Dishwasher Loading Tips

Minute-per-minute, using a full dishwasher saves more time and energy than washing dishes by hand. To ensure that you're loading your dishwasher right, here's a couple hints:

• Put bowls in upside down. This prevents the bowl from filling up with dirty water. Same goes for cups.
• leave some space between every item. Heat, water, and vapor need to touch every part of a dish in order to properly clean it.
• Angle everything to ensure water doesn't sit on top of it.
• Don't stack dishes
• Put butter knives blade up, but all other knives blade down.
• Do not put these items in the dishwasher: cast iron, pewter, delicate glassware, tin, sterling silver, china, anodized aluminum, and wood.
• Only run the dish washer when its full, otherwise the dishes can get overheated and break or melt.
• Make sure the arms can freely spin
• Unload the bottom rack first. Moving the top one may cause drips to fall onto dry items
• Always use the appropriate amount of detergent.
• Occasionally run an empty cycle with white vinegar (a natural cleaner) to remove water buildup and food particles and kill fungi.

The Month of Smells, Week 1: Washing Machine

Washing machines deal with 3 things:

1. Dirty clothes
2. Soap
3. Water

Its no surprise that things can end up smelling weird. An unfortunate truth is that there may be build up, mildew, or even mold causing these smells. Luckily, they can be very easy to get rid of! We even have a couple of different methods:

Method 1: Natural

Run your washer on a large load with the hottest water possible *with no clothes or soap*. pour 3-4 cups of white vinegar the the water. The white vinegar acts as a disinfectant and kills the mildew and mold.

Let your washer mix the vinegar into the water for a minute and stop it again. Add in about 1/2 cup of baking soda. Let it run again to mix the baking soda in, and then stop it again. Let it sit for 30-60 minutes. After that let it finish the cycle. Run one more cycle with nothing in it to get any more residue, and repeat the process as needed.

Method 2: Chemical

This method is almost identical to the natural route, but we just use bleach instead. When the washer is filled with water, pour in 1 cup of bleach. Let it run the rest of the cycle, and then run one after that's just water to get any left over bleach washed away. Make sure that there is lots of air movement when working with bleach!

Natural Laundry Stain Removal Guide

How to Get Your Microwave Sparkling!

Microwave Cleaning Supplies:

• Lemons
• Apple Cider Vinegar
• Water
• Microwave safe glass bowl or measuring cup

What you need to do:

• Gather Lemons, Apple Cider Vinegar (white vinegar works great too) and water.
• Chop up a couple of lemons, place in a microwave safe measuring or bowl.
• Pour in about 1/4 cup vinegar, then fill the rest with water.
• Place it in your microwave and turn on for a couple of minutes. About 3 to 4 minutes depending on your microwave. You want the water to get hot enough to create a steam.
• After it’s done, DON’T OPEN THE DOOR. Let it sit for 10 minutes or so. The steam will lift the dried on food.
• Using a clean damp sponge, wipe it clean.

Now you have a sparkling clean microwave that should also smell nice and fresh. Enjoy!

Chest Freezer Organization

Having a chest freezer can be a huge help when you have a big family or just get a good deal on your favorite foods. However keeping your chest freezer organized can be a bit difficult. Here are five tips to help your chest freezer stay organized and all of your foods easily accessible.

Tip #1

Keep an inventory.  This keeps you from over purchasing one type of food.

Tip #2

Use reusable shopping bags to keep like food together. Sturdy plastic bins work well also but run the risk of becoming brittle with time.

Tip #3

Freeze your foods flat in gallon sized, freezer safe Ziploc bags. This makes it easy to stack and organize foods either horizontally or vertically.

Tip #4

Clearly label all food with the expiration dates. Painters tape and a sharpie can help with those store bought items that have small or hard to find expiration dates.

Tip #5

Clean out your freezer quarterly and dispose of expired items.


These tips should help you to get the most out of your chest freezer.

