What's the Skankiest Part of Your Kitchen?

[LizD518]

The gap between the stove/range and the counter. All sorts of thing fall down there when I am chopping and prepping.

This - The stove in my apartment is at least an inch to an inch and a half away from the edge of the counter and I can see down there, but can't reach. I don't think it was pulled out and cleaned before I moved in 3 1/2 years ago and I am not attempting it...

Ugh...

[Eatmywords]

I couldn't think of anything that wasn't already mentioned so I started thinking out of the box. If you lift the grills off my gas grill and look down around the burners. Well, It ain't pretty and I still have no idea what people do to get all that crap out of there. Garden hand shovel? Not to mention the grills themsleves. How often do you steelbrush (dry) the tops before turning them over and cleaning that skankiness? (Or is that a separate thread?)

[syoung68]

We have a space above our upper cabinets that we store seldom used but necessary (according to my better half) items like our 87 bread baskets, 15 large platters, and 2 trifle dishes just to name a few. Whenever we need something from up there is needs to be washed because it is coated in a film of grease. We take down everything a couple of times a year and it is skanky to say the least.

[tonyrocks922]

We have a space above our upper cabinets that we store seldom used but necessary (according to my better half) items like our 87 bread baskets, 15 large platters, and 2 trifle dishes just to name a few. Whenever we need something from up there is needs to be washed because it is coated in a film of grease. We take down everything a couple of times a year and it is skanky to say the least.

I have the same issue. I've started covering everything I put up there in plastic bags or saran wrap. It doesn't look great, but at least when I pull down my salad spinner it's not covered in a sticky greasy film.

[robirdstx]

The oil in my deep-fryer would not have passed inspection. Too many crusty bits on the bottom. But, the fryer is now clean and ready to use.

[Emily_R]

I 3rd this, and add the air vent located under my feet when I'm chopping stuff. I don't shop-vac it often enough.

Yes yes yes! I thought I was the only one with an air vent right below where I do most of my chopping. With the amount of stray veggies that end up there, I'm probably creating my own compost pile beneath my feet.

[Stephanie Brim]

Right now, pretty much my entire kitchen. I'm working on that tomorrow.

[Pierogi]

I couldn't think of anything that wasn't already mentioned so I started thinking out of the box. If you lift the grills off my gas grill and look down around the burners. Well, It ain't pretty and I still have no idea what people do to get all that crap out of there. Garden hand shovel? Not to mention the grills themsleves. How often do you steelbrush (dry) the tops before turning them over and cleaning that skankiness? (Or is that a separate thread?)

Don't know about under the grids (I have a Weber charcoal grill, so the detritus just gets dumped along with the ash), but the grills will live happily, and more importantly, cleanly, through a self-clean cycle on your oven, if you have one. Just plop them in on top of the oven rack, and let'er rip. Works like a charm !

We have a space above our upper cabinets that we store seldom used but necessary (according to my better half) items like our 87 bread baskets, 15 large platters, and 2 trifle dishes just to name a few. Whenever we need something from up there is needs to be washed because it is coated in a film of grease. We take down everything a couple of times a year and it is skanky to say the least.

I have the same issue. I've started covering everything I put up there in plastic bags or saran wrap. It doesn't look great, but at least when I pull down my salad spinner it's not covered in a sticky greasy film.

The soon (in California, drat) to be out-lawed plastic grocery bags work really, really well for this. They're large enough to accomodate big things, and if you get ones in a color (white or beigey-taupe are usually my options) that *sort* of coordinates with the rest of the kitchen, and some deft tucking, they don't look too terribly tacky. And they do save the "OH CRAP" moment of "I really need to use this colander NOW, and it's slimed....."

[Kim Shook]

The floor. Have I ever mention my hatred of tile, and grout in particular? I stopped even trying...

Yes, this. My (extremely old and needs replacing) kitchen floor has a pattern on it that doesn't show dirt at all. Consequently, it is the last thing that gets cleaned. I joke (?) that I know it's time to clean the floor when the animals start sticking to it.

I just saw an online article from House Beautiful about decorating small kitchens. One of their ideas was to remove the doors from all of the upper cabinets. All I could think of was how icky the contents would be from the airborne results of cooking. I guess that House Beautiful readers have kitchens to look at, not to cook in.

[Darienne]

I just saw an online article from House Beautiful about decorating small kitchens. One of their ideas was to remove the doors from all of the upper cabinets. All I could think of was how icky the contents would be from the airborne results of cooking. I guess that House Beautiful readers have kitchens to look at, not to cook in.

I would say immediately about removing doors: DON'T DO IT!!!!

[Nyleve Baar]

Holy mackerel - you people don't even come close. Just last week I cleaned out a string of cupboards under my stove top where I've obviously been dealing with a mouse problem for several months. I think I finally eradicated the mice - via a combination of live and not live trapping - but their aftermath remained. You have no idea. At the back of these 3 cupboards there was a vent pipe that ran along the wall, and so there was enough room that these mice could easily go from cupboard to cupboard. It was like a gigantic mouse mansion, with a living room (the pots and pans cupboard), a kitchen (the bowls and platters cupboard and, oh yes, the garbage bag holder), and the bedroom/bathroom (casseroles and baking dishes). If this were a restaurant, I would have been promptly closed down, arrested and most likely shot.

The cupboards are now clean. I have replaced the garbage bag holder with something more substantial and things seem fine. By the way, I have two cats. Where were they during all this, you might ask? Sleeping. On my kitchen table.

Oh well.

[andiesenji]

The gap between the stove/range and the counter. All sorts of thing fall down there when I am chopping and prepping.

Here is a cheap and an easy fix for that nasty problem.

I should note that there are other types, from stainless steel to silicone and some can be found in colors, at least in white and black as well as clear-ish.

