Even the best-organized among us can run out of paper towels at inopportune times. You've probably used toilet paper or paper napkins in a pinch — and know that they're a poor match. Ask Google for alternatives, and you'll get pages and pages of e-commerce listicles on eco-friendly alternatives like Swedish dishcloths.
They're great, but only if you already have them on hand. Even if you've made the switch, reusable dishcloths aren't for every mess. Cooking oil? More trouble than it's worth: cloths stained with oil can damage your washing machine.
Using reusable dishcloths to dry raw meat is a health risk. And personally, I'm not cleaning up cat barf with something that might get mixed in with my dishwashing supplies — . Dana Cowin, on Instagram and former editor-in-chief of Food and Wine, avoids paper towels — but admits they're hard to quit entirely.
"Every once in a while, I do use paper towel because of meat and chicken," Cowin . "If you guys have a better idea of how to blot those things, let me know." The next day, Cowin posted a follow-up video, crediting chef Ali Waks Adams, who goes by on Instagram.
"A friend on Instagram suggested I use paper coffee filters to blot instead of paper towels," said Cowin. In the caption, she wrote: "I tried it tonight with steak..
. and I dare say the coffee filters worked BETTER than paper towels." Are coffee filters a substitute for paper towels? , but this one seems pretty solid.
The coffee filters in Cowin's video did a great .