For more helpful tips like these


Call us at

208-385-9074

Visit us at

www.wesappliance.com

Stop by at

530 N Orchard St, Boise

Business hours:

M-F: 9–6; Sat: 9-5

How to Clean 8 of Your Trickiest Kitchen Appliances

Microwave: Steam away messes

Don’t waste elbow grease on the crusted messes in your microwave—just let them steam clean. Cut a lemon in half and squeeze the juice into a microwave-safe bowl. Add the lemon pieces to the bowl, along with 1/2 cup of water. Nuke the water and lemon for three minutes on high, or until the liquid starts to boil. Without opening the door, let the lemon water stand for five minutes. The lemony steam will help break down the gunk, making it easy to wipe off after you remove the bowl. Take out the turntable to clean it, then wipe down the top, bottom, sides, and door of the microwave before putting it back.

Blender: Let it self-clean

Hate the idea of scrubbing every inch of the blade? Let your blender do all the dirty work. Fill the pitcher with hot water as soon as you’re done using it, add a couple drops of soap, and run the blender like you would for a recipe. Rinse it out and it will be ready for your next concoction. Just make sure you take the blender apart and give it a hands-on scrub every now and then for a deep clean.

Coffee maker: Clean out with vinegar

Coffee maker reservoirs are among the most germy items in the kitchen and have even more germs than bathroom door knobs, according to a small study by public health organization NSF. To keep yours clean, wash the removable pieces of the machine after every use—most parts can easily be thrown in the dishwasher. But about once a month, give it a deep clean by attacking the buildup on the inside of the appliance. Put a paper filter in place, then fill the water chamber with equal parts vinegar and water. Start the machine, then turn it off when it’s halfway through the brew cycle. Let the solution sit for half an hour, then finish the brew cycle. Pour out the vinegar solution, and replace the paper filter, then run the brew cycle with a full pot of water. Repeat the process with one more full pot of water. For a single-cup machine, fill the reservoir with the vinegar-water solution, then run the brew cycle without a K-Cup one mugful at a time. Repeat with plain water.

Garbage disposal: Use lemon for a fresh scent

If your disposal is starting to smell funky, it’s time for a thorough cleaning. Get rid of grime in the grinding mechanics by pouring half a cup of baking soda into the disposal, followed by a cup of white vinegar, two cups of ice, and one cup of salt. With the cold water running, turn on the garbage disposal until the ice is gone. To freshen the odor, cut a lemon and grind the pieces one at a time in the disposal.

Slow cooker: Deep clean with baking soda

A slow cooker makes food preparation easy, but the cleanup? Not so much. When your appliance has a mess that can’t be wiped away after a presoak, it’s time for a deep clean. Add ¼ cup of baking soda and a squirt of dish soap, then fill with water. Put the lid on, then turn the machine on high for two to four hours.

Stand mixer: Use a wet rag

Place a wet rag over areas with built-on food residue to loosen it. After a few minutes, the dried gunk should be softer and easier to wipe away. When cleaning the beater, let the attachment soak in water to help dissolve the mess before scrubbing it clean.

Toaster: Target the crumb tray

Don’t forget about that crumb tray, if your toaster has one. Slide it out and shake off the crumbs, or turn the whole machine upside down and shake lightly if it doesn’t have a removable tray. Wash and dry the tray before putting it back to get rid of any caked-on food. To clean out the inner corners of your toaster, reach in with a pastry or basting brush. Finish by wiping the outside with a damp cloth and mild detergent, or a bit of vinegar if it’s stainless steel.

Stove burners: Try different tactics for gas vs. electric

For a gas burner, unclog the port with a pin or unfolded paper clip. Then take off the removable parts of the cooktop and soak them in hot, soapy water. Scrub them clean, then rinse thoroughly. Wipe the cooktop with a damp, not wet, cloth to prevent water from leaking into the burner. Electric burners should never be submerged in water, so it can be hard to break down burnt spills, especially when dish soap isn’t strong enough. Combine baking soda and water until it has a paste consistency, then use the mixture to scrub the mess.

Tips to Help the Dishwasher Run Better (part 2)

If you're lucky enough to have some mechanical help with your dishes, how's your helper doing these days? Cooking can be tough on the dishwasher. All those goopy soups, milk-crusted mugs, and baked-on casseroles can overload it; perhaps you're feeling like things aren't running so smoothly or smelling as good as they ought to in there.

