Earlier today I trimmed chicken thighs of awful fatty bits and thought that it’s a job I do not like. When I buy them the way they are presented there is. no indication of what lurks underneath. I like chicken thighs for their flavour but I dislike this particular job.
Another job I do not relish is cleaning utensils after getting sourdough bread ready. The starter sticks to everything and you can’t put the utensils into the dishwasher or pour the rinsing water down the drain because it will set like concrete and could lead to an expensive plumbers bill. But that does not beat the dreaded chicken thighs.
Are there any jobs that you dislike?

Chris, while I hear what you say about being annoyed about cutting fat off chicken thighs, I am more annoyed about paying for hidden fat than I am about actually cutting it off.

I have not made sourdough but it is something that MOH and I have been discussing as something we want to do. He makes a beautiful ciabatta which our son enjoys when he comes home.

The worst job in my kitchen is surely cleaning the oven. Like painting the Auckland Harbour Bridge, it is an endless task.

Regards,

Barbara Anne

The kitchen job I dislike the most is peeling and chopping onions, despite the fact that I have excellent quality knives and I know how to do it properly. It's unfortunate that finely chopped onions are an essential part of so many dishes.

Sometimes when I'm looking at recipes for Ind*an dishes I will stop reading when it asks for more then two chopped onions.

Peeling garlic. I smash it with the side of the knife to loosen first, but picking the bits of skin off always ends up with sticky garlicky bits under my nails, and it drives me bananas. We tend to eat a lot of garlic, so this is a pain I encounter frequently.

I've tried many of the methods and gadgets out there, and nothing seems to work reliably and without creating a stupid amount of extra dirty dishes.

Regarding the sourdough utensils -- have you tried immediately soaking them in cold water as soon as you're finished? I found that pretty much dissolved all the starter residue and I just had to give them a quick wipe with my fingers to dislodge the rest.

Jenna, something that helps a lot with peeling garlic is to soak the whole cloves in cold water for at least 20 minutes or several hours if that is convenient. It's not a magic fix but it makes the skins more flexible so more likely to come off in large pieces or even slip off completely if you are lucky.

I am very fussy about the way I prepare garlic, as crushing it results in a different flavour to the flavour of cloves left whole then sliced or chopped, and I like to prepare it appropriately, so I often want to end up with whole unbruised peeled cloves.

Washing and drying the food processor. It feels like a dozen awkward pieces to deal with.

To peel garlic, I've always chopped off a tiny bit from both ends (essentially the root which holds the peel on, and the tip which joins the peel together), then do a lengthwise cut through the skin on the fat bulging out side and then insert your thumbnail in the lengthwise cut and pull off the skin. If you're lucky, sometimes the whole thing comes off in one go but mostly you have to pick it off in 2-3 bits. This method doesn't make a mess of the skin (and the bulb) like the crush method does.

Jenna Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Peeling garlic. I smash it with the side of the
> knife to loosen first, but picking the bits of
> skin off always ends up with sticky garlicky bits
> under my nails, and it drives me bananas. We tend
> to eat a lot of garlic, so this is a pain I
> encounter frequently.
>
> I've tried many of the methods and gadgets out
> there, and nothing seems to work reliably and
> without creating a stupid amount of extra dirty
> dishes.
>
> Regarding the sourdough utensils -- have you tried
> immediately soaking them in cold water as soon as
> you're finished? I found that pretty much
> dissolved all the starter residue and I just had
> to give them a quick wipe with my fingers to
> dislodge the rest.

Thanks Jenna, I cut up worn towels and other worn suitable material Into small squares and wipe utensils as I use them and then through them out and the spoons etc can then go into the dishwasher. I read recently that it helps to have a bucket in the kitchen into which to drop dirty utensils because, as you say, the sticky stuff will soak off. You can then pour the water onto the garden. I will buy a small bucket for that particular job. The starter jar can get quite icky.

Thank you both, I'll give those methods a try!

