59 votes

Why does plastic never dry properly in a dishwasher?

In addition to the lower heat capacity (see other answer), a main reason, quite counterintuitive, why plastics don't dry well is that they're hydrophobic. That's right: they keep water sticking to ...
leftaroundabout's user avatar
57 votes

Best way to remove fruit flies from your kitchen

Fruit fly trap ! Put some strong smelling vinegar, like apple cider vinegar, in a glass and make the trap by making a cone with a sheet of paper. The strong sweet smell will attract them and they won'...
Sarumanatee's user avatar
  • 1,340
57 votes
Accepted

Can a pizza stone be fixed after soap has been used to clean it?

I would rinse well with clear water. Allow to dry thoroughly, and then use as normal. There is a small chance that your pizza stone will impart a soap flavor to your pizza, but I would say that it ...
moscafj's user avatar
  • 74.7k
56 votes
Accepted

How do I wash the "pokey" side of a box grater?

A dishwasher gets cheese off even that side - but that's no good if you don't have one, nor is it very effective against ginger and other fibrous foods. The best I've found is simply a washing up ...
Chris H's user avatar
  • 44k
50 votes
Accepted

Why does plastic never dry properly in a dishwasher?

Causes According to this article the problem seems mainly two fold, conductivity and thermal inertia (among other factors). During washing temperatures get relatively hot (depending on the particular ...
Duarte Farrajota Ramos's user avatar
46 votes
Accepted

What is the point of washing produce in cold water?

For the most part, rinsing produce in cold water is for the purpose of removing pesticides and soil that may contain bacteria. You're not washing off bacterial colonies - whole peel-on vegetables and ...
Joe M's user avatar
  • 5,663
44 votes
Accepted

Is there any cleaning utensil that is comparable to fingernails?

Try searching for "pan scrapers." I have a pair from Lodge that has served me well, though you can find almost identical scrapers without the branding. These are essentially equivalent to ...
BThompson's user avatar
  • 645
44 votes
Accepted

What exactly is this residue and how do I clean it off?

This is polymerized oil - the same stuff that people build up on iron pans as seasoning. There is no good way to remove it from a coated surface. It is quite resistant to both chemical and physical ...
rumtscho's user avatar
  • 139k
43 votes

How do I wash the "pokey" side of a box grater?

Save your old toothbrush, as this guy shows. Or as this post describes:
Bob Stein's user avatar
  • 533
41 votes
Accepted

I get black flecks on my butter when I grease my pan

Never use steel wool on teflon-coated pans!!! You surely have scratched and damaged the teflon and some of it came off the pan. I'd throw it away.
Max's user avatar
  • 20.4k
41 votes
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Best way to remove fruit flies from your kitchen

As I’ve recently tried to much success, sucking the bastards with a vacuum cleaner is easy, fast, ruthlessly efficient, and unlike sticky liquid contraptions, it doesn’t carry the risk of accidentally ...
Emil Jeřábek's user avatar
37 votes
Accepted

Cooking with sugar makes pan very difficult to clean

Melted and re-hardened sugar (including caramel) is very difficult to remove through mechanical action, but trivial to remove by soaking. Just pour in enough hot water to cover the sugar and wait an ...
Sneftel's user avatar
  • 28.9k
35 votes

How can I separate the lid from a can that has a pull-tab/ring without flinging food everywhere?

For most of the removal, leverage rather than brute force will give more control, so you don't accidentally pull the last bit off. At the end while pulling gently on the ring, rock the lid from side ...
Chris H's user avatar
  • 44k
26 votes
Accepted

What's the best way to remove melted plastic from a glass cooktop?

Been there done that… First, make sure that the cook top is cold, this will solidify the plastic again and make it come off easier. Then use a scraper for glass cooktops - the kind with the razor ...
Stephie's user avatar
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25 votes
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Does the inside of a lid used to cook rice or steam vegetables have anything besides water on it?

Most likely yes, it has stuff besides water. Although I wouldn't lay my hand in the fire that it has it every single time. The first scenario is the bubbling from starchy water, as Chris H already ...
rumtscho's user avatar
  • 139k
24 votes

Can a pizza stone be fixed after soap has been used to clean it?

By rinsing, you can only remove stuff from the surface and slightly below. You need to remove molecules which sit in the pores of the stone. Chemically, you are working against diffusion and adhesion....
antipattern's user avatar
24 votes
Accepted

Best way to deal with drying dishware to minimize hazards?

The only important part here is to not seal water in the container. You can either let it air dry, or use a clean cloth to dry it. If you have a problem with your dishes and glasses having a white ...
Joe's user avatar
  • 80.6k
23 votes
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Cleaning out coffee pots and thermoses

We brew beer at home, so we have a product that does a really good job of this, called PBW (Powdered Brewery Wash). Our stainless steel coffee thermoses come out like new. The product description from ...
Catija's user avatar
  • 16.5k
22 votes

How do I fix improperly seasoned cast iron pans?

Cast iron care need not seem so intimidating or mystical. There are lots of ways to take care of it, and though many will profess their own gospel and taboos associated with cast iron cookware, many ...
BlackThorn's user avatar
  • 1,047
21 votes

Does the inside of a lid used to cook rice or steam vegetables have anything besides water on it?

Starchy foods, like rice, tend to bubble and splash. They will get starch on the inside of the lid. If you don't let it dry out, you might decide a quick rinse is sufficient, but if it dries it will ...
Chris H's user avatar
  • 44k
21 votes

Is it okay to wash your hands in the kitchen sink washwater (with the dishes)?

No! This risks fecal contamination of the dishes. One of the most common methods for disease to spread is the fecal-oral route. By washing your hands after going to the toilet in the same water as the ...
nick012000's user avatar
  • 1,044
20 votes

How to clean up after kneading dough?

Kneading in a bowl is time-consuming and doesn't give as good a result as kneading on a flat surface, however I'll concentrate on cleaning. First, don't let things dry out, it's much easier to clean ...
GdD's user avatar
  • 76.1k
20 votes

How to clean up after kneading dough?

Alternatively (with respect to @GdD's answer), let it dry out completely. Totally dry dough doesn't stick all that well to many surfaces (glass, plastic, non-stick). It then chips/scrapes off quite ...
Chris H's user avatar
  • 44k
18 votes
Accepted

Is it safe to only rinse visible residue from container if I then refrigerate the container?

I see you're familiar with the "danger zone" concept. I think the only on-topic way to answer this is to help you add up the "danger zone" time, (and raise the concern of cross ...
AMtwo's user avatar
  • 8,997
18 votes
Accepted

(How) Have I ruined my titanium pan?

I'm no chemist, but a quick googling shows hydrogen peroxide [sodium percarbonate in water] to be quite aggressive on aluminium. I'd guess that some light surface scratching, which would otherwise ...
Tetsujin's user avatar
  • 29.7k
16 votes
Accepted

How to clean a mill

The amount of salt that would stick to a dry mill is very small. Salt is also quite abrasive, cheap and water soluble. So to get pepper out I'd grind salt. For most savoury mixes a little salt won't ...
Chris H's user avatar
  • 44k
16 votes
Accepted

Should I clean all of my cooking utensils after being exposed to mothballs (naphthalene) for over a week?

I doubt that there's enough naphthalene deposited on the cutlery to give you severe poisoning, although it may taste bad. Based on the rat/mouse lethal doses, you would need to ingest ~50 gr of the ...
Larry's user avatar
  • 240
15 votes
Accepted

How did rust appear on my cast iron in a matter of minutes?

The problem with your last step was the lid, I think. If you had placed it on the hot coals, open, the heat should have driven the water off as you intended, drying the pot before it rusted. With ...
Megha's user avatar
  • 11.8k
15 votes

Suggestions for easy peanut butter clean-up

The problem is the fat. You would have the same problem with a spoon full of shortening. Since fat doesn't normally mix with water the fat makes a film that gets on everything. The solution to fat- ...
Sobachatina's user avatar
  • 47.5k

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