Well, we're here to help, with 5 more tips for making your dishwasher run its best.

Are these tips familiar to you? I was already doing several of them, but a few were new, so I thought they might be to you as well.

6. Run an empty dishwasher with vinegar

It’s the same concept as running a vinegar load in your washing machine. You simply toss a cup of white vinegar into the bottom of an empty dishwasher and run a normal cycle. It cleans out old food particles to keep your dishwasher smelling fresh.


7. Clean the dishwasher trap

Down in no-man's land, under the lower sprayer, there's usually a piece that is removable. Under it you'll usually find bits of food that didn't make it out the drain or even pet hair (eww) if you have a fur-ball of any kind running around your home. Sometimes the tray comes out fully so it can be rinsed in the sink; sometimes a towel is needed to remove the gunk buildup.


8. Clean the dishwasher seals

After a few months of use, your dishwasher accumulates a little bit of ick and stick around the rubber gasket in the door and often around the soap door as well. Make sure to give them a once-over with a damp towel to keep the grime down.


9. Check your water heater's temperature

There's a joke about where to put the thermometer, but we'll pass this time around. Make sure your water heater is set between 120 and 125 degrees. Many units are shipped new set to a much lower heat. This is the ideal temperature for washing dishes; don't be tempted to turn it higher or else it will cause water to flash dry and not roll off your dishes, taking the ends of the dirty bits with it.


10. Test your water

Hard water is killer on dishes and your ability to really get things clean. Make sure to have things tested and soften accordingly.

Tips to Help the Dishwasher Run Better (part 1)

If you're lucky enough to have some mechanical help with your dishes, how's your helper doing these days? Cooking can be tough on the dishwasher. All those goopy soups, milk-crusted mugs, and baked-on casseroles can overload it; perhaps you're feeling like things aren't running so smoothly or smelling as good as they ought to in there.

Well, we're here to help, with 5 tips for making your dishwasher run its best.

Are these tips familiar to you? I was already doing several of them, but a few were new, so I thought they might be to you as well.

1. Don't confuse scraping with washing

No one wants to wash their dishes before they wash their dishes; it's just silly. But you wouldn't want to eat a Thanksgiving dinner and then go run a marathon right after. Well, neither does your dishwasher. Scrape food bits off before loading up to help reduce particles stuck on dishes once the cycle is over.

2. Don't overcrowd the dishwasher

It's something that's easier said than done. It's quite tempting to layer in one more bowl or plate to avoid hand washing. Just remember, it's better to wash a few pieces by hand than it is to rerun an entire load because things were too tightly packed.

3. Run hot water before starting the dishwasher

Before starting the cycle, turn on the faucet and run until the water is hot to the touch. This means your first dishwasher fill cycle will be hot, instead of cold, until it finally makes its way over from the hot water heater. This is an especially important tip in winter time, as it takes longer for the water to heat up.

4. Use the correct cycle

It can be tempting to use a shorter, lighter setting to save on time and water bills, but make sure you're washing all your super dirty dishes by hand if that's the case. Just like doing your laundry, keep soil levels together when washing to end up with the best performance.

5. Don't double up on rinse aid

When looking to purchase a new soap for your dishwasher, make note if it includes a rinse aid. If it does, then there's no need to add any extra. If it doesn't, skip the extra purchase and just fill the reservoir with white vinegar. It'll do the trick every time!

Easy Fridge Trick That Saves You a Ton on Your Grocery Bills

It’s a statistic that can’t be repeated often enough: Americans end up throwing away nearly half of our food, translating to $165 billion in groceries and farmers market haul at the bottom of the garbage can. That food waste is also the largest component of solid waste in U.S. municipal dumps.

Shopping habits can impact this rampant waste, but there’s plenty you can do once you bring your groceries home too. Remember how promising those wild blueberries looked, and your grand plans for that organic chicken? You don’t want them to go bad on you. Reorganizing the fridge in the most effective way possible could mean fewer tossed containers of Greek yogurt, which means saved money (and better breakfasts).
Here’s how restaurants do it: Place food in the fridge based on how thoroughly it needs to be cooked before it’s consumed. Foods that require no cooking can go on the top shelves, where it’s warmest. Then work your way down, with foods that need to be cooked to the highest temperature at the cold bottom (we’re looking at you, free-range bird).

