25 Slightly Off-putting Things People Have Seen In Someone Else’s Kitchen

Getting a free home-cooked meal is nothing to complain about usually. Someone has been putting in effort and slaving over a hot fire to prepare dishes for you to consume without having to worry about what to have or how to get it. Personally, this puts the loved one, friend or family member who feeds us pretty high up on our list as far as we are concerned.  However, sometimes we see some poor hygiene practices that can either be slightly off-putting or totally horrifying. Folks got together to share the weirdest habits that they have seen in a friend’s kitchen. But brace yourself, some of these stories might make you want to hurl. From husbands who stick used spoons in freezers to keep reusing them to people who use their kitchen towels to also wipe their dogs’ bottoms, these stories don’t disappoint in their shock value at least. 

#1 Taking raw chicken and putting it directly in her flour canister to cover with flour to fry. I am still horrified years later.

Image source: Birdy304, Kristiana Pinne / unsplash (not the actual photo)

#2 My uncle left raw chicken out on the counter—for who knows how long —and it was covered it ants. I let him know. He rinsed the ants off, and put the chicken back in the fridge.

Image source: MasterBallsCK, JK Sloan / unsplash (not the actual photo)

#3 MIL insists on keeping cabinet doors above the microwave open. Why you ask? So the heat doesn't build up in the cabinet and start a fire.

Image source: HelpMySonIsARedditor, Point3D Commercial Imaging Ltd. / unsplash (not the actula photo)

#4

Image source: ninesandaces, Monika Grabkowska / unsplash (not the actual photo) I watched my coworker wash his potatoes with dish soap. Squirted the soap straight onto the potato, rubbed it all over with his bare hands, rinsed it, started chopping it. Threw the chopped, unpeeled, soapy potatoes into a pot. Boiled them, mashed them without adding anything to them, then for some reason, picked the skin out of the pot of mashed with his bare hands. No milk, cream, butter, salt, anything. Tasted like a sad, soapy pile of compost.

#5 I worked with someone who told me that if she ever cooks and bakes for other people she will strip down to her underwear to do it to avoid any cross contamination of dog hair or other linty bits from her clothes.

Image source: MapleGoose, Huha Inc. / unsplash (not the actual photo)

#6 Can I include my own kitchen? My husband has a habit of just putting used utensils in the freezer. Not washed, just licked clean (sometimes). Says the freezer kills the bacteria and he can reuse them as many times as he wants.

I do the dishes every day. Literally no reason for this weird habit ? Image source: BashfulBastian

#7 I’m not a friend, but I was a Tupperware lady in the 90s. I got to the woman’s house to set up for her party and she was in the kitchen talking to me. I see her grab the kitchen towel, wipe her dogs bottom with it And she says to me “She’s on her period!” Then she went back to making her sushi rolls and kept using the same towel.

Image source: tammigirl6767

#8 I opened a friend's fridge and it contained 30-40 cans of whipped cream and NOTHING ELSE. Family of 3.

Image source: Vampilton, Jason Leung / unsplash (not the actual photo)

#9 My ex FIL thought traditional spaghetti with meat sauce was too “spicy”. So he would make noodles and top them with ground beef and ketchup.

Image source: Dottegirl67, Mae Mu / unsplash (not the actual photo)

#10 My husband's old roommate used to take a new dish every time he ate something then leave it behind in his room instead of putting it in the dishwasher. One day it occurred to my husband that there were like five dishes left in the kitchen and the rest were nowhere to be found, until he looked in said roommate's room and found his mouldy hoard.

Image source: GadgetRho, cottonbro studio / unsplash (not the actual photo)

#11 I had a roommate after college that said the best way to boil water was a ‘slow boil.’ He insisted on using low heat.

