Cleaning Cooking and Shopping Hacks for Pesach

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Forum -> Yom Tov / Holidays -> Pesach

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amother

Vermilion

Thu, Mar 09 2023, 7:09 am

I do the fry a huge batch of onions before starting real cooking and it's so helpful.

I also juice a bunch of lemons before so I have ready made lemon juice to add to recipes and salads.

ttbtbm

Thu, Mar 09 2023, 7:31 am

ra_mom wrote:

Pesach cleaning hack:

Do a deep clean of the oven and freezer. Yes now, right after Purim. I can't tell you how much easier, and less stressful it is to clean the oven and fridge before pesach, when you've recently just done it. Make sure to leave a cookie sheet on the bottom oven rack to catch drips, and to line the freezer with something easy like plastic liners to catch crumbs in the meantime.

While cleaning the freezer now, take stock of freezer and pantry. Make menus with plans on how to use up the food.

What do you use to clean your oven?
What about the vent area on the oven? I dread that every year. No matter how many times I go in there with fantastic, my paper towel never come out clean. There’s so much grime there.

ttbtbm

Thu, Mar 09 2023, 7:32 am

amother Chestnut wrote:

I use my oven tons
Dice a lot of onions into baking pans and pour oil over it and bake on low overnight and you have fried onions for all recipes
I make applesauce in deep 9x13 in oven overnight also. I do from apples and pears 4 pans in total over one night.
We only drink fresh squeezed juice so I started doing that outside in my backyard so I don’t have a huge sticky mess inside.

How low is low for the onions? 250? Do you bake the onions covered or uncovered?

ttbtbm

Thu, Mar 09 2023, 7:33 am

BH Yom Yom wrote:

Someone posted on here last year and it was so helpful:

When starting to cook for Pesach, peel and chop a bunch of onions. Put them in a pot with oil and salt and let them sauté/brown. When cool, put in a container and refrigerate. They will last through the whole Pesach and can save you hours of cutting and peeling and sautéing onions endlessly throughout YT.

Will the onions really last close to two weeks in the fridge without going bad?

rachelli66

Thu, Mar 09 2023, 8:10 am

After I get the kitchen ready for cooking, I prepare an extremely large Cucumber salad and pickled salad. These are served at all meals and can stay in the fridge over 2 weeks . The Seder plate I try to do a few days before Pesach. Whatever you can do earlier, the better. (we do not do the hot horse raddish anymore). . I DO NOT bake anymore. If we need mezonos we will buy something small. We try to eat fresh fruit for dessert.

amother

Chicory

Thu, Mar 09 2023, 8:24 am

amother Chestnut wrote:

May I ask at what temperature you do the apples in the oven overnight?

amother

Springgreen

Thu, Mar 09 2023, 8:28 am

amother OP wrote:

So for cleaning here's my number one tip.

I start with the floors. Ground up. Like construction.

I get that out of the way and then everything is eaiser.

I do the opposite! Because then stuff falls on the floor and needs to be cleaned again.
So top down in closets, drawers, especially the fridge.
Floors last.

amother

Navy

Thu, Mar 09 2023, 9:20 am

ttbtbm wrote:

Will the onions really last close to two weeks in the fridge without going bad?

Dunno how long they last in fridge. I divide in containers and freeze. Freezes amazing.

mommy9

Thu, Mar 09 2023, 9:22 am

amother Obsidian wrote:

Can you link that thread?

Somebody linked it. Thank you to that person because idk how

yOungM0mmy

Thu, Mar 09 2023, 1:32 pm

Lists, Lists, lists. On google keep, archived from year to year. What I bought where, what was good, what didn't get used, what leftovers I packed away, whatever random thoughts I had as I closed up pesach last year.

I dont clean my stove or oven.I dont have the patience or the money to pay a professional to do it right, so I just dont. I cook on 4 plug in burners, a crockpot and 2 years ago I got an airfryer with shelves, so can fit in more than the basket.

I dont bake. We're nut allergic and some allergic to eggs, so not a single nut in the house, and not worth baking. No one needs it.

Make a fresh loaded chicken soup and a pot of boiled potatoes every day (actually the evening before for the next day), so there's a quick starting point for people who are hungry.

