Turning the kitchen, step by step

Gold Member Joined: Nov 07 2005 Posts: 1106

. 3-4 hours of micro-cleaning the fridge or oven feels like "all day," since I don't much energy for anything else.

Valley mom, can you torch your oven? Since the self-cleaning mechanism is already ?

What is usually dificult is the transition stage where most of the kitchen is clean but family are still eating chametz. Some women have families that cooperate and eat outside, or only kitniyot, etc. Usually, my dh poo-poos this. But I am lucky this year and he is out of town till after Pesach, so my rule goes Hooray

My biggest chore is checking the kitniyot. Because I am machmir about spices, I check them whole and grind them myself. I contemplating not doing hilbeh this year, but I will probably do so. I usually check too much rice, "just in case." Now my philosophy is "if I run out, so what?" Its just a week (haval, uh?)

Diamond Member Joined: Sep 16 2007 Posts: 4185

do any of you get your cleaning help to clean the oven and fridge? my cleaning guy asked if I needed any pesach cleaning and I know that he is looking for more work, so I said sure and now I dont have to do it. BH (and he is a very good cleaner, so I know they will shine :>)

Posted: Thu, Mar 26 2009, 1:03 pm Post subject:

I'm having my once a week cleaning lady come a couple extra times to do the things I really don't like to do:

- the fridges
- all the extra vacuuming

She'll also clean the inside and outside of all the cabinets in the kitchen. I've never done Pesach while working full time so I'm really nervous this year!!!
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Platinum Member Joined: Aug 12 2007 Posts: 20496

The biggest pain is shopping, hauling it all home and getting down and dirty with unfamiliar kitchen utensils.
And yes, there ARE people who clean out their fridge several times/year so that the fridge doesn't take more than an hour or so to do.

Posted: Thu, Mar 26 2009, 3:13 pm Post subject:

Tamiri it depends on your fridge. I do try and wipe mine down other times during the year, but for some reason the ceiling and floor, so to speak, of my fridge are covered in these narrow groves and to get all the debris out I have to go through them with q-tips.

Diamond Member Joined: Sep 16 2007 Posts: 4185

Senior Member Joined: Aug 26 2007 Posts: 183

Posted: Fri, Mar 27 2009, 2:10 am Post subject:

I'm planning to turn over the kitchen early this week and start cooking and freezing some things. But before I do that I'm cooking all the chometz I'll need after I turn over the kitchen and freezing that. All the chometz we'll have will be of the frozen type or cold cereal.

Then I'm moving all the chometz things out of the kitchen (toaster and microwave) and using those in the living room till after shabbos hagadol to re heat the frozen thing I've made and if weneed anything else it'll have to be pesadik.

I already had my cleaning help clean the kitchen so all I have to do is just go over it again breifly and kasher the oven.

It took her 2.5 hrs to clean the fridge, oven, and cabinets. It would have taken ME weeks, but that's wh I had her come since I'm fairly useless these days.
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Life may not be a picnic, but a picnic is no life.

So do you totally empty your fridge before cleaning help cleans it?

Active Poster Joined: Jan 17 2008 Posts: 45

Posted: Wed, Apr 01 2009, 7:32 am Post subject:

I'm reviving this thread because I'm stuck.

How do you all handle the in between time. I am almost out of chamatz (a few things that can go in the micro or toaster oven, not much). I don't want to go completely Pesach yet (I don't even think I could because they don't do the kashering until Monday or Tuesday of next week).

If I turn the kitchen completely should I just go to disposable for the week (I shudder the thought) if I'm serving kitniot (ie: cold cereal, bamba, not cooking). I am thinking of cleaning and covering everything on Sunday, but not bring out hte Pesach stuff until a few days later (I'm not cooking for seder). Is this a crazy plan? Does it defeat the purpose of covering if I'm going to let my kids eat at the table a bowl of cold kitniot cereal? Should I just do all the kitniot stuff outside (or maybe at the dining room table and switch that last???) and wash up in the bathroom? We do have a dishwaster, so in theory the dirty dishes could go straight in there and not in the sink.

ARG. What do you all think? I've never done this before.

I should add for those in chul the kitniot stuff I serve with be KLP with a hechsher, so there will not be any real chamatz hiding in the rice cracker or cornflakes.
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Lucky Mom to 5
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Posted: Wed, Apr 01 2009, 7:45 am Post subject:

If you can do it already, turn the kitchen. Bring out the Pesach stuff. Cook easy stuff - vegetable soup, chicken and potatoes, scrambled eggs. Serve them in disposable dishes with bread and other cold chometz in the dining room/ on the mirpesset. If you can afford it, get take out pizza and/or falafel a few times.

Signed: someone with no kitchen. I wanted to boil the last few 'chometz' eggs (without a KLP stamp) and I had to rummage through boxes to find a pan. We are living off food I cooked before, and my countertop is asleep for 24 hours. Still left: fridge, oven, floors, chairs and table and a good deal of the rest of the house....
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Posted: Wed, Apr 01 2009, 8:51 am Post subject:

But I don't think I can cook until next Monday or Tuesday... at all. As far as I understood, the grates need libun. I am not attempting to do that on my own (no blowtorch here). So if I put away the chamatz stuff, I can't take out the Pesach stuff, which means no scrambled eggs or veggie soup until I can get the grates done. I can buy kitniot microwave stuff (not kashering microwave). Or even oven stuff (Im not doing my oven either), but then I guess I can't wash my chamatz dishes in my Pesach sink with kitniot, so we are back to disposables. Which is why I was thinking maybe just put dishes straight in the dishwasher and leave the Shabbos table chamatz. Oh what to do!

Platinum Member Joined: Aug 12 2007 Posts: 20496

Posted: Wed, Apr 01 2009, 9:09 am Post subject:

Do you have another sink? Even in the bathroom? My laundry room is now my chometz "kitchen" (read sink plus electric point for the kettle plus place to put a drainer).