One vendor was offering them in other metal finishes, brass, bronze, etc., but I couldn't find it with a simple search.

Edited August 21, 2010 by andiesenji (log)

[andiesenji]

We have a space above our upper cabinets that we store seldom used but necessary (according to my better half) items like our 87 bread baskets, 15 large platters, and 2 trifle dishes just to name a few. Whenever we need something from up there is needs to be washed because it is coated in a film of grease. We take down everything a couple of times a year and it is skanky to say the least.

I have the same issue. I've started covering everything I put up there in plastic bags or saran wrap. It doesn't look great, but at least when I pull down my salad spinner it's not covered in a sticky greasy film.

The soon (in California, drat) to be out-lawed plastic grocery bags work really, really well for this. They're large enough to accomodate big things, and if you get ones in a color (white or beigey-taupe are usually my options) that *sort* of coordinates with the rest of the kitchen, and some deft tucking, they don't look too terribly tacky. And they do save the "OH CRAP" moment of "I really need to use this colander NOW, and it's slimed....."

I store everything, and I do mean everything in the giant storage bags made by Ziploc and by Hefty.

The extra large can hold a lot of stuff and it's easy to see what is inside, particularly if it is hung up on a sturdy hook.

The XXL size will hold an electric roaster or two very large crockpots.

Here's some stuff that is hanging on one wall in my storeroom. I have an entire 20-ft wall fixed with big screw hooks at various levels.

These bags are fantastic for storage of kitchen stuff, keeps everything clean and easy to spot when searching.

Edited August 21, 2010 by andiesenji (log)

[Shamanjoe]

Come to think of it, the wall next to my stove is pretty bad too.

Who would put a stovetop right next to a wall? My one big burner is of course on the wall side. Tons of oil, duck fat, red sauce, and other unkowns splatter the wall.

They will have a good time painting that when I move out.

I used to have this problem. I took a heavy-duty belt sander to my wall and gummed it up completely in under 10 minutes. I finally ended up putting some stainless steel as a backsplash. It looks great and is a breeze to clean (in that it doesn't corrode like the paint did with some of the more effective cleansers).

Edited August 21, 2010 by Shamanjoe (log)

[baroness]

The gap between the stove/range and the counter. All sorts of thing fall down there when I am chopping and prepping.

Here is a cheap and an easy fix for that nasty problem.

I should note that there are other types, from stainless steel to silicone and some can be found in colors, at least in white and black as well as clear-ish.

One vendor was offering them in other metal finishes, brass, bronze, etc., but I couldn't find it with a simple search.

Here is a selection of aluminum 'gap caps': click here!

Dollar Tree has three sizes of the L to XXL ziptype bags.

[Peter the eater]

You haven't read McGee's chapter on skank? For shame.

ETA: It's a five second rule. No wonder you're confused.

The Ten Second Rule is Metric.

[Miranda]

Floor here too.

As I say, It's not clean enough to eat off my floor, but I don't eat off the floor!

[Panosmex]

I'm proud to say that after —what?— 4 years, I cleaned the slatboard undershelf of my Boos pastry table yesterday.

The scale I store there still needs further doughy film removal.

[sparrowgrass]

Oh, hands down, the cabinet under the sink. It is a little mousie subway station--as long as the door is shut, they can't get into the rest of the kitchen, but I think they change trains down there. I have a big block of rat bait available to them at all times, but I haven't vacuumed down there all summer.

Second ickiest are the cookie jars and other decorative items lined up on top of the upper cabinets. I have been fighting a bad knee for years now, and climbing the ladder is still not on my list of things I want to do, so they will just stay dirty for a while.

[Lupinus]

The little space under the electric range. Top part is supposed to lift up to clean under there but doesn't.

It's looked a little primordial under there when I remove the little inserts to clean them.

And the underside of the fan hood. Clean as I might it's still filthy.

[della206]

Gas stoves are a problem. Of course I like them much better than electric, but if you move them the supposedly flexible hose breaks and you have a gas leak and somebody has to come an repair it. I found this out when I was clean in g my last apartment to get the deposit back. I don't know how anybody gets those things clean enough to get their deposits back. right now there is a bunch of dust, cat kibbles and other filth under there but I don't dare move it.

[Lilija]

Besides the obvious suspects (the not quite sealed space between stove and cabinets, the inch between the fridge and wall, under the stove, etc)I have a real issue with the wall on the far side of my dishwasher. My dishwasher is about 6" away from the wall, separated by "spice drawers" which are really junk drawers. The wall. Is. Funkeh. I clean it every time I notice it, which is about once a week (ok...month), but you would not BELIEVE what all gets splattered there. I don't believe it myself. Dried beans fused, vegetable peelings, sauces, dough bits. It's worse than the wall by the garbage can. Every time I go over it with cleaner and a rough cloth, I utter silent prayers of thanks for the deep red high gloss finish. Cleans like a dream, doesn't show much abuse. It's almost comical, I'll be cleaning the kitchen for company, or something, and I happen across this wall area, which is a three foot square section, really, and every time, I launch into hysterics "OH MY GOD WHAT THE HELL IS ALL THIS"

[Chris Amirault]

There's a chute in the kitchen leading to the basement that we've been using as a laundry chute. I looked down it this weekend and realized that the previous -- original, from 1958 -- owner used it as a garbage chute.

Ugh....

[Lindacakes]

My kitchen floor is frequently very unpleasant. Why clean it when it's going to get dirty again?

No one here has mentioned the inside of the oven. I don't like to look in there.

[k43]

Beneath my (gas) stovetop. I haven't been able to find a way to get the top off, so stuff that drops through is there forever. It's my theory (and I'm stickin' to it) that the heat from the burners keeps it a dead area.