We have TOO MANY dishes, cookware and utensils

[Josh Hendy]

Wow, it's nice to live in a family most of whom love to cook, but we are getting buried under all the dishes, cookware and cooking utensils that people keep bringing home! How many wooden spoons, whisks, spatulas, slicers and tongs do people need, fer cryin' out loud. I'm literally afraid to go into the lower cupboards to look for say, a bowl or a dinner plate, because there are so many serving bowls, cake pans, trays, baking sheets, cutting boards, juicers, etc. etc. etc. in there, it's likely to cause a big crash.

Our knife block is overflowing with knives ... and usually none of them are sharpened, so everyone reaches for the same serrated bread knife for everything, unless they pull out the long carving knife and use it to slice cheese or something.

It isn't so much the money wasted on all this junk, but the depressing clutter and lack of storage space. And hoo-boy, do people get grouchy when you suggest throwing away some of the more useless and decrepit stuff!

Thank you ... just had to vent.

 

[AllyBri]

Wow, it's nice to live in a family most of whom love to cook, but we are getting buried under all the dishes, cookware and cooking utensils that people keep bringing home! How many wooden spoons, whisks, spatulas, slicers and tongs do people need, fer cryin' out loud. I'm literally afraid to go into the lower cupboards to look for say, a bowl or a dinner plate, because there are so many serving bowls, cake pans, trays, baking sheets, cutting boards, juicers, etc. etc. etc. in there, it's likely to cause a big crash.

Our knife block is overflowing with knives ... and usually none of them are sharpened, so everyone reaches for the same serrated bread knife for everything, unless they pull out the long carving knife and use it to slice cheese or something.

It isn't so much the money wasted on all this junk, but the depressing clutter and lack of storage space. And hoo-boy, do people get grouchy when you suggest throwing away some of the more useless and decrepit stuff!

Thank you ... just had to vent.

Never enough wooden spoons. Think I have every size there is but always on the lookout.

 

[dpswift]

Totally understand. I have been trying to get rid of clutter but it seems like some is attached to everything in the house. I would try choosing a few of the multiples and boxing them up. After a few months if no one has asked for their favorite juicer out it would go.

Another option is if anyone will be moving out in a few years make a bin of extra items to help them start out.

A few months ago we went from 3 measuring cups to one. The dogs broke one and chewed up the other.The first thing DH said was to get a new one. We really have not needed more than one.

 

[puffkin]

I just went through this awhile ago. I went through all the cooking cabinets/drawers and pulled out all the duplicates and things we never used. I did this last fall. We were getting new countertops/backsplash so it was a good excuse to declutter as well. Everything was boxed up and in our yardsale pile until the spring. That way, if we found we really did need something we still had it. We didn't really miss any of the stuff, so it was sold at the yard sale. I think it would have been hard to get rid of it immediately though. But 6 months of cooking/baking (especially over the holidays) was a good test.

 

[hsmamato2]

clean it out! I hate too many utensils and tools in my kitchen...I love to cook,and spend a lot of time doing so,and I know what tools work best for me, pans,etc. Everything else went on a trip to Goodwill. If there is no room in my (disney) container by the stove for another stir spoon or spatula,I eiether have to get rid of one before replacing, or just use what I have. I did keep a stash of unwanted kitchen items for my camping bin,the rest go.(who really needs 4 different kinds of manual cheese graters!?!) I also don't like a lot of 'gadgets'...a few basic simple items work better than a cabinet full of "as seen on tv' junk anyway......

 

[crisi]

I donated my china - I seldom used it and it was a compromise choice from my first marriage. That freed up some space.

My mother in law is a kitchen tool person - and as a result I have three gravy ladles. I don't use gravy ladles (I put gravy in a measuring cup - classy but it works - I also have a gravy boat for when I want to dress up the table - so gravy gets poured in my house). My mother in law finds this a lack, so she keeps buying me gravy ladles, thinking I must need one because I don't put them on the table.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

I have a tiny kitchen so organization is imperative for me to keep my sanity. When DH and I got married we had three sets of everything. One set for each of us before we were married and one set of new things we registered for. I kept all of our registry items and sold the rest in a yard sale and gave some of it to family. I don't even own wooden spoons because I don't have a dishwasher and I have a fear that wooden spoons just can't be cleaned. The only thing I really have duplicates of is spatulas and I have about 4 of them in various sizes.

The rule in our house is that if you bring in something new, it must be replacing something. I bent the rule when we found a rotisserie baking pan that matched our cookware. It was 75% off so we got it and it sits in the basement because I literally have no room for it. The basement is also where I keep my extra cupcake tins and serving ware since I only use these things a few times a year.

 

[msmama]

I feel your pain.

My mother gifts me something useless for the kitchen for every holiday and birthday. I now have a drawer of stuff that doesn't get used, just for when she asks me where it is.

A pomegranate deseeder? Really? And I like pineapple, but I don't need a special gadget for cutting it (especially when I like it just fine from a can). And one year she gave me, not 1, not 2, not even 3, but 4 FOUR corn butterers. There's only 2 people in my house!!!

 

[melissalee]

I just got married and donated and gave away or threw away a ton! Now I have all nice new things! No more hand me downs!

 

[JanaDee]

Get rid of it. No excuses and no reason to hang onto many duplicates of things.