As I get my chicken order, I spend a few hours breaking down the chickens, skin, debone, divide into bags - breast, carcass for soup, darks, and a big bag of breasts. All in ziplocks flat into the freezer, and then I can pull out and dump in the pot/crockpot with some sauce/wine and onions/whatever you use for a 2 minute prepped meal ready for supper, with no mess, instead of starting to cut and clean chickens for each meal. Totally worth several unpleasant hours before Yom Tov.

I dont empty any kitchen cabinets. I have shelving on wheels, and all my pots, basic pantry, etc sits on the shelves or a counter for a week.

Pesach is 8 days, not 3 weeks. We eat chametz until the day before, narrowing the chametz zone day by day. Before I turn over the kitchen, I make a big pot of soup, a few packs of pasta, rice, and keep that on the bottom of the fridge, and use the microwave and cheese toaster for chametz meals as long as possible.

Most important, pace your cleaning, take breaks for yourself and your kids to have fun and make sure that it doesnt become a miserable time for all. I start doing the upstairs now, do the living room a week before pesach, and the dining room/kitchen week of pesach usually. That way I'm not stressing for weeks in advance, and don't need to do all my work twice or 3 times as the little ones undo it all.

amother

Chestnut

Thu, Mar 09 2023, 3:07 pm

I found that doing the finding room last worked better for me.
My house is set up that you walk into the dining room and through there to the kitchen so I clean the kitchen and can start cooking while I have chometz in the dining room. I keep my fleishig toaster and a berry Crocker to cook/ warm things up for the last few days.

amother

Cantaloupe

Thu, Mar 09 2023, 3:56 pm

amother Chestnut wrote:

I might do that this year- dining room for last because I’m getting new ovens and I would want to start cooking early. The thought of dealing with all the dining room chairs last minute is making me nervous though..

amother

Tuberose

Thu, Mar 09 2023, 4:05 pm

amother OP wrote:

This was meant to be a joke thread but I am so happy to see its becoming a really helpful thread.

Hey I can use all these tips also!

Thanks

(I just hope no one thinks its a good idea to start with your floors! I mean, you could. Just start again every day. Wink

)

I was so confused about your tip!!!

amother

Cantaloupe

Thu, Mar 09 2023, 4:07 pm

amother Tuberose wrote:

I was so confused about your tip!!!

Yea, it didn’t seem like much of a tip… it didn’t sound funny either
It’s good that other people chimed in with real tips. We can always use that!

amother

Pink

Thu, Mar 09 2023, 4:16 pm

No kugels or other oily and eggy side dishes.
I cook/steam fresh vegetables on my hot tray like zucchini, string beans, or mushrooms. Delicious and healthy.
And lots of salad.

amother

Pink

Thu, Mar 09 2023, 4:21 pm

amother OP wrote:

This was meant to be a joke thread but I am so happy to see its becoming a really helpful thread.

Hey I can use all these tips also!

Thanks

(I just hope no one thinks its a good idea to start with your floors! I mean, you could. Just start again every day. Wink

)

OP, that was really cute but I think the second Purim ends everyone's sense of humor goes flying out the window!

amother

Cantaloupe

Thu, Mar 09 2023, 4:25 pm

amother Pink wrote:

No kugels or other oily and eggy side dishes.
I cook/steam fresh vegetables on my hot tray like zucchini, string beans, or mushrooms. Delicious and healthy.
And lots of salad.

Is it your minhag to eat kitniyos? String beans are a kitniyos food.

amother

Chestnut

Thu, Mar 09 2023, 4:50 pm

amother Cantaloupe wrote:

My chairs are not so hard and it was better than anything else I tried

cbg

Thu, Mar 09 2023, 4:56 pm

1. Take a picture of your lists
Whether it’s shopping, menu, to do. This way if they get lost you can pull up the picture
2. When working in the kitchen put down a disposable tablecloth on your work station. When it gets overwhelmingly dirty wrap it up and start new
3. Permanent Marker to label foil to know what’s inside the pans

I’ll think of more

cbg

Thu, Mar 09 2023, 4:58 pm

amother Pink wrote:

No kugels or other oily and eggy side dishes.
I cook/steam fresh vegetables on my hot tray like zucchini, string beans, or mushrooms. Delicious and healthy.
And lots of salad.

What do you mean by the hot tray. The electric blech? Will it cook veggies?

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