On the Home Network show “Kitchen Glow Up,” chef/kitchen designer Ellen Bennett helps overwhelmed homeowners create beauty from chaos. In a cheery half-hour, messy shelves and jumbled drawers become sleek and streamlined. It’s soothing television for anyone who has ever spent a harried 15 minutes combing their kitchen for a utensil or ingredient.
Fortunately, you don’t need a TV makeover show to get an organized kitchen. Just follow these tips from local experts and you may never lose your citrus zester again.
Well-organized kitchen cabinets at Maison Maitland Cooking School and Villas helps Cynthia Peters keep counters uncluttered.
Start by decluttering
“Decluttering and organizing allows you to really determine what you need and want and will make you feel more in control of those spaces and your life,” says organizer Martha Tobin, owner of Ottawa’s Declutter4Good. If the task feels daunting, start with just one type of item, such as pots and pans. Once you’ve sorted those out, the quick win may motivate you to tackle another area of the kitchen, Tobin says.
As you work, be realistic about your lifestyle. If you rarely entertain, do you really need a dozen platters?
Don’t forget your fridge and pantry when decluttering. Atifa Prinsloo, cuisine instructor at Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa, recommends purging your fridge once a week. “I have a three-day rule. If it hasn’t been eaten in three days,” she says, “it’s got to go.”
Baking ingredients, pasta and canned goods have longer shelf lives, but you should check best-before and expiry dates regularly. In both your pantry and your fridge, put food closest to expiring at the front of the shelf, so you’ll be reminded to use it.
Decant everything you can
Most chefs take many foods out of their packaging and put them into canisters or other airtight containers. “It keeps them a lot fresher,” says Prinsloo, who notes that containers also keep food safe from pests and make it easier to scoop. If the containers are clear, you’ll be able to see when you’re running low. And a pantry lined with coordinated canisters is esthetically pleasing, too.
Just make sure to clearly label the containers. “Potato starch looks the same as tapioca starch, which looks the same as corn starch,” points out chef Cynthia Peters, owner and chef instructor at Maison Maitland Cooking School and Villas near Brockville. You can use something as simple as strips of masking tape notated with a Sharpie, or get fancy with a label maker or liquid chalk markers. It can also be handy to write information such as the product’s expiry date and cooking instructions on the back of the container.
It’s particularly useful to put spices into uniform jars or tins, as these are easier to use and organize than open plastic envelopes. Just don’t store them above or beside the stove, says Prinsloo, as heat can degrade the flavour.
Store like with like
Keep ingredients, utensils and small appliances together if you use them for similar tasks. For instance, put all your baking ingredients, bowls, pans, measuring cups and cookie cutters in the same cabinet or area of your kitchen.
Peters stashes collections of utensils and tools, such as everything she needs to make pasta, in large plastic containers with lids. These can be stacked in deep cabinets, where space might otherwise be wasted. Inside drawers, she uses smaller plastic containers without lids to separate utensils by use.
In the fridge, Peters has zones for different kinds of ingredients—sweet condiments in one section, Asian sauces in another, cheese in its own drawer. “You don’t have to go hunting,” she says. “It’s like a library.”
Simple plastic containers keep drawers organized and can be easily lifted out if needed.
A word about knives
A magnetic strip attached to a wall near the stove can keep knives handy, but that’s a dangerous choice in households with small children. A knife block is good as long as the knives are clean when stored, as crumbs can collect in the block and dull the blades, notes Prinsloo. Storing knives where they can rub against each other will also dull them, she adds. “I definitely don’t recommend tossing the knives loose into the drawers.”
If you can’t break the habit of keeping knives in drawers, a silicone knife mat inside the drawer can keep each knife separate and sharp.
Be judicious with appliances
“Counter space, that’s your prime real estate,” says Prinsloo. Yet too often, we fill counters with rarely used appliances. Only things you use daily, such as your coffee maker, deserve pride of place, she says. Everything else should be in a cabinet or drawer.
Why organize at all?
Perhaps all this decluttering, decanting and labelling seems like a lot of effort. Prinsloo argues that, by saving you time and stress, an organized kitchen will inspire you to cook more. “A well-designed kitchen is going to move with you, not against you.”
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