaked down the back inside of my fridge. Have you ever tried to clean up maple syrup? It's the worst. I find that if I position the water pitcher and jar of peanut butter just so nobody ever notices it. Not even my husband (thank god!) We are moving out of this place later this month and I'll happily be leaving it for someone else to deal with." -The Nap Time Chef
"I almost always cook in my pajamas - usually obnoxious pink polka dot ones. I leave my blinds open, so I am sure my neighbors have taken turns laughing at my get up, but I don't really care because my food rocks!" -Café Cyan
"I'll reuse my pasta pot it without washing it if all that was in it was water/pasta...no sauce!" -Jessica Lubin
"I don't think I've cleaned a spill off my kitchen floor in 2 years -- exactly the same length of time that I've owned a dog." -Neighborhood Foodie
"My microwave filter and refrigerator filter are 7 1/2 years old and have never been changed, can't find them online and keep forgetting to ask in stores." -Angela Johnston Thibaud
"I am with you Angela. I forget about the refrigerator filter -- mine is 2 1/2 years old. " -Jeffrey Johnson
"Um, there is a refrigerator filter to change? I thought you just dusted the coils!! As for the microwave filters, I washed mine in dish soap with degreaser once......it works!" -Elizabeth Brovont Nead
"Despite Martha's encouragement to take all my appliances out once a year and clean them, the only thing that will force me to really scrub the nooks and crannies of any kitchen gadget is a kitchen disaster that makes them too dirty to put away with a clear conscience. Black bean hummus spilled over the sides of our little food processor -- that merits a clean-up, but not much else does. Saint Tiger Lily
"I let the everyday stuff get out of control, however I clean under the oven, behind the fridge and even the coils of the fridge monthly. I put orange peels down the disposal, and even go so far as taking off my aerator from my faucet to clean that ..now let that one go and its NASTY. So my house might be a mess, but at least its clean!" -Maura Nadramia Maupin
With 3 kids under 6, some mornings I'm so tired I just reheat the coffee that's in the pot, even if it's a few days old." -Unplanned Cooking
Photo: Orin Zebest, flickr
"I know how to sub clone and sequence DNA and have worked extensively with radioactive materials, but I have no idea how to clean my oven. No idea whatsoever. I have never cleaned it, and it's going on five years now. Cleaning the oven would require me to find the owners manual, right? Or do I just push the SELFCLEAN button, leave the kitchen and hope for the best? (I have an irrational fear that it will get too hot while self-cleaning and burn my house down.)" -Kitchen Pantry Scientist
"I never wash the metal covers under the stove heating element. When it gets really gunky looking I just buy new ones from the hardware store. For the effort it takes to remove the element, scrub the thing and get all the burned gunk off I figure it is well worth the $1.98 per cover a few times a year.... Now my secret's out!" -Heather in SF
Reader comments (Page 1 of 12)
Apparently, young girls are no longer taught how to keep house.
ReplyWhere is the pride of house and home? Or did the soap operas convince you that everyone worked in a boutique, wore designer clothes, and living spaces cleaned themselves?
Are you kidding people?? You have left a spill in your fridge and now plan to leave it for the new owner? You don't wash a pasta pot?? When you cook pasta, starch comes out of the pasta leaving a residue....I would hate to see the actual stuff growing under a light! I am a Chef, and let me tell you that my counters, stove, sink, etc are wiped down with a hot water and cleaner after I cook...period! My stove, microwave, and fridge get a nice wipe down with hot soapy water weekly. Don't feed me that line that you have no time! Your family deserves to eat from a clean environment! Take 5 min after cooking and clean up your mess!! What if juice from raw chicken gets on your counter and your child goes behind you and puts food on there that they are about to consume???? Disgusting!! Take some pride people!!
ReplyI agree with you! I can't believe someone could live with such a mess, but then I am a perfectionist and want eveything just right and clean. I even unscrew my drains sometime and clean below them. I had a sister-in-law I moved in a rental house behind one time and the gunk under the stove was inches thick and my mom and I could not believe it. The kitchen really needs to be one of the cleanest places.