I agree with cleaning the oven (buying a new oven soon, so thats one way to eliminate the dirty one Ive got), but also remembering to tidy out the fridge & the crisper - too many end bits of cucumber or capsicums left behind. Not nice.
Currently our fridge is in a tricky spot between two cupboards so opening the fridge door to its maximum to slide the crisper drawer out is a challenge in itself.

Oven cleaning. Other jobs can niggle but oven cleaning is top of my list.

I have a Pyrolytic self cleaning oven and I have to say it is fantastic. It probably uses a ton of power and takes around 5 hours to clean but then all you are left with a is fine grey powder which is a 2 minutes job to wipe out.
Definitely worth it and because its so easy you tend to clean the oven more often.

The job I hate the most in the kitchen is cleaning my Bay Window. It’s positioned right in front of the sink and it’s at least 50cm deep. You have to climb on the bench/sink too clean it. I would rather clean my oven.


Zee

I loathe washing the mashed potato pot and also the porridge pot.
All that starch of the potato pot and the slimey feel of the porridge pot are gross.

Is there a reason that you don't put them in the dishwasher, Helen?

Regards,

Barbara Anne

I hate drying plastic containers and big pots.

I usually leave them to drip dry or put them on the balcony for the sun to dry them. I also dont like emptying the bin and then having to put another bag in.

Getting the spirals of courgettes out of my spiral/peeler annoys me too

I used to have a juicer and couldnt stand cleaning that every day but now have toned down the appliances it really only the stick blender and hand beater - they are easy.

Thank goodness my dishwasher works again - doing it by hand was becoming tiresome!

Vanessa

Any job that requires me to get a big bowl out of the back of the cupboard or a tin from a stack. How I long for a renovated kitchen with things in drawers!

Helen, I always soak my potato & porridge pot well before cleaning & that works beautifully also use a rubber # raper to get as much out of the pot as you can, leaves nothing behind. I don’t put my pots, anything wooden or rubber in the dishwasher, or plastic, the heat ruins them unless handles on pots are metal.
I don’t like the peel on garlic either, will try some of the hints here . Tx.
My other dislike is cleaning bee poo off my windows & as we have a very long glass balustrade it takes forever. I have no sooner done it then along comes a tone more & I cannot reach the outside it off the ground as we ar3 too high.Grr. We have a neighbor with 5 hives & whilst I like honey I feel not in suburbia.

The battle of the ants! Had the bug man in, have a week or two ant free, then they are back. In the dishwasher, in the drawers, in the pantry...........

Stephanie D. I wasn't using my dishwasher very often as husband was always onto the washing up after dinner. One day I opened the drawer to put something in and it was infested with ants. I had a Christmas pudding in the washer. I tried to wash them away but they had eaten through all the electrics. Had to call the service man. This resulted in a huge bill and not long after a new dishwasher.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2019 07:40AM by Kone.

Kone, my mind is boggling at your sentence "I had a Christmas pudding in the washer." How many cycles did it take to cook a Christmas Pudding? I wondered. I have heard of people cooking fish in the dishwasher, but Christmas pudding???? Or did you store it there as it was a wasted space in a convenient location due to hubby washing the dishes by hand?

The 'christmas pudding' was all broken up into little speckley crumbs Lorna and it was a terrifying sight. Just as bad as having a serpent pop out of your toilet or a big rat. Not that I've had either yet. My contingency plan is if a snake or rat does manifest after I've finished my you know whats and I get a fright, because I have a contingency plan I will be prepared - which involves shutting the lid quickly (after I've stood up) then sitting on it while I scream my head off.

J1 - thank you for your garlic peeling tip! I've been doing it since you posted and it has made a huge difference I've always sliced the root end and not cut all the way through the last bit of skin, then pulled the clove back and peeled some this way -- but adding in the snip off the top end just makes it all fall off.

I'm so glad it's helped Jenna. I don't know why I didn't see this post sooner - the last post I remember reading on this thread was Lyn V's post on 6 November and I never saw all the ones after that until today when I was doing a search for Christmas pudding recipes. Heh heh, Kone you wouldn't have a nice Christmas pudding recipe for me would you?