You probably spend more time cleaning the kitchen than any other room in the house. But how clean is your refrigerator? If you can spot a spill or detect an odor, your fridge is due for a deep clean. We call it the spring fridge purge!

These fridge cleaning tips are useful for refrigerators of all sizes, including micro- and mini-fridges.

Tip 1: Come Prepared

You must completely empty the fridge to give it a deep, thorough clean. That means time is of the essence. The sooner you finish cleaning, the less time your food spends unrefrigerated.

To save time, gather what you will need for the spring fridge purge before you begin. We recommend:

• A bucket of warm water
• Scentless dish detergent, or vinegar and baking soda
• A clean sponge
• Garbage bags or bins (plus a compost bag, if you separate organic waste)
• Rubber gloves

The choice between dish detergent and vinegar/baking soda is a matter of personal preference. Vinegar and baking soda is the more ‘natural’ choice. If you do go with a detergent, choose one without a strong scent, because your food may absorb a strong scent.

Tip 2: Turn Off the Fridge

Is your refrigerator running? For once, the answer should be “no.” Leaving the fridge plugged while it is empty is a waste of energy (and the fridge consumes more power with the door open.)

Tip 3: Purge All Past-Date and Unused Food

Sort everything you remove from the fridge into one of three piles: items you plan to keep in one pile, containers you plan to wash and reuse in another, and a third pile for garbage.

Any past-date or expired food should go to pile number three. Expired food can be a breeding ground for mold and bacteria, which puts you at risk of food poisoning. When in doubt, throw it out!

Consider discarding any condiments, sauces, and other items you haven’t eaten (and don’t plan to eat) in a month. There’s no reason to fill your fridge with things you hardly use; crowding the fridge impedes air circulation, and the idea that it cuts your energy bill is a myth. Plus, it is much easier to keep the fridge clean when it isn’t full to the brim.

Tip 4: Clean from Top to Bottom

It’s not only the shelf-tops that need a good clean. The vinyl seal that lines the refrigerator door is a magnet for crumbs. The front grill collects lots of dust and dirt. The bottoms of the shelves can hide sticky stains. And the refrigerator door handle? You don’t want to think about all the messy fingerprints are lurking on the underside.

Your spring fridge purge isn’t over until you have cleaned the whole thing inside and out — not just what you can see at first glance. If possible, remove the shelves and crisper bins to ensure you’ve cleaned every edge and corner.

Tip 5: Make Cleaning the Fridge Part of Your Routine

The best fridge cleaning tip we can offer is this: don’t wait until spring to do it! The task is only daunting if you only confront it when the fridge is a mess. Get in the habit of wiping spills before they dry, cleaning jars and bottles before they go in, and disinfecting the vegetable crispers once a week.

Spring is officially here, and so, too, are the fresh flowers, warmer weather, and bright colors that this time of year is celebrated for. The start of spring often coincides with a desire to bring warmth and light to our everyday – and when it comes to the home, this sentiment rings even more true! Whether it’s delving into a deep spring clean or adding pops of color to liven up your décor, the spring season is the perfect time to revitalize your surroundings. Here are a few of our top tips to give your home the ultimate refresh.

Designed by Constance Riik

Put Away Items You No Longer Need

During the cold winter months, it’s all about keeping warm. But spring marks the start of sunnier days, so instead of keeping those bulky blankets spread out all over your sofa, lighter materials can be brought in to easily update the space. Replace thick throw blankets with lightweight decorative pillows, or tidy up any items you don’t use every day and keep only your daily essentials nearby. To help corral the clutter, a storage basket may come in handy, and can also serve as a stylish accent piece. There’s nothing like freshly added décor to bring new energy and reinvigorate a space!

Designed by Matt Schmidt (AMEK, Inc.)

Infuse Pops of Color

It wouldn’t be spring without bold pops of color. From mixing bright colors together, to infusing standalone shades, incorporating this style will serve to ground the look of a room. With the use of cushions, rugs and even curtains, you can easily transform the feel of a space. In the kitchen, brightly colored cookware and vases and bold utensils also add a nice seasonal touch, as well as bring a zesty element to an otherwise modest look. For a fresh spring feel, pops of color like sunshine yellow or a vivid turquoise blue provide the perfect complement to striking stainless steel Thermador appliances, and make for a lively design choice that is sure to evoke the feelings of the season.

Designed by Claire Paquin (Clean Design)

Bring the Outside In

With the spring leaves in full bloom, it’s the perfect time to flaunt the fragrant flowers and glorious greenery that the season is known for. If you have large windows with beautiful views, bringing the outside colors into your room can instantly bolster the space. To highlight the outdoors, try dressing windows with subtle treatments to let what’s outside make a statement. Utilizing sliding screens and open doors that seamlessly flow toward the outside is a simple yet effective way to bring more of the natural landscape into your surroundings, as well as elongate the room. If your home is without a view, lush houseplants are a wonderful alternative. A must-have for any home, fresh foliage can be placed in any room, and stand out on shelves and mantels, hang from the ceiling or buff up the bare corners of a space. Your home will perfectly capture the essence of the season!

Designed by Caroline Brooks

How are you getting your home ready for spring? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below or on our social channels: www.facebook.com/thermador, @ThermadorHome and @Thermador!

Using wood smoke to enhance barbecued meals may seem like an over-and-above addition to modern barbecue cooking; however, many cultures have used wood smoke for centuries to preserve and flavour meats.  Think of smoking as another seasoning to add to grilled favourites.  Like any seasoning, it is important to balance it with the existing flavours from marinades, rubs, and the meat itself.

Smoking can add flavour to a gas or charcoal barbecue, and certainly to more specialized charcoal smokers.  Like spices, different woods impart very different flavours (see chart below) – from the intense, spicy notes of mesquite and hickory, to the sweet and fragrant notes of apple and cherry.  If you’ve never done any smoking before, don’t overdo it – start with a small amount of wood chips (1/2 cup or so), soak them for ½ hour and then add them to a stainless steel or cast iron smoker box.  A smoker box controls airflow for ideal smoke conditions, and keeps ash contained to keep your barbecue clean.  Milder flavours like apple and cherry are a good place to start as well.  The acrid, almost burnt taste of something that is over-smoked is not pleasant.

Where there’s smoke… there’s fire???   It’s very important that your wood chips don’t actually catch fire – the smoke from burning wood chips is very bitter and acrid and imparts an unpleasant flavour to your food.  The sudden rise in temperature can also impact the overall cooking result in your food.  Soaking your chips and monitoring cook temperature is very important when using chips, especially on a gas grill.  Controlling airflow on a charcoal grill is the key to both temperature and smoke control – it becomes second nature with a bit of experience.

Once you get comfortable with the amount of wood chips required for a pleasant smoke flavour, feel free to experiment with different flavours of wood chips and even blends of different flavours.  Many world-renowned barbecue restaurants use blends – try apple and hickory or cherry and alder together for a true ‘sweet and smoky’ experience.

For ‘low and slow’ barbecuing, wood chunks make a great addition to your charcoal grill – large, softball sized pieces of hardwoods offer an extended smoking time and mesh well with lump charcoals to create true southern barbecue classics.

Wood Chip / Chunk Flavouring – Ideal Pairings

Grilled Ribeye with Foraged Mushrooms & Torpedo Onions

Recipe courtesy of Crown Verity & Executive Chef Jason Bangerter, Langdon Hall Country House Hotel and Spa.

INGREDIENTS