Three Useful Kitchen Cleaning Tips

The kitchen is one of the rooms you want cleaner than most of the others, but it can be a chore. There's always food around and plenty of tools and things you use—even if you use maid services, you're going to have to clean the kitchen sometimes, and it's great to have a few tricks to make it easier!

Martha Stewart has plenty of tips and tricks for keeping the kitchen clean, and here are our three favorites!

Cleaning Your Grinder. A coffee or spice grinder is an extremely handy tool to have for home cooks, but if you use strong herbs, the smell will often stick to the grinder, and even if you wash it clean, the smell might remain.

The best way to remove the smell and possible flavor transfer of the herbs is to grind a piece of fresh, white bread. It absorbs the odors and flavors and leaves the grinder fresh and ready for whatever you have next!

Cleaning Cast Iron. Cast iron needs a little bit of special care to preserve its seasoning—and it can be a pain to clean. Use this trick next time you have to clean cast iron: sprinkle the bottom of the pan generously with a coarse salt, then rub with a sponge.

The salt soaks up oil and loosens dirt. When you're done cleaning, just rinse and dry the pan.

Hanging Baskets for Organization. Need more counter or shelf space? This clever idea will help you out! Anytime you can get things off of a surface and onto the wall, it's going to give you more room, but that's obviously easier said than done. That's where baskets made for hanging come in.

The baskets used to hold fishing tackle and baskets designed to go on a bicycle come with holes for hanging in the back, but you could turn any sturdy basket into a wall hanging basket with a drill and a bit of effort.

Fill the baskets with kitchen tools or even fruits and vegetables!