If you love to cook, these 5 vital kitchen sanitizing tasks are non-negotiables for your creations to taste their best – trust me, I'm a professional cleaner

If you love cooking, you already know the ingredients matter. But what you might not realize is that the state of the kitchen itself can also make or break the taste of your meals.

If your fridge is running warm, your herbs are past their prime, or your oven’s putting out more smoke than heat, even the freshest produce won’t save dinner.

These five non-negotiable kitchen cleaning tasks from the pros will help make sure the meals you whip up keep tasting their best.

Kitchen tasks that are non negotiables if you love to cook

1. Degrease your oven walls and racks

Cleaning the oven regularly is a must for better-tasting food.

A dirty oven doesn’t heat evenly, and any food or grease buildup forces the oven to work harder. That means recipes that should take 30 minutes can drag out, or you end up pulling out food that’s burnt on the bottom and raw in the middle.

Knowing how often to clean yours and and without chemicals is key here.

As a professional cleaner and operations manager for Spekless, I suggest removing racks and soaking them in warm, soapy water. Then, for the inside, use a paste made from water and baking soda from Walmart.

To make the task easier, use a Scrub Daddy Sponge from Target, softened with warm water, before wiping away residue with a damp cloth (sponge cloths from Target, are a more sustainable option and are a surprising thing you can wash in a dishwasher).

2. Sanitize cutting boards

Cutting boards pick up residue with every chop and slice. Without regular sanitizing, they can hold onto bacteria and odors, especially if you switch between raw proteins and fresh produce on the same surface.

Ideally, you’ll have separate boards for meats, produce, and breads, such as the Joseph Joseph slimline four-piece set available from Amazon, to avoid cross-contamination, but not all households have (or even want) that setup, which makes thorough sanitation in this area even more important.

To keep your food tasting fresh, you need to understand how to clean and care for every type of cutting board.

Scrubbing them with hot, soapy water after each use is a good place to start, then, sanitize weekly with a mix of one part vinegar, available at Walmart, to three parts water.

Rinse well and let them air dry upright.

3. Empty and declutter your freezer quarterly

Food will only taste fresh if it is fresh. Even in the freezer, foods can start to go stale.

Freezers are notorious for becoming graveyards of forgotten food. Anything left too long risks freezer burn, which ruins both taste and texture, and wastes valuable space that could be used for fresh ingredients.

That’s why the one thing people with organized freezers always do is declutter them regularly. I suggest tossing anything older than six months or showing signs of burn, using the clear-out as an opportunity to clean your freezer.

Wipe down shelves and drawers with warm, soapy water and dry surfaces thoroughly to prevent new frost buildup. For gentle cleaning, Dawn Free & Clear dish soap, from Target, is your best bet.

Adding dates to your frozen items can make this process simpler in the future. A permanent marker, such as a Sharpie, from Walmart, is best for this.

4. Rinse and dry fresh herb containers weekly

Using fresh herbs is one of the easiest ways to elevate your cooking, but they’re also notoriously fragile. If their storage containers collect condensation, bits of old stems, or slimy residue, your herbs will wilt or rot much faster than they should.

Keeping containers fresh when organizing your spices gives herbs a fighting chance to last more than just a few days.

When refreshing your herb jars, rinse them with warm water and mild soap to remove condensation and residue. For fresh herb containers, it is best to do this weekly.

The key is to dry them fully! Even a little leftover moisture speeds up wilting.

For fresh herbs, it can help to line the bottom with a section of fresh paper towel before returning herbs to absorb excess moisture. The Bounty paper towels available at Walmart are extra absorbent, making them ideal for this.

5. Clean out the drawer of “random gadgets”

Every home cook has a drawer filled with peelers, presses, openers, and odds and ends. Over time, many of these tools get dull, greasy, or simply forgotten.

IIf you love to cook, your tools should be as dependable as your ingredients – sharp, clean, and easy to find. Decluttering your kitchen like a line cook ensures your drawer only holds tools that actually make cooking smoother.

Pulling every gadget out of the drawer and spreading them on the counter can make decluttering a kitchen easier.

Toss anything broken, rusty, or never used, and soak sticky or greasy tools in hot, soapy water, then scrub and dry thoroughly.

To avoid creating unnecessary trash at home or buying duplicates, sharpen or replace tools that have lost their edge, such as peelers or zesters. Finish by grouping similar gadgets using a drawer organizer, such as the expandable bamboo organizer from QVC, so you can find what you need quickly.

What to shop

Often, less is more when striving for perfection – and the same principle applies to cooking. We have put together a list of what to get rid of for a minimal kitchen to help cut back on clutter and help you focus.