AIBU or are DM and DH dirty ?

[Fibilou]

I clean the fridge and freezers out every week, rotate the stock etc. Dishwash the fridge shelves and racks. My mum and DH think this is ridiculous and that I am obsessed with it.

I should say that I used to be a pastry chef in a 5* hotel and we stripped and cleaned our service fridge and rotated the stock daily so my clean-fridge obsession is probably a hangover from that. I am rather Monica about the house which again stems from 10 years in luxury hotels.

AIBU clean freaky ?

Is that a sock out of the clean washing basket, Reality??

YABU

A professional level of cleanliness is not necessary in a domestic kitchen. You are wasting huge chunks of your like and you only get one. Put down the Flash and go and do something more interesting.

Sounds excessive. Monthly would be more appropriate (and I hold my hands up and say mine gets done maybe 4 times a year). Can you try moving to fortnightly and give yourself a break? Apart from anything else it is very wasteful on energy because the appliances keep having to cool large amounts of air down. They are most efficient when maintaining a steady temperature. Which is why you should always try and open the doors as infrequently as possible, and never leave them hanging open when getting stuff in and out.

Huge chunks of your life

I clean my fridge errrr quarterly maybe?

I'm quite houseproud about most things.

I can think of worse things to be obsessive about!!!

There are few things nicer than a site of clean and shiny fridge.

I generally rotate the food in mine when I go shopping (translates as throws out the old stuff I had forgotten about and that is now growing legs).

I, too, dishwasher my bits (so to speak).

Though probably every couple of months rather than weekly.

Clearly I'm a minger!

I clean the fridge part of the fridge freezer (nearly 4 yo) may be once every couple of months at best. The freezer is a frost free one, don't think it has ever been cleaned except for the time when DH switched it off by accident and went to Scotland for 4 days (I had gone with DS to Spain a couple of days before to visit my DF and DSM).
Other freezer isn't frost free so probably gets a defrost and clean every few months.

Sorry but it does sound excessive to me, though I do regularly check best before dates, and I do like to ensure food well secure against cross-contamination and leaks (e.g. meat is always defrosted on the bottom shelf in a sealed pack on a plate to in case of leaks.

Yes you are a clean freak. However thanks for the reminder that fridge stuff can be put in the dishwasher I scrubbed mine by hand (for the first time in about 2 years) last week. Wish i'd remembered I could stick them in the dishwasher.

I clean my fridge every week. Wipe it inside, clean the door shelf things (always have spills in for some reason) and wash the shelves.

It takes 5 minutes.

Grubbby fridges are vile.

Have never cleaned the freezer though. Why the hell would you bother doing that? Have never defrosted it either (falls firmly into DP's job, that one).

There are LOTS of things nicer than a shiny fridge, 45 minutes spent with a cup of tea and a magazine being one of them.

heres how to clean a freezer ,(assuming freezer is working properly and isnt chocked full of ice...... take everything out and put in cool bags .(or use it all). make up warm water , bicarb of soda and a touch of washing up liquid.... take drawer out and wash & dry. wipe down interior with soapy solution , rinse with clean water , dry. wipe down door inside and out ,paying particular attention to seals and rince and dry. replace drawers ect. refill with food. takes no more than 15 minutes..

And I aint a clean freak. Am a slack harry really.

freezers need cleaning too. bits of food can escape from packets and will go off . it may take longer because its frozen , but it can still go mankey.

Cleaning the fridge doesn't take long - it took me about 25 minutes this morning, done while the baby was asleep.

No, I don't defrost the freezer - just clean the insides and outsides of the doors and go through what's inside.

Mind you I could probably write a list of what's in the freezer off the top of my head so it's unlikely anything would ever go out of date.

Clearly I am abnormal ! Oh well, that's what doing public health and hygiene certificates does for you. I also clean the oven once a week...

Riven , it can. why else would frozen food have sell by dates/use by dates?

Oh, I clean my oven every month. However, I have a pyro oven, which cleans itself

I clean the inside of the oven once a week and the top of it after everytime I cook. I also pull it out once a week and sweep and mop under it. I have been told I am clean freaky for that. And for moving couch every three-four days to sweep and mop under there.

In my defence the unit in the dining room is really heavy so that only gets moved about once a month

Bugger all in my freezer expect frozen peas and ice cream anyway. It's as clean as when I first got it (except the odd stray pea).

How can it take 25 mins to clean a fridge?

Take food out, take shelves out, clean all inside with flash, wash the shelves, put it all back in.

5 mins, 10 tops.

"A professional level of cleanliness is not necessary in a domestic kitchen."

I disagree with this. You are statistically more likely to get a food-borne disease from poor hygiene in the home than a restaurant/takeaway - usually due to poor rotation of foods and cross contamination.

However I merrily ignore sell by dates and have just eaten a yoghurt dated 3rd March ;)

Riven I ignore use-by dates on frozen things. I also use meat and fish that has been frozen more than a month. I am still alive. I have never had food poisoning in my life.

Oven once a week quick clean, once a month deep clean with killer chemicals.

The top easy to wipe down as is induction hob, used to hate cleaning gas hob with all the bits and pieces you have to dismantled and scrub.

I have a pyro oven too, but it still gets a good steam clean once a week and a daily scrub at the racks and wipe down.
Having a tidy house is a very different thing from having a clean house imo.