The Genius Hack That Stops Cooking Spray From Greasing Up Your Entire Kitchen

Anyone who has ever watched a reality baking competition has witnessed one of those dreaded moments when cupcakes or muffins refuse to budge from a pan and a carefully crafted bake turns into a crumbling mess. That's why top chefs and bakers always recommend spraying your tins (Ina Garten even recommends spraying the tops of muffin tins). While all of this spraying makes baked goods effortlessly release, what about cleaning up all of that extra grease that's released into your workspace?

One unexpected solution may already be in your kitchen: the dishwasher. Instead of spraying your pan or cake tin over your food prep area, simply open your dishwasher and spray toward the inside of the unit, trapping the surplus lubricant in the appliance. By containing the extra spray, you keep it off your kitchen's surfaces, and it will be easily washed away the next time you run the unit.

This dishwasher grease-trap hack not only works for traditional baking vessels like sheet pans or tins, but expert bakers also recommend greasing some less expected items. Coating measuring cups with a light layer of cooking spray makes cleanup of notoriously sticky ingredients like peanut butter or honey a snap. A quick spray of your knife before cutting a freshly baked and cooled cake will leave you with a decidedly smoother finish. Each of these tools is easily greased by directing the spray into your dishwasher.

The dishwasher hack works just as well with one of the top-rated butter sprays as it does with a budget-friendly homemade spray. If residue has already built up on your cabinets from before you learned this handy tip, you can (somewhat counterintuitively) use a clean cloth dabbed with a bit of neutral cooking oil to clean them. Moving forward, you will be free to spray to your heart's content (as long as it's directly into the dishwasher) leaving your kitchen surfaces grease-free.