Having a clean, organized kitchen is worth the irritation of having someone mad at you for 5 mins because they claim it is something they use "all the time". No, you really don't, you just don't want to throw it away.

We are currently cleaning out my MIL's house and let me tell you, that sure is some motivation for getting rid of useless crap in my house.

 

[TravelMommy]

How many dishes, cups, bowls, silverware should one have?? I have been steadily paring down year by year and we have had no ill effects, lol. So say per person in the household and a few fextra or guests ?? or not?? how many place settings do you keep on hand? TIA

 

[LJSquishy]

I never seem to have enough! I cook everything from scratch so I go through a lot of bowls, plates, pans, cooking utensils, serving utensils, measuring cups, etc. We also only have table settings for 8 (dinnerware & flatware) which isn't enough if we have even two people over...I have to have the dishes & flatware 100% clean when we have guests because the two of us go through plates and forks throughout the day. It actually slows me down while cooking because I have to wash the cooking utensils several times while cooking (for instance using tongs to put raw meat in a pan, wash them, use tongs to flip half-cooked meat, wash them, use tongs to plate meat) and the same goes for cooking spoons. I have just one set of dry measuring cups which is definitely not enough! I do have 6 liquid measuring cups (two 1-cup, three 2-cup, one 4-cup) which is nice but I wouldn't object to one more 1-cup. I'd like more prep bowls and more serving spoons (metal)...I don't really have but one metal serving spoon. I have 5 small cutting boards (about the size of a piece of copy paper) and one giant one but I go through all of the small cutting boards every day so I'd like another 2 or so.

 

[Forum Jumper]

If you have a college nearby, check to see if they take donations for students. Some colleges have kitchenware for students' use while attending and living in housing.

 

[ldo]

going through things the Fall and putting in a big bin in the basement--will pull out when kids start getting their apts.

 

[pigletto]

I can kind of relate, only in our house it is a glut of one use appliances. They take up so much room. Some of them are NEVER used, others are used maybe twice a year but heaven forbid we part with the sandwich maker or air popper, or extra coffee maker etc. I've just started removing them instead of asking, and nobody notices!

One thing we will never have enough of is wooden spoons. The dog is convinced they are sticks and that they are for him. We lose at least one a month.

 

[hearts8701]

You can always donate items to Ronald McDonald houses for sick children's families

 

[Josh Hendy]

I have a tiny kitchen so organization is imperative for me to keep my sanity. When DH and I got married we had three sets of everything. One set for each of us before we were married and one set of new things we registered for. I kept all of our registry items and sold the rest in a yard sale and gave some of it to family. I don't even own wooden spoons because I don't have a dishwasher and I have a fear that wooden spoons just can't be cleaned. The only thing I really have duplicates of is spatulas and I have about 4 of them in various sizes.

...

The comment about wooden spoons is interesting ... we never put our wooden spoons in the dishwasher for fear that the heat will crack them, but only wash them by hand!

I assume that wood has some kind of anti-bacterial properties such that a good scrubbing with hot water, detergent and a brush will suffice - despite the porousness of the wood, where you'd think that germs might cling. There were articles a few years ago which claimed that wooden cutting boards were as safe or safer than plastic cutting boards because of this supposed property. So I gathered that the same applies to wooden spoons.

But we use plastic cutting boards because we have a couple of good, thick ones that fit in the dishwasher. When I clean them by hand, I try to be _super_ meticulous about scrubbing them with lots and lots of detergent and hot water and then I clean the plastic scrub brush afterwards to make sure there are no bits of raw meat stuck in the bristles.

 

[daughtersrus]

Wow, it's nice to live in a family most of whom love to cook, but we are getting buried under all the dishes, cookware and cooking utensils that people keep bringing home! How many wooden spoons, whisks, spatulas, slicers and tongs do people need, fer cryin' out loud. I'm literally afraid to go into the lower cupboards to look for say, a bowl or a dinner plate, because there are so many serving bowls, cake pans, trays, baking sheets, cutting boards, juicers, etc. etc. etc. in there, it's likely to cause a big crash.

Our knife block is overflowing with knives ... and usually none of them are sharpened, so everyone reaches for the same serrated bread knife for everything, unless they pull out the long carving knife and use it to slice cheese or something.

It isn't so much the money wasted on all this junk, but the depressing clutter and lack of storage space. And hoo-boy, do people get grouchy when you suggest throwing away some of the more useless and decrepit stuff!

Thank you ... just had to vent.

A wood block is not good for your knives. Every time you pull one out, it scrapes against the wood causing it to dull quickly.

 

[njmom47]

So much clutter in my kitchen as well.
I store stuff in all my cabinets, on the countertops, under the island, in the microwave cabinet, and in the tall glass door cabinet as well as in my pantry.
I think I have too much stuff.

 

[texasroni75]

Another option is if anyone will be moving out in a few years make a bin of extra items to help them start out.

This! Oldest DD is planning to move out in the next 6-12 months, so I set aside a box with a portion of my huge kitchenware collection, to help save her some $$ (and to give me more room in the cabinets). My mom did the same for me when I moved out, and I was SO grateful at the time. I still use the mixing bowls and pyrex she gave me 20+ years ago. DH makes fun of me, but I get a little sentimental about my bakeware too sometimes

The only thing I never have enough of is flatware. Even though I try to be diligent about it, I'm pretty sure my toddler is throwing away forks and spoons here and there.