Prepare Your Appliances For Thanksgiving

Posted on Nov 20th, 2020

With Thanksgiving just a short week away, this weekend is all about prepping your menu, kitchen, and home for the festive gathering. With all the pressure to deliver the perfect meal, the last thing you want is for an appliance to dupe out on you at the last second. So while you write out your to-do list for this weekend, don’t forget to add a few appliances to the checklist.

Clean Your Oven

There is no doubt your oven takes the center stage during the Holidays. While it may be tempting to run a vigorous clean cycle on your oven, you may opt for a hand-cleaning instead. Conventional clean cycles on ovens require very high temperatures which can be strenuous on your oven and actually cause more problems than solve them (unless you have a steam cycle that harnesses the power of steam instead of high temperatures). So instead, grab a sponge, warm water, some oven cleaner and go to town.

Check Your Burners

From gravy to mashed potatoes, it is likely every burner on your cooktop will be utilized over the holiday. Having a single burner go out could be the difference between cooking with ease to frantically moving pans around and trying to figure out the timing for each dish. Go ahead and do a quick check to make sure each burner is clear of food debris and working properly. Now would also be a good time to replace any coils or drip pans.

Treat Your Fridge Right

Hosting a Thanksgiving feast usually entails stuffing your refrigerator to the brim with all of the raw ingredients or your freezer with prebaked foods. Make sure your refrigerator and/or freezer are working properly by checking the temperature, clearing the compressor of any debris, and wiping down the door to make sure the seals are sealing sufficiently. When you go to fill your fridge or freezer with Thanksgiving ingredients or leftovers, make sure you are allowing enough space for air to circulate so your foods will receive even cool temperatures and avoid any frost build-up.

Don't Forget The Dishwasher

A lot of dishes go into preparing the perfect Thanksgiving meal. You’ll want to make sure you have all the dishes you need available when you need them so your dishwasher will likely be working overtime throughout the week (because who wants to handwash that many spoons?!). Go ahead and check the bottom of your dishwasher for any debris or fallen silverware, make sure the drain is clear of any blockage, and don’t fill up your dishwasher too much to allow your dishes to get the right amount of power and come out sparkly clean.