How to Clean & Care for Stainless Steel Pans Like a Pro

The arrival of a new set of stainless steel cookware is a joyful occasion. The second you lay eyes on it—all shiny and pristine—you’re already dreaming of all the searing, caramelizing, and sautéing you’ll be doing. But in the same breath, you also thi…

The arrival of a new set of stainless steel cookware is a joyful occasion. The second you lay eyes on it—all shiny and pristine—you’re already dreaming of all the searing, caramelizing, and sautéing you’ll be doing. But in the same breath, you also think: Man, I really hope I don’t ruin this gleaming piece of perfection. Because as much as stainless steel pots and pans conduct, distribute, and maintain heat beautifully, and are an absolute joy to have around the kitchen, they also need your care and attention.

Let’s face it: bits of food will stick on, water spots will (too reliably) appear, and dings will happen. Luckily though, there are handy solutions for all this regular wear and tear. Protect your precious pots and pans from discoloration, damage, and debauchery by following these guidelines for cleaning and for caring.

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7 Laundry Tips for Making Your Clothes Last (Almost) Forever

We’ve teamed up with Miele to share expert-approved laundry tips and tricks for making sure your clothes (and sheets, towels, and more) stay in tip-top shape—no matter how many times you run them through the washer and dryer.

As a sentimentalist and…

We've teamed up with Miele to share expert-approved laundry tips and tricks for making sure your clothes (and sheets, towels, and more) stay in tip-top shape—no matter how many times you run them through the washer and dryer.


As a sentimentalist and a nostalgic dresser, my most prized piece of clothing is a cream-colored Lehigh University crew neck from the mid-1980s. This vintage sweatshirt belonged to my mom in college and was passed down to me as a child, when it hung below my knees. It’s been a treasured garment ever since, keeping me warm from elementary school all the way to adulthood.

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Amanda Hesser’s Very Best Tips for an Organized Kitchen

The first step to better, happier cooking? Setting up a tip-top kitchen. We’re talking one that’s stocked with essential tools and ingredients, organized so everything you need is close at hand, and sparkling-clean from floor to ceiling. Food52 is here…

The first step to better, happier cooking? Setting up a tip-top kitchen. We're talking one that's stocked with essential tools and ingredients, organized so everything you need is close at hand, and sparkling-clean from floor to ceiling. Food52 is here to make it happen. Your Do-Anything Kitchen gathers the smartest ideas and savviest tricks from the Food52 community and test kitchen to help you transform your space into its very best self.


Our co-founder Amanda Hesser’s influence as a master organizer runs through the Food52 office and community. Genius Director Kristen Miglore picked up many of her most reliable kitchen systems (like the little wire drawer organizers for keeping measuring spoons, thermometers, and other small tools tidy) from her in Food52’s earliest days—when the site’s recipes were tested and photographed in Amanda’s Brooklyn kitchen. And parts of that every-nook-and-cranny-considered home kitchen—its shallow pull-out spice drawers, open shelving, and mix of vintage and new—were recreated at the Food52 office when it was time to design a test kitchen.

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Yes, You Should Be Vacuuming Your Curtains & Blinds

We’ve teamed up with Miele to give you smart, savvy tips for spiffing up your home—whether you’ve got an entire weekend or under an hour to spare. Here, we’re sharing a few unexpected spots you should actually be cleaning with your trusty vacuum.

Wh…

We've teamed up with Miele to give you smart, savvy tips for spiffing up your home—whether you've got an entire weekend or under an hour to spare. Here, we're sharing a few unexpected spots you should actually be cleaning with your trusty vacuum.


When your dog tracks in dirt on the entryway carpet or you spill a bunch of crumbs on the kitchen floor, what do you do? Pull out the vacuum, of course.

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How to Get Your Kitchen Sink Zone in Order

Sure, this extended (and unprecedented) period at home might have inspired you to fold up all your plastic bags and rearrange your pantry—these are relatively mess-free projects with large payoffs. But what about the areas in your home, more specifical…

Sure, this extended (and unprecedented) period at home might have inspired you to fold up all your plastic bags and rearrange your pantry—these are relatively mess-free projects with large payoffs. But what about the areas in your home, more specifically, your kitchen, that are used all the time but get even less attention? Areas like...the kitchen sink.

