Say you're cooking something in a large pot with a lid, and it comes time to take the lid off. There is all that condensation on the inside of the lid. I mean, sure, you tilt the lid over the pot as you lift it so some of it runs down and back into the pot, but you never get all of it. Not even close.
So do you just set it down somewhere, and let it drip? What if the rest of the stove is full, do you use the counter? Or do you try to flip it over, handle down and condensation up, thus inevitably burning yourself because the knob is too small to let go of before the weight of the lid seesaws down onto your forearm?
What do you DO?
I put the lid down. The counters are tools meant to be used. Sometimes it's neat to watch the heat from the lid heat up the air inside just enough to lift the lid so that it skates across the counter on a thin film of water. The kids think I am magic. They also wonder how I am able to fart when they pull my finger, but that's another thread for another time.
If the lid is really nasty, you can put it in the sink or on a towel.
The skating lid trick only works with my revere ware lids, not my counterfeit Le Creuset lids. That would have to be a hot lid.
I put the lid on one of the rear burners that I'm not using. I can stand it up vertically because the grates of the burner act a bit like a drying rack for dishes. And it leans a little against the control panel on the back of the stove. The heat doesn't bother the stove top, and the clear condensation doesn't make a mess. And because it's vertical, it takes up no space.
I have a couple of sticks you could have.
You could spin the lids on sticks, like plates, as they do in the circus.
Wherever there's a space. I make such a mess when I'm cooking that nothing's going to make much of a difference anyway.
I cover the hotplates with metal hotplate cover thingies. These prevent oil splatter and other spills from getting on teh hotplates. The covers are MUCh easier to clean.
If I am using only one of the four hotplates, the other three have the covers on them, I can put the lid on these.
If I am using two hotplates, the covers sit on the benchtop and I can put hot lids on them.
Leave it where ever it lands when you steam burn your hand.
I just put it in the sink.
My stove is a glasstop so there is generally room to leave it there, if not sink.
Handle down on the counter. I have a weird technique that I can't explain that keeps me from being burned. Almost a slow throw/slide motion.
Hell, why not a picture?
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Yeah, I do that too when the counter is cluttered. btw that is a clean stove
I conveniently framed our most heavily used burner out of the shot.What you can see is clean.
You see, that thing looks great - but you still have to clean it afterwards and if you'd just dumped the lid and spoon on the table in the first place you could have used the moisture from the lid to wipe up the sauce from the spoon.
Hell, why not a picture?
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Why the hell not indeed? I use your lid and posting technique. I must say that these were independent discoveries, not merely aping the great and wonderous glatt.
btw the way, I didn't bother to erase the evidence of this morning's breakfast, sausage. Sorry.
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maybe EBM folks are on to revising an old custom to create a new kitchen trend
I want one of the lid/spoon rests.
My SS for next Christmas should be aware. :)
The ubangi spoon and lid rest is teh awesome. My decor is eclectic enough to support that.
Of course, if there is a Hello Kitty lid rest, the Ubangi would be relegated to either a box or pressed into service as an extra-large coaster.
I turn it upside down.
Off topic but I see jim posted a pic of a lid with a steam vent. I also use one of those lids with the steam hole. I like it !