Image source: Sunnyday-777, Sergio Camalich / unsplash (not the actual photo)

#12

When my childhood dog would poop inside, and if it was...not solid, my dad would use a spoon to clean it up. Not a designated spoon that was the dog s**t spoon, just a regular spoon from the cutlery drawer. I did not discover this until he had been doing this for years. I was HORRIFIED and furious. When I told him it was disgusting, he got so defensive and said "well, how would you like me to clean it up?" I then listed many different ways to clean dog s**t. My mom also didn't seen too concerned with it. I refused to use their cutlery until they no longer had any dogs and they had bought a new set. And quite frankly, I try to avoid eating there as much as possible because I have no idea what else my parents think is normal. Image source: adoptdontshop1

#13 I knew a bloke who thought you were meant to throw.out wooden spoons after each use he'd spend so much money on them. When we told him you could re-use them his mind was blown.

Image source: SkyMortar65, Louis Hansel / unsplash (not the actual photo)

#14 Knew a guy that kept his chef knifes stabbed into the wall.

Image source: daggomit, Fernando Aguilar / unsplash (not the actual photo)

#15 My old roommate would take a coffee cup from the night before with old coffee and milk in it and make a new one in the morning without dumping the old coffee out first.

Image source: symbolicshambolic, L.D.I.A / unsplash (not the actual photo)

#16 Cut up raw meat using bare hands, then opened drawers, cabinets, and the fridge before washing their hands. When she asked if I wanted to do weekly meal prep with her, I politely declined.

Image source: 0nlyhalfjewish, Usman Yousaf / unsplash (not the actual photo)

#17 Maybe more wholesome than weird. At the grandfather’s house of my friend - he always kept a stock of homemade jerky chips in the freezer that were separated into servings. My friend had braces and loved jerky so grandpa made thin sliced jerky that wouldn’t get stuck in your teeth. I miss jerky chips.

Image source: DangerUnicorn_27

#18 The dish cloth used once only. Do the dishes wipe down the stove top, counters, cupboard fronts then throw in the bin and get a new one. Must cost a lot.

Image source: PsychologicalBit5422, Priscilla Du Preez ?? / unsplash (not the actual photo)

#19 Putting vegetables to stir fry into a cold pan, then adding oil, then turning the pan on.

Image source: geckos_are_weirdos, Clem Onojeghuo / unsplash (not the actual photo)

#20 Their shih tzu started sharting all over the place, they grabbed the dog and washed him in the sink and then didn’t clean or sanitize it afterwards.

Image source: Earsack_yeet_yeet19

#21 Keeping the water running at full speed while doing other tasks. As in for minutes. Not to achieve a certain temperature. And getting mad when I’d turn it off and passive aggressively turning it back on after I’d said it was wasteful and made me uncomfy. Rot in hell kimberly!

Image source: GingerRootBeer

#22 Not a friend's kitchen, but My mom thinks it's weird that my husband and I use a sharpie to date everything that goes in the fridge pretty much. The expiration/best buy date is affected by when it was opened but it also helps us realize when something has been in there longer than we realize and should either be used up or thrown out. Shredded cheese? Gets an opened date written. Lunch meat? Yep.

Image source: tkdbbelt

#23

Image source: wickerfolk, Diogo Brandao / unsplash (not the actual photo) I had an acquaintance whose place I went to a couple of times for parties. On both occasions, they brought out a blender to *blend wine*. I think one of the times I just saw them blend a single bottle but another time they blended two bottles together (to a weird result). I think they fundamentally misunderstood what it meant to “blend wines” and thought that it involved the appliance. I was absolutely gobsmacked but didn’t know them well enough to feel comfortable with asking them why they did it.

#24 Friend of mine growing up had me over for family dinner; spaghetti. When everyone (5-6 of us total) were done, the mom scraped all the uneaten spaghetti on everyone's plate back into the big pot.

Image source: 54sharks40, Krista Stucchio / unsplash (not the actual photo)

#25

Image source: Individual_Tune_4584, Giorgio Trovato / unsplash (not the actual photo) Well not me but my sister. She would go to this woman’s home to get her nails done. She did this quite often but it was usually earlier in the day when husbands and kids were away at work and school. One day the woman switched it up and asked her to come in the evening. This woman proceeded to start on my sisters nails and half way through she stops and starts making dinner. And then goes back and forth from making dinner to doing my sisters nails. NOT ONE TIME DID SHE WASH HER HANDS. Literally had nail dust and acrylic dust on her hands and nail polish remover and proceeded to chop and touch that poor family’s meal. ??