Cleaning Up Your Kitchen Disaster

The cardinal rule of cooking is that your kitchen must be clean but the times when you crack an egg in a mug of milk and add a dollop of nutella, generous spoonfuls of sugar and put it in your microwave oven because you are trying to be creative or are super hungry, expect a kitchen disaster, a very messy one.

My worst kitchen disaster took place at 2 in the morning. No surprise. I had just watched a video on how to make a mug cake. Though I had successfully made mug cakes several times before, this recipe was a little different. It was in fact a cross between a mug cake and a lava cake. The cake was supposed to be an egg-less one and the recipe had used chocolate more than usual. So, instead of sitting there and salivating, I decided to try my hands at it. 

The egg-less mixture was dry and lumpy. It was far from a smooth batter and I had put chunks of chocolates before completely melting them as stated in the recipe. I put the mixture in the microwave for 2 minutes and took it out to check. The pieces of chocolate were still solid and the mix surely had not cooked. I put it in for another minute and just when around 45 seconds were up, I smelled something ghastly. I saw steam coming out from the inside of the closed oven door. I quickly switched it off and tried to open it but the gooey and sticky mess had flooded the insides of my oven and had almost sealed the door. I ran and opened all the doors and windows and switched on the exhaust fan. My parents were awake by then and the smell had taken over the entire house. 

My Mom somehow managed to open the oven door. A look on the inside filled me with horror. The batter was burnt black and it steamed like it was water over a hundred degrees. I took out the mug and it had bubbles. I had boiled a cake mixture, WOW and when I say this, trust me, there's perhaps nothing in your house that smells worse than burnt chocolate. 

I was out of wits but thank God for in-house superheroes known as mothers. The oven was cooled down first. Then a mix of diluted dishwashing liquid was applied to clean the inside. Make sure your oven is completely cool and the switches turned off before you use water to clean it. The mug too was dipped in hot water and after hours of softening the hard and sticky substance, it finally could be scraped off.

When you cook, you must feel like a warrior. You can't win the battle without causing a bit of havoc. So, go ahead and take over your kitchen. Just Google a few safety tips beforehand or ask your mom. She knows everything. 

Dyuty Auronee is an occasional fusspot who loves her tea and authori-tea. Reach her at dyuty.r@gmail.com