hygiene tips

Always wash your hands before you eat. Always wash your hands before you start preparing a meal and after handling raw meat, fish or vegetables. Always wash your hands before you open cupboard doors, the refrigerator or before you touch plates or glasses. Washing your hands is the easiest way to avoid cross contamination.

hands with warm soapy water. Rinse them well and give them a good dry.

Throw away your dish cloth and sponge and replace them with new ones. Put your tea towel in the laundry and take out a fresh one.

Clear all the work surfaces and wash them with hot soapy water. Only return those things to the work surface which you need or which are too bulky to put elsewhere.

Take everything out of your refrigerator and give it a good clean with warm soapy water. Dry it thoroughly and only return those thing to the refrigerator which have not past the used-by-date. Make sure the refrigerator is set to below 5°C and that all raw meat or poultry are stored in closed containers at the bottom to avoid cross contamination.

Scrub your stove and your oven until they are gleaming. You might need to resort to an oven cleaning agent and allow it time to work.

Scrub your chopping boards, knives and utensils in warm soapy water.

Give your cupboard doors a good wash with warm soapy water.

Give your floor a good wash.

Throw away your dish cloth and sponge and replace them with new ones. Put your tea towel in the laundry and take out a fresh one.

Sit down, have a drink and admire your clean kitchen.

you cook, the more space you have to cook and the less there is left to do afterwards.

If you have a dish washer, pack it whilst you cook. This saves time later and gives you more space to work on.

Clean your kitchen after you have cooked. It only takes a few minutes and you will have clean surfaces to work on all the time.

Clean your oven regularly with soapy water and use an oven cleaning agent once a month to get rid of any baked in stains.

Clean your refrigerator every 1-2 weeks and if you spill anything in it, clean it immediately.

Throw away your dish cloth and sponge and replace them with new ones every week. Replace the towel you use for drying your hands every 2-3 days, your apron and the towel you use for drying dishes once a week. Choose tea towels with similar colours and wash them at 60°C or warmer. Use paper towels as often as possible; they are inexpensive and prevent cross contamination.

Replace the filter in your cooker hood once a month or if reusable, wash it carefully.

If you spill anything on the floor, clean it immediately so you do not slip and injure your self. Clean your kitchen floor at least once a week.

Never allow pets of any sort in the kitchen.

Raw		Cooked		Dairy & Eggs
Meat	3 days	Meat	3 days	Hard cheese	14 days
Minced meat	1 day	Sliced Meat	2 days	Soft cheese	3 days
Poultry	2 days	Mince	1 day	Raw eggs	2 days
Fish	1 day	Poultry	3 days	Boiled eggs	2 days
Offal	1 day	Fish	1 day	Milk	5 days
Bacon	7 days	Bacon	2 days	Cream	5 days
Sausages	3 days	Sausages	2 days