Not a day goes by that I don’t use my kitchen sink for something—washing my nice knives, rinsing a plate to load into the dishwasher, watering a plant—but I rarely give it the love it deserves. Perhaps this is because I have a physical reaction every time I have to fish out engorged pasta and pieces of a long-gone salad from the drain, discouraging me from returning to the scene until days hours later. Or perhaps it’s because doing the dishes is simply my least favorite chore ever. I’ll clean the bathroom to procrastinate doing the dishes—that’s how bad it is.

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A Professional Baker’s Tips for a Clean, Calm Kitchen

The first step to better, happier cooking? Setting up a tip-top kitchen. We’re talking one that’s stocked with essential tools and ingredients, organized so everything you need is close at hand, and sparkling-clean from floor to ceiling. Food52 is here…

The first step to better, happier cooking? Setting up a tip-top kitchen. We're talking one that's stocked with essential tools and ingredients, organized so everything you need is close at hand, and sparkling-clean from floor to ceiling. Food52 is here to make it happen. Your Do-Anything Kitchen gathers the smartest ideas and savviest tricks from the Food52 community and test kitchen to help you transform your space into its very best self.


Even if you’ve never been to Flour, Joanne Chang’s much-loved bakery in Boston, you may have gotten wind of the shop’s criminally tasty sticky buns and killer egg sandwich. Or perhaps you have spattered, dogeared copies of her cookbooks—Baking with Less Sugar, Pastry Love, Flour (and Flour, Too!), Myers + Chang at Home—on your kitchen shelves.

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17 Junk Drawer Before & Afters to Make Your Jaw Drop

Junk drawers are a weird phenomenon, but they’re also inescapable, if you ask me. There are just way too many odds and ends that don’t have a logical place in your home, yet can’t be trashed either. All of them eventually find their way to the junk dra…

Junk drawers are a weird phenomenon, but they’re also inescapable, if you ask me. There are just way too many odds and ends that don't have a logical place in your home, yet can't be trashed either. All of them eventually find their way to the junk drawer.

Elastic ties? Junk drawer.
Store receipts? Junk drawer.
Birthday cards? Junk drawer.
Batteries? Junk drawer.

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The DIY Surface Cleaner You Can Make in 60 Seconds

When we first moved into our new apartment, I complained a lot about our black granite kitchen countertops. “They’re boring,” I’d tell anyone who’d listen. “Too safe,” I’d add. Funny how things change, because five months and a pandemic later, I am inc…

When we first moved into our new apartment, I complained a lot about our black granite kitchen countertops. "They’re boring," I’d tell anyone who’d listen. "Too safe," I’d add. Funny how things change, because five months and a pandemic later, I am incredibly thankful for them and their “safe” (read: stain-repelling) practicality.

Our kitchens have never worked this hard, and this means a lot of dirty surfaces. And dirty surfaces need efficient cleaners.

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When Was the Last Time You Washed Your Washing Machine?

Though it might sound absurd that a washing machine designed to clean everything from clothes to baby bottles needs cleaning itself, it makes complete sense. If you think about it, a multitude of undesirable leftovers can—and will—build up inside your …

Though it might sound absurd that a washing machine designed to clean everything from clothes to baby bottles needs cleaning itself, it makes complete sense. If you think about it, a multitude of undesirable leftovers can—and will—build up inside your machine. The first culprits that come to mind are the dirt and grime from your soiled clothes, which can accumulate over time. But there are others like leftover detergent, hard water mineral deposits, mold, and mildew—none of which should really be in there. You know that funky odor that sometimes follows your laundry as you transfer it to the dryer? That’s what not cleaning your machine can lead to.

Here’s exactly how to clean your washing machine.

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The One Spot in Your Home You’re Definitely Forgetting to Clean

Growing up, I absolutely loathed how clean and tidy our house was at all times. OK, I didn’t hate that it was clean, but the fact that my mom always insisted that dishes were cleaned the second they hit the sink, and bedsheets and pillows tucked and fl…

Growing up, I absolutely loathed how clean and tidy our house was at all times. OK, I didn't hate that it was clean, but the fact that my mom always insisted that dishes were cleaned the second they hit the sink, and bedsheets and pillows tucked and fluffed before the day even got going.

I found it endlessly annoying as a kid to live in what one person close to me once described as a "model home"—sparkling kitchen counters and all. But now, as a result, I can't imagine living anywhere even remotely disorganized (have you met my kitchen storage MVP yet?) or messy (my BFF is a purple vacuum).

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