Tips for Minimizing Kitchen Clutter
By Alice Medrich
Every week, baking expert Alice Medrich goes rogue on Food52 — with shortcuts, hacks, and game-changing recipes.
Today: Enough with the clutter! Take a love stance towards overflowing drawers and shelves and get excited to keep your kitchen spic and span.
More: The essential tools for fixing kitchen mistakes
You will be shocked to discover how much more energy and motivation for cooking and baking you may have after even a modest bout of de-cluttering. Whole books are written on the subject. You can make it a major project or a series of small ones. I vote for the latter.
More: 9 pantry items that double as cleaning tools
The goal is to clear counters and un-stuff drawers, cabinets, and crocks so that you can work with pleasure and serenity. The process is painless and incrementally rewarding if you do it in small bites, an hour at a time, over several weeks.
More: 8 ways to clean with vinegar
First consider the hierarchy of your space:
Prime real estate: kitchen counters, drawers, crocks, and easy-to-reach cabinets
Suburbs: convenient pantries or closets, in or close to the kitchen
Outlands: basements, garages, and upper kitchen and pantry shelves that require a stepladder to access
More: How to care for your favorite kitchen tools
To see immediate results, start with prime real estate and attack the low-hanging fruit: Pick one drawer or cupboard or one type of item and just dig in. (I started with an enormous collection of jars, containers, and lids and moved on to my collection of salts.) One thing will lead to another.
Big hint: Save any hard or traumatic decisions for later — they will get progressively easier the more you clean.
More: The 10 kitchen utensils you shouldn’t live without
Toss out the obvious, then shift items from prime real estate to the suburbs (or beyond) based on frequency of use and ease of moving things back to the counter when needed. For example, if you move a heavy appliance to the suburbs or outlands, put it on an accessible shelf at waist level for easy lifting. Otherwise you will never want to use it again — and when that happens, you might later consider getting rid of it altogether. As you progress, you’ll also find items in the suburbs that belong in outlands, etc. You’ll end up rearranging those areas and the decision to let go of things will become less traumatic.
Start by tossing these things out:
Ancient food in bottles and cans and boxes. I’m not going to gives rule here — you can read dates or just ask yourself if you would really eat or serve it.
Ground spices that smell faint or musty
Old oils (these are probably rancid)
Old specialty flours, nuts, and seeds (these are also probably rancid)
Opened cookies, crackers, cereal, or pretzels that are stale
Dried fruits that are rock-hard from age
Seasonings from your trip to New Orleans ten years ago
Ugly souvenirs
At least half of that enormous supply of jars, containers, and lids for food storage
Pot holders that are too thin, impossibly dirty, or torn
More: How to stock your kitchen for under $100
Now consider moving these things from prime real estate:
Infrequently used appliances that live on the counter
Never- or rarely-used or rusty utensils stuffed into drawers or crocks
Extra cutlery and dishes used for hosting large parties
Special or seasonal baking tools, pans, cookie cutters, extra cookie sheets, and cake decorating supplies
Rarely used cookbooks
Ugly or torn dishtowels that should be in the ragbag
Giant stock, crab, or lobster pots
Turkey roaster and rack
Miscellaneous, ugly, or cracked mugs, glassware, and dishes
Office supplies (isn’t there a better place?)
Barbecue utensils
Craft supplies (after your kids are off to or even graduated from college)
Bigger Hint: To jump-start the de-cluttering process — or to keep the momentum going — it may be necessary to invite a friend in to play “bad cop” once in a while. It works. Be sure to return the favor.