It couldn’t hurt to keep a thermometer in your fridge to maintain an ideal temperature of about 37 degrees F, and to make sure the mercury doesn’t climb above 40 degrees F, at which point bacteria can grow like crazy. Space items out, too, so the cold air can circulate and do its job of keeping food fresh and ready for feasting.

Now, on to the specifics, area by area:

Door

This is the warmest part of the fridge, where the temperature can be a degree or two balmier than the main compartment, so it’s not a good home for anything highly perishable. (Ignore those adorable little egg cups, for starters.) Use the door’s shelves for the collection of condiments you’ve amassed while perfecting your pad thai and tikka masala. Pasteurized orange juice can go here too. Butter doesn’t need to be kept super-cold and can go right where your fridge wants you to put it—in the covered dairy compartment. (You can also keep soft cheeses, such as brie, in there.)

Top Shelf

This is the second-warmest area of the fridge. Put soft drinks, yogurt, leftovers, and anything ready-to-eat—such as deli meats and cheese—up here.

Cheese Drawer

If you have one, this can be the designated home for your aged Gouda, where it’s relatively warm. (Cheese, incidentally, can find many happy homes in the fridge. You can also keep it in the drawers at the bottom, if you tend to eat more Great Hill Blue than broccoli.)

Middle Shelf
Things are starting to get colder. Because we Americans need to refrigerate our eggs, this is where they should go, where the temperature is most consistent. The milk also goes here.

Bottom Shelf

Keep raw meat and seafood here, in their original packaging, and toward the back, where it’s coldest. If you buy a lot of meat and are concerned about drippy raw chicken juices contaminating fruits and vegetables in the drawers below (a valid worry), keep a separate plastic bin on this shelf devoted to uncooked meat. Bonus: easier cleanup if things do get messy.

Drawers

Here’s where things get a little bit complicated. Fruits and vegetables belong here, where refrigerator humidity levels are highest. But different produce requires different levels of moisture, and certain fruits emit ethylene, a gas that accelerates rotting in vegetables.

Your best bet is to make like the Offspring and keep ’em separated. Keep fruit in the lowest-humidity drawer, often marked “Crisper,” with the vent open, which allows more air to come in. Vegetables can tolerate more humidity. Keep the vent on this drawer closed, which keeps air from circulating and holds moisture in.

5 Tips to Make Your Refrigerator More Efficient

Today, we're looking at ways to make your refrigerator run a little more effectively in order to keep those bills down. These are simple tips that should help any home!

1. Vacuum the Back

The idea of pulling your refrigerator away from the wall isn't exactly at the top of anyone's to do list, but it can help so much. So much dust and dirt gets trapped behind your refrigerator (especially if you have pets) and this collects on the condenser coils. Once you've cleaned them off, the heat from your refrigerator will be able to be carried away without as much resistance, making your cycles run for a shorter period of time.

2. Check the Door Seal

Use a thin piece of paper or dollar bill to check whether your seal is losing air. Hold it up next to the closed refrigerator door and see if it flutters at all. The rubber or plastic door seal on your refrigerator can be easily replaced and although it might seem like a pain, we promise it's not. No one wants to pay to refrigerate their entire kitchen, especially when it's only a few bucks for a new gasket!

3. Cover Everything

Unless you're keeping crackers in your fridge, most foods in there contain moisture. When left uncovered, foods will leach this moisture into the air and the compressor in your refrigerator will have to work twice as hard to remove it. (Plus, most foods will suck up smells of other foods and that just gets weird.)

4. Let Your Food Cool Before Putting it Away

So you made a big batch of soup and you're really tired. Sleep needs to happen ASAP, and you just don't want to wait up any longer. Sure, you can toss it in the fridge, but your refrigerator will have to pull double duty to cool it down. Try to let foods sit as long as possible (without bacteria cooties growing) before putting them in the chill chest. 

