You Probably Aren't Cleaning Your Microwave Often Enough

Most people use their microwaves at least once a day to heat a cup of coffee, make some perfectly crispy bacon, or heat up leftovers for lunch or dinner. While microwaves make heating up food quick and easy, if you're not careful, what you're heating can end up bubbling or splattering all over. Unfortunately, when this happens, most people (and we're guilty of it, too) either put off cleaning up the mess or halfheartedly wipe up a bit and call it a day. Although a little mess isn't necessarily a bad thing, truthfully, most of us aren't cleaning our microwaves nearly enough.

Most folks should clean their microwaves once a week and immediately after any splatters or spills so they don't become more challenging to clean. Moreover, when messes aren't cleaned up, they can make your microwave less efficient and could even become a serious danger if left to build up. Not only can splattered food harbor bacteria, but the food can create hot spots in the microwave that could catch fire. Similarly, if you have a microwave over your stove, there's usually a filter underneath that catches grease and fumes from cooking. This also needs to be cleaned for efficiency and safety.

Fortunately, baking soda can make cleaning your microwave super easy, and with frequent wipe downs, you never have to worry about food splatters getting so built up that they become almost impossible to remove. Of course, you can also make cleanups easier by taking steps to reduce splatters and spills when microwaving food.

Most of us have been there. The moment when reheating soup has turned your microwave into the kitchen appliance equivalent of a Jackson Pollock painting. While there are many things you should avoid putting in the microwave, most foods are fine to heat in them if you take the proper precautions to keep the food from winding up as a sticky decoration.

One of the simplest ways to prevent food from splattering is by covering it. Paper towels are great for this, but there are also items like Smartware's Reusable Microwave Splatter Screen or Tovolo's Microwave Splatter Cover that can help keep your food from becoming your next mess to clean up. All of these options allow steam to vent so your food won't explode in your face when you take off the cover, and it keeps any splatters neatly contained.

For foods that can bubble over, you should still cover them, but we recommend also keeping an eye on things while they're cooking so you can stop the microwave before anything spills. By frequently stopping the microwave before this can happen, you can prevent having to clean up a huge mess. Another option is to use your microwave's power level button, which cooks food slower by turning the microwave on and off in timed intervals. Sure, it will take a bit more time, but overall, it will save you even more time on cleanup!