Articles

By Stana Peete

21 August 2013

There are some days when I find myself staring at kitchen industrial equipment. I don’t mean it in the window shopping kind of way. I’m talking about staring at kitchens in friends’ houses. I’m amazed at how some of their kitchen equipment sparkle. These modern kitchens are all about the bling and the shine. I have to wonder; is it a laborious luxury or can it be easily maintained?

I drifted off into a world of my own where the marvellous kitchen items were staring back at me and bragging about their bling status. Each one was so proud of how brightly they shine and how clean they are. In a sudden burst of energy, they started dancing around me. Then they were dipping themselves in the sink and drying each other off. All to the fairy tale song and dance that you would typically find in a Disney movie. Then I felt a hard tap on my shoulder. My friend told me to snap out of my dream world.

I’m always looking for the easiest method to clean anything, really. I just want to enjoy my life and my job while not thinking about the clearing up afterwards. With my job, I’m able to work with a lot of kitchen equipment so you can imagine how much cooking and baking I love to do. Testing the products is such a great part of the job. With that, of course, comes the cleaning afterwards.

A lot of the kitchen items are stainless steel due to its hygienic benefits. Also, it is resistant to rust and corrosion when you take care of it correctly. I find myself with a room full of stainless steel kitchen equipment, from stainless steel platters and utensils to chafing dishes and graters that all need cleaning.

In my experience, I’ve found that cleaning stainless steel items is very easy.

Wash the items in clean warm water with a mild detergent. Don’t use a harsh or abrasive detergent as this could damage or erode the equipment. You could use as little as a drop of dish washing liquid in some warm water while using a soft cloth to clean the kitchen item.

Rinse it thoroughly with clean water then use a soft fluff-free cloth to dry off all the moisture. This is important because water molecules can leave water spots. For best results, be sure to wipe in the direction of the polish lines.

For fingerprints, I find that glass cleaner is quite effective. Spray the glass cleaner onto the stainless steel equipment. Rinse it off then wipe it dry with a soft cloth. This will clean your stainless steel kitchen utensils or equipment so clearly that you’ll be able to see your own reflection in it.

If you’ve noticed some scratches or stains on the stainless steel, it may be worth getting a stainless steel cleaner. It could minimize scratches and remove the stains with the added benefit of polishing the surfaces.

The following weekend, I visited my friend again and stared at my reflection in her stainless steel kitchen equipment. Once again, I lost myself in a world of sparkle and luxury; and got a wink from the stainless steel coffee urn.