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3 Common Mistakes in Dishwashing and Dish Organization Revealed by Restaurant Chef

Are you confident in your ability to clean and organize dishes properly?

23 December, 2023

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Washing a bowl, a plate, then placing it on a rack, at first listen, it seems like a simple task that even a 7-year-old child can do on their own. Most of us assume that as long as the bowl and plate are clean and dry, it is considered hygienic enough.

However, this is a somewhat subjective thought. Bei Quing – a restaurant chef, has pointed out 3 mistakes in the washing and stacking of dishes that many people make, causing bacteria to grow.

Illustrative image

1 – Stacking dishes on top of each other

Many housewives commonly use a clean cloth to dry unused plates and stack them together in the cabinet. You might say that the cloth you use to dry is clean, and the plates have already been washed, so how could there be any bacteria?

“The Home Appliance Institute once conducted an experiment as follows: First, they sterilized 10 plates and 10 dishes and put them in a germ-free machine. Then, these plates and dishes were divided into 2 groups: one group was stacked on top of each other, and the other group was stacked upright, separately, without creating a common contact surface/point.

Three days later, the results showed that the total bacteria on the set of upright dishes was 8,000 cfu/set, complying with health standards, while the amount of bacteria on the stacked dishes was 560,000 cfu/set, 70 times more than the upright group” – Bei Quing shared the results of an experiment confirming that stacking dishes on top of each other is really unsanitary.

Never stack dishes like this!

Stacking like this is the correct hygiene standard!

2 – Soaking dishes in lukewarm water or dishwashing water

Sometimes, there are moments when we cannot wash dishes immediately after a meal. And to prevent leftover food from drying and sticking to the bowl and plate, what do you usually do? Surely you soak them in lukewarm water or dishwashing water!

Bei Quing affirms that this is a “fatal” mistake that makes dishes more bacteria-infested.

“If you throw all the dirty dishes into the sink and soak them in water, the oil from one dish can spread to the other, making dishwashing more time-consuming. Moreover, water and leftover food particles (stuck on the dishes) are ideal factors for bacteria growth. They cannot thrive and survive without water and nutrients. Soaking unwashed dishes for more than 1 hour provides favorable conditions for bacteria to reproduce” – Bei Quing emphasized.

It is best to wash dishes immediately after eating

3 – Not regularly changing the dishwashing sponge/cloth

Usually, after washing dishes, we will “throw” the dishwashing sponge/cloth into a dish rack or leave it lying around in a corner near the sink. When needed, we take it out wet, add dishwashing water, and use it to scrub the dishes, pots, and pans.

According to Bei Quing, this habit accumulates bacteria from the very tool used to clean dirty dishes. The dishwashing sponge/cloth can accumulate food residue after each wash, and if you don’t clean all of this residue regularly or change the sponge/cloth once a month, it will be difficult to completely clean the dishes.

Don’t forget to change the dishwashing sponge/cloth once a month!

After going through these 3 mistakes in washing and stacking dishes, can you confidently say that you have always washed your dishes correctly before?

According to New Women