Where is your restaraunt? Sounds like I would be very happy and pleased to dine in YOUR establishment.
I know, right? I thought letting the floor go for a week was bad. Martha Stewart says only pull the appliances out once a year? Has she suffered a stroke or something? I pull them out once a month plus major spills.... and I consider my kitchen repulsive. I just can't stand mopping floors and my whole house is tile. :( lol
please tell me what heather is talking about. Her posting above states:"I never wash the metal covers under the stove heating element. When it gets really gunky looking I just buy new ones from the hardware store for $1.98. I have no idea what she means. I hope that I am not forgeting something important. I would apprciate a response. thanx.
I totally agree with you, I clean all my pans and would never use the same pot without a good washing.. Its a wonder those people don't get sick, in time they will.
I always clean as I go!
Starch and coffee are perfect mediums for bacteria to grow. Is your family sick frequently? diarhea? vomitting? if not you are just plain lucky!
white vinegar and water will clean up the maple syrup. soften it with a hairdryer first, lift it with a firm spatula, clean residue with vinegar water.
Well said!
I totally agree! My house is clean almost all the time, there may be cluter one or two days a week but it is sanitized with hot water and bleach everyday. Dishes done, counters stove, microwave, fridge cleaned and all! These people might as well wipe their butts with their hand and then go make a sandwhich without washing their hands. That is all the stuff learking in their kitchen and on their dishes when they touch counters, knobs, handles, and food. Bacteria grows like a wild fire. People really have no idea what they are subjecting their families to with dirty houses and bad kitchen habits. And I may not have much time, but I cant go to bed at night untill it all gets done. I make time, I have never had any food born illness yet and its been 8 years since being on my own so I must be doing something right.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! It IS gross, and who doesn't have the time to CLEAN after you USE it? That doesn't make ANY sense. :/
Karen...I agree 100% with everything you said. I am a culinary student and that crap of not cleaning is just that CRAP!! We wash/scrub and sanitize every single thing in our lab DAILY and even moment to moment when needed and it not just there.....in my home it's never been any different, everything is spit shined, ALWAYS! You take the time to prepare and serve something amazing in an environment that is NASTY and then don't clean after...who does that? Sure as hell not me, my family and friends DO deserve the very best I can provide. It is a pride issue. I love food, I love the kitchen, I love my tools I care from them just that way. It's just freakin' abuse to not care and it's an insult to anyone you feed from such a horrilbe place be it your home or otherwise.
Very well said on your part!!
I agree with all your comments and do the exact same thing!!! God Blesses clean kitchens.....LOL
I would have to agree. I am not a chef like you, but I did work in a deli for a while and we kept that place immaculate. And Once I spilled maple syrup and guess what?? I CLEANED IT UP! I bet these people have roaches and rats hiding out in their kitchens. That is why pests come around-- for the food. Disgusting!
uggg I hated cleaning those metal pieces under my burners to. at first I would buy those covers to put over them to hide then, till I would forget they were on the burner and burn then, then I started buying new ones once in a while. that got old. so I finally bought a stove with a flat cook top. I love it, and its so much easier to keep clean!. just wipe up any spills while its still warm. you couldnt do that with the other electric stove because you would have to revove the burners, and by the time it was cool enough to handle the food was already set and baked on. and I dont spend a lot of money on that soft surface cleaner, I just clean it with oven cleaner every couple of mo. for a deep clean. spray it down turn on each burner for a few secs and clean it. The fumes it causes are no worse than when cleaning an oven, just wear a mask.
ReplyMy new stove is harder to clean than my old one.I love gas so I have to live with it.
What a bunch of pigs that is as plan as I can get.
Before I got a flat top stove I covered those things with aluminum foil. When they got dirty I just threw the foil away and replaced it!
I make a full pot of coffee and it lasts 2 days, what is wrong with warming up day old coffee?Tastes good to me.