Many residents of the South Bay pride themselves on cooking fine food at a high level of competence. Fueled by the plethora of cooking shows and chef challenges on television, the ready availability of high quality kitchen equipment, and an ever more sophisticated taste palate, the home chef has pushed the market for high end kitchens. Elements of the high end kitchen include: professional level stoves and ovens, generous areas of stone counter tops, top end flooring, deluxe appliances, specialized cabinetry, well designed lighting, and well thought out layouts.
Stoves and Ovens:
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A stove top is the basic device for cooking. It is unthinkable that a kitchen would be without one. That being said, not all stove tops are built alike. For the gourmet chef, there is a nearly unanimous opinion that gas is superior to electric. That being said, there are also the new "induction" ranges that are electric but use an advance technology to heat special cookware. For gas ranges, there are many makes and styles available. Most important are the burners. They must provide as even heating as possible to avoid hot spots. The gratings over the burners are also important; they need to be level to avoid cold and hot spots on the bottom of cookware.
The single most important element of an oven is temperature control; it needs to be consistent, even, and settable. Many modern ovens come with advanced temperature settings and controls because of this. Next in importance is size. If you cook turkeys or pizzas in your oven, make sure it is big enough to accommodate them. Finally, many home chefs prefer the luxury of having two ovens. Why, because they can bake two dishes simultaneously. Dedicated pizza ovens are also a popular option.
Counter Tops:
Why stone counter tops? There are several good reasons but the most important is pasta and bread making. With a good stone countertop, you can easily knead together excellent dough quickly. And as with so many things in life, when it comes to counter tops, more is better! This is especially important if you do a lot of entertaining and have help in the kitchen. Stations can be allocated ahead of time to keep preparation of different dishes separated. A note on stone: it is not all created equal. For the kitchen, the hardest stone is better, it will not stain as badly and is less likely to shatter or crack. My personal opinion is that darker is also better as it does not show stains as badly. Many composites are available and work very well, but oddly enough the best are just as expensive as granite.
Flooring:
Tile looks good, sometimes great in a kitchen. But ask any professional chef and they will confirm that standing on it for an extended period of time can produce foot, leg, and back pain. For this reason, many home chefs prefer wood. Wood also adds warmth to any kitchen and most home chefs want a kitchen that looks good enough to show off to their friends. One disadvantage is that very hot items dropped on it may burn stains into the wood.
Appliances:
Mixers, toasters, microwave ovens, pasta makers, food processors, blenders, coffee makers, meat grinders, etc; a good kitchen designer will have planned for all of these. There are few greater impediments to great cooking than not having space to use and to store your kitchen appliances. Generous counter space and specialized cabinets can help alleviate the problem, but our favorite solution is the appliance garage which is a rollup door cubical at counter level. It hides the appliance when not in use but always keeps it in easy reach.
Cabinetry:
Take it from someone who cooks five nights a week, there is never enough cabinetry. There seems to be a rule that no matter how much storage space you have, you will fill it. The cabinets that give the most trouble are the corners. What most home chefs prefer for corner cabinets are build-in systems that allow easy access to the rear areas. Pots, skillets and sauce pans often do not fit well into standard cabinets and most home chefs prefer to have a generous, deep and wide, pan drawer. In recent years, a new closing system for drawers has made it easier to keep them shut-you just give the drawer a little push and it closes the final inch by itself. It does not sound like much, but you will never catch yourself on a slightly open drawer again. Finally, spices are very hard to find in a standard cabinet, and the exposure in open racks ruins them quickly. The solution: special narrow spice drawers or cabinets that make for easy access and protection against heat and light.
Lighting:
Daunting is the word I give to cooking in a dark kitchen. Painful is what I call the kitchen that is too bright. A gourmet kitchen will strike a keen balance between "it is too dark in here to find the peeler" and "I am getting a headache from these bright overhead lamps." Modern gourmet kitchen design takes into account the existence of natural light from windows, the lightness or darkness of counters, back splashes, appliances, and cabinets, and the size and areas to be illuminated. Gone are the days of the drop down ceiling bathing or failing to bath the kitchen in florescent grayness. Today the strategic use of controllable pod spