this post was submitted on 27 Mar 2026
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There's a big difference between my post-cook mess and my partner's.
I clean as I go; not even a hassle. They leave it all to the end; monumental post-meal dread.
A lot of it depends on the recipe. Dishes like Japanese cream stew or beef bourguignon have lots of prep but end with slow-cooking in a single pan, so you have plenty of time to clean before dinner is served.
Compared to something like, I dunno, steak with scratch-made bernaise sauce and buttered kale - it all comes together at the end very quickly, so you'll have pans and measuring jugs and ingredients on the counter right until the moment you plate-up. No time to clean as you go.
I often choose what to cook purely on the basis of how much mess there will be at the end, because I hate clean-up!
I completely agree. I'm a clean-as-you-go type guy, but sometimes you still end up with a mess, especially if the meal has multiple components that come together at end.
Sounds like you need to improve your mise en place.
I will always do the cold prep first, then wash and tidy away everything I can before starting to cook.
But having organised prep before you start cooking isn't necessarily going to lead to zero mess after.
The recipe I chose as an example was specifically because it's one which makes life difficult. The bernaise sauce in particular wants to be served when it's freshly made and hot. So you'd cook the steak, and while the steak is resting you cook the sauce.
The sauce requires combining eggs and hot melted butter in a blender and blasting it until emulsified, and then after that adding the fresh tarragon you prepped earlier. Then you serve immediately.
So no matter how much mise-en-place you did, at the end you've still got at least a dirty steak pan, butter pan, kale pan, blender, dish for the tarragon, measuring jug, and various utensils...
And oh - the measuring jug was not used for measuring, but rather to transfer the hot butter from the pan to the blender.
If you found a way to avoid all that then great, you're doing very well indeed.
Who cares what it wants. You're the chef, you take charge.
Skip the blender and make bearnaise the classic way, wilt the kale in the steak pan while it's resting and give it a quick toss before serving. Two pans, two bowls, a small dish for the tarragon, a whisk and a pair of tongs. Put a bit a water in the hot pans while you eat to soften anything left in them. An immersion blender is a good compromise for sauces like this too, I find them easier to clean than a pitcher. Either way it should take no more than five minutes to tidy up after. (You can also make the bearnaise first and hold it in a warm oven, it'll be fine)
Why does everyone not understand the value of clean-as-you-go? So much better.
I want to eat sooner
It doesn't take any extra time, it's just kerping busy in your down time. Waiting for water to boil? Wipe the counter. Waiting for your steak to sear? Clean the cutting board and throw away any bits left over. Baking anything? Well there's plenty of time before it's ready.
Waiting for water to boil? Chop some veg. Waiting for steak to sear? Get the plates out of the cupboard. Baking anything? Then putting it in the oven is usually the final step, and all the mess has already been made.
I'm filling the waiting time with other tasks already.
Not trying to argue so please please dont take it that way, just wanted to add anecdotally that my wife says the same thing, yet more often than not when I pass the kitchen the waiting time thats allegedly being used for other cooking related tasks and cannot be reallocated to cleaning as she goes is actually being used to surf Insta, Pinterest, or Etsi lol
And also to be extra clear, I could care less what she does when she's cooking dinner up to and until the point that the deal is that she cooks and I clean. Since I genuinely do clean as I go when im cooking and she's cleaning, I feel like she's violating the terms of our agreement when her cleaning up behind me always only takes her 10 minutes yet whenever im cleaning up behind her Im dealing with so many pots and pans that the water heater gets tapped out halfway through and im still standing in front of the sink over an hour after I started cleaning up the unholy tragedy that is often left behind in her wake.
When two people are cooking the same basic meal and the cleanup time is orders of magnitude higher depending on who is cooking the meal, thats a conversation worth having in my book lol
Lol. I think for regular cooking, post-meal cleanup needs to be done by whoever cooked, for this reason. Because even though I don't think cleaning as you go is always feasible or making a big difference, it certainly can be done or not, by the choice of the cook, and that is unfair.
My partner and I take this approach and are very happy with it. Actually we take it further by having a whole week each of cooking, and so many associated tasks like wiping down kitchen surfaces, shopping, etc, alternate also on that cycle.
Maybe you could try a different deal. My other half and I also used to have the same disagreement. Now, the one who cooks also does the cooking-related cleanup, and the other one takes care of the rest.
It’s a skill. It’s like once you figure out how to make sure everything gets done at the same time then you can start working on cleaning as you go. It’s one of those things that seems obvious if you cook a lot, but impossible if you’re just starting.
If something takes 30 minutes in the oven, cleaning during that time won’t slow you down.
When I cook something that goes in the oven (and many things don't), that is nearly the final step. Most of the mess is already made.
Depends on if you’re comfortable and planned ahead with the prep and steps of cooking.
Sometimes it’s all done at once and there’s no time to spare or risk burning, cooling or delaying one of the items.
On some meals I cook regularly, cleaning as I go is fine. But other times when I’m trying something new or just super tired after work, all I have time for is to throw it in the pot just in time prepping and then go sit while it cooks or eat right away if it’s fast.
I’ve had thoughts of making detailed recipes with cleaning steps, and also a streamlined design for ingredients and when and where they’re needed that I use on recipe cards. Sort of similar to the cooking for engineers cookbook, but for more visually oriented peeps.
To a certain extent it depends on the recipe, but it also depends on how you approach things.
The best way to do most recipes is "mise en place". Preparing everything and putting everything in its place and ready before any heat is turned on. That approach gives you the most down time to clean up while something is frying, or while water is boiling, or whatever. It also reduces the stress of the cooking because everything is ready to go. The down side is that it takes longer from start to finish, but it's quicker to get finished once you turn on the heat. That's why it's used in restaurants. They spend a lot of the day chopping and getting sauces ready, and then when the guests arrive it's much quicker to turn on the heat and actually do the cooking.
When I'm in a rush, I've done things like: start the rice (and literally put it on the back burner), then start chopping onions, throw the onions in the pan and start chopping carrots, toss them in, etc. If you know a recipe well you might know that you can chop a couple of carrots up in 2 minutes, and that's how long you want the onions in before you add the carrots. It's a streamlined way to cook fast, but it leaves a huge mess. It also tends to require more space because you don't have time to put things away between steps.
Yeah, you second approach of what I was calling what just-in-time cooking.
not always possible in small spaces and single cook
I have a small space and am usually cooking by myself, and I have no problem cleaning as I go. In fact, having a small space makes it even more critical to clean as you go so you maintain space to maneuver.
I have a very small kitchen and cook by myself, still have no issues cleaning as I go