5. Fill Empty Space with Water

Using empty soda bottles, juice containers, or even store bought water jugs can help keep your fridge full when you aren't packing it to the gills. It helps keep things cold so your refrigerator doesn't have to work as hard. As an added bonus you will always have water for the zombie apocalypse.

Have you found any other ways to keep your fridge running efficiently?

Wrap your meat for an efficient freezing

This is an illustrated guide to wrapping meat in freezer paper for an airtight seal. It's not hard to learn, as the major trick is folding and re-folding the creases to push out the air, along with keeping the fold tight while you tape it off. Once you've mastered the "drugstore wrap," you'll get better-quality reheats, frostless meat, and a lot less guilt at freezer-cleaning time (as you end up tossing fewer arctic-frosted cuts).

Foods of highest quality, properly prepared for freezing, can lose color, flavor, texture and nutritive value if packaged improperly.

Proper packaging methods mean:

Using moisture-vapor-proof paper or containers

Removing as much air as possible from package

Carefully sealing tightly wrapped package

Labeling package for usage within recommended storage time.

1. Place meat on paper.

Tear off enough paper to go about one and a half times around meat, put shiny side next to meat (if using wax coated paper). Lay meat on center of paper and allow ample paper at sides.

2. Bring ends together.

Start folding ends of paper together over center of meat. Turn edges over to make a fold about an inch deep. Run your fingers along fold to make a good crease.

3. Fold to meat.

Keep turning paper over and crease each fold. The last fold should pull paper tight around meat. You want to get all the air out of package to prevent “freezer burn”.

4. Fold ends.

Press paper down close to sides of meat. Press out all the air you can to make a tight package. Fold in each of the four corners of paper. This will make a point at each end.

5. Turn under ends.

Turn pointed ends of paper under package. Then fold under about an inch at each end of package. You have made a tight package that will keep air out and moisture in.

6. Seal and label.

Seal with tape (you can use masking tape or freezer tape). Label each package with kind and amount of meat and date you put into your freezer. Now it’s ready to go into freezer.

This method of meat wrapping is also known as “The Drug Store Wrap“.

Tip: Store wrapped items seam side down to protect seal. You can double wrap meat if the freezer paper you’re using isn’t the best quality (or use one layer aluminum foil or plastic wrap then cover with freezer paper).

10 Simple Freezer Tricks to Save You Time and Money (part 2)

It's that time of year again, when our freezers are filled with the summer's bounty in preparation for the long winter months ahead. Get the most out of your freezer, and learn a few of its other uses, with these great tricks.

Freezers are hard working appliances that can do more than just keep your bagged veggies chilled. Try on one of these 10 ideas below and see if you can make it pull double duty, or at least keep it running a little more efficiently:

6. Save Your Hard Drive in the Freezer

A hard drive that is left in the freezer for 24 hours and then quickly inserted back into your machine can make a recovery. Or at least long enough to back things up before it says adios forever. 

7. Tame Freezer Burn to Keep Food Tasty

Freezer burn can get the best of everything in your freezer. To make sure it doesn't happen as frequently, try keeping your freezer at a more steady temperature and keeping out as much air as possible.

8. Make Freezer Jam as an Easy Alternative to Canning

Freezer Jam is an easy way to use up remaindered fruits and doesn't even require a waterbath or any other canning know-how. Just a little pectin. 

9. Convert a Chest Freezer into a Super-Efficient Refrigerator

Chest freezers use 1/10th of the energy that an upright refrigerator does. With the addition of a thermostat, a chest freezer can end up being the ideal place to keep things cool, without freezing them.

10. Frost-Proof Meat with "Drugstore Wrap"

Zip top bags and Seal-a-Meal systems can be time consuming and inefficient. Try kicking it old school and wrap your meats in freezer paper for a frost free freezer experience. 

10 Simple Freezer Tricks to Save You Time and Money (part 1)

It's that time of year again, when our freezers are filled with the summer's bounty in preparation for the long winter months ahead. Get the most out of your freezer, and learn a few of its other uses, with these great tricks.

