Clean as You Go: Kitchen Hygiene
The habits that separate a working kitchen from a health-code violation.
Professional kitchens have one thing home kitchens don't: relentless cleaning. Not deep-cleans — constant, tiny, in-the-moment cleaning. Learn to clean as you go and you'll cook faster, safer, and end up with a kitchen you actually want to eat in.
Watch a demonstration
Basic Mise En Place & Station Setup
hosted by The Culinary Institute of America
How to do it
- 01
Start with a clear bench
Before you cook, everything not needed goes off the worktop. Clean bench, dry board, sharp knife, damp cloth, one bowl for trim, one for finished ingredients. This is mise en place — and half the battle.
~3 min - 02
Wash hands like a surgeon
Twenty seconds, hot water, soap, backs of hands, between fingers, under nails. Every time you touch raw meat or fish. Every time you come back from anywhere. Don't dry your hands on your apron — clean cloth or paper.
~1 min - 03
Never cross-contaminate
Raw meat/fish gets its own board and knife, always. If they must share, do the vegetables first, then the meat. Wash board, knife and hands hot and soapy the moment you're done with anything raw. This one habit prevents 90% of home food poisoning.
~2 min - 04
Clean as you go
The moment a bowl is empty, it goes in the sink. The moment a pan is off the heat, wipe the hob. Every couple of minutes, run the damp cloth over the board. You'll finish cooking and your kitchen will be clean.
~3 min - 05
Chill fast, keep separate
Cooked food above 60°C or below 5°C — nothing in between for more than two hours. Cool hot food quickly in a shallow tray, then fridge. Raw meat on the bottom shelf, wrapped, so nothing can drip. Fridge at 4°C, freezer at -18°C. Buy a fridge thermometer — they're a couple of quid.
~3 min - 06
Deep clean at the end
Board scrubbed, knife washed and dried, worktops sprayed and wiped, sink cleaned, floor swept if needed. Leave the kitchen in a state you'd be happy to walk into first thing in the morning.
~3 min