Kitchen Standards

In a devotee's house the kitchen is an extension of the altar. Everything cooked there is cooked for Krishna, and only after it has been offered does anyone eat it. These are the standards Srila Prabhupada's temples keep, adapted for a home kitchen.

1. Bathe before cooking. Take a full shower and put on clean clothes and tilak before entering the kitchen to cook. If you pass stool, bathe again before you return.
2. Wash after eating. Wash your hands and mouth after eating and before entering the kitchen. Remnants of prasadam should not be brought into the kitchen.
3. Nothing unofferable comes in. No meat, fish, eggs, onion, garlic, or mushrooms are cooked or stored in a devotee's kitchen. Read labels for gelatin, rennet, and egg products. See what can be offered.
4. Do not taste or smell the bhoga. The food is being prepared for the Lord's pleasure, not ours. Season by experience, and taste only after it has been offered. Try not to think of the bhoga as your dinner while you cook.
5. Food that touches the floor or your feet cannot be offered. Nor can food that has been licked, bitten, or tasted.
6. Keep the Deities' plates separate. The Lord has His own plates, cups, and utensils. No one eats from them, and they are washed and dried and put away before prasadam is served to anyone.
7. Transfer food out of the cooking pots. Do not eat from cookware. Serve prasadam from separate containers, and wash your own eating plate away from the cooking area.
8. Avoid idle talk while cooking. Cooking is meditation. Chant softly, or listen to a Prabhupada lecture or a bhajan, rather than the news.
9. Clean constantly. Wipe surfaces as you go, wash pots as soon as they are used, sweep and mop the floor daily, and keep the stove spotless. Srila Prabhupada said that a clean kitchen is more important to Krishna than an opulent offering.
10. Offer everything you cook. Cook only what will be offered, and offer everything that was cooked, following the simple procedure in Prepare and Offer Your Food.

None of this requires special equipment. A small clean kitchen, a set of plates kept for the Lord, and the habit of cooking for Krishna first are enough.