Freezers are hard working appliances that can do more than just keep your bagged veggies chilled. Try on one of these 10 ideas below and see if you can make it pull double duty, or at least keep it running a little more efficiently:

1. Can I freeze that?

More often than not things can be saved from expiration date, mold or for a later use, by freezing them. But how do you know what can be frozen and how long it keeps? The National Center for Home Food Preservation has done the dirty work for you and made a list!

2. Unstick Plastic Wrap in the Freezer

Plastic Wrap loses it's static cling when placed in the freezer. It will attach to any bowl or plate that needs covering, but eliminates it sticking back on itself.

3. Freeze Ground Meat in Small Portions with a Chopstick

The extra 10 minutes it takes to thaw ground meat in the microwave is time you could have spent doing something else. Eliminate it by pressing a chopstick into the meat on the outside of a zip top bag. It will allow you to break off as much as you need without thawing the entire amount.

4. Preserve Surplus Summer Herbs for Winter Use

Fresh herbs bought from your local grocer can cost more than buying an entire plant. Try chopping and covering them with water, stock or oil before freezing. They'll be ready for any dish, all winter long.

5. Make Your Freezer More Efficient

Freezing used plastic bottles or jugs (milk and orange juice work great) full of water will help keep your freezer at a level temperature and use less energy to maintain it.

Keepin' it fresh

Cleaning your Stove top the Natural way

How often do you clean your stovetop? Do you wipe up spills and splatters right away? Or do you, ahem, let it build up? And after you've got a crust of burnt gunk, how do you clean it up? Here's a tip for those of us who, again, ahem, procrastinate on cleaning the stove. There's a secret weapon we've found for getting it clean with no harsh chemicals and with a minimum of elbow grease.

The secret weapon is simple: Your hot water kettle!

This is what I do when my stove gets a little crusty and thick with burnt-on stuff. I boil water in the kettle, then dribble just a little water over the entire stovetop. I let it sit for about five minutes to do its work and to cool off a bit. Then I go at the stove with a soft scrub pad or steel wool if necessary. The crusty stuff comes right off, and I finish up with just a bit of soap and a final rinse. Result: Sparkling clean stovetop!

Now, this method may not work for all stoves; if you have a ceramic or induction cooktop, check your instructions and documentation. But overall, what's simpler and more kitchen-friendly than hot water? It soaks stuff right off, and is completely natural and chemical-free. The power of boiling water — never underestimate it!

Naturally Clean Washing Machine

When using appliances like washing machines and dishwashers — putting soap in and taking clean things out — one can sometimes forget that the appliance itself needs a good cleaning now and then. This can also be done very naturally and without a lot of harsh chemicals if you choose to use vinegar instead of bleach. 

What You Need

Materials

• White Vinegar or Bleach 
• Baking Soda

Tools

• Toothbrush
• Microfiber Cloth

Instructions

1. Fill the washer using the highest load size, hottest water setting, and longest wash.

2. Open the lid and as the washer tub fills, add a quart of white vinegar (or bleach).

3. Next, add a cup of baking soda.

Close the lid and allow the washer to agitate for about a minute. Open the lid again and allow the water, vinegar, and baking soda to soak in the washer tub for an hour.

4. Meanwhile, remove any parts you can and soak them and clean nooks and crannies under the lid.

Soak and scrub removable parts like the bleach and fabric softener wells. Dry them thoroughly and replace. Using a toothbrush, clean the upper portion of the agitator and hard-to-reach areas under the lid and around the rim of the tub. You can also use this time to clean the front and sides of the machine, but don't close the lid yet!

5. After an hour, close the lid and allow the cycle to complete.

During this time, you can clean the top of the washing machine, the dials, and console with vinegar solution.

6. Repeat.

Run one more hot wash with a quart of vinegar in it to clean away any residue loosened and left behind by the first cycle.

7. Once the washer has drained, wipe the sides and bottom of the tub with vinegar solution to remove any last residue.

You can prolong the cleanliness of a fresh washing machine by leaving the lid open between uses. This allows the interior to dry out thoroughly and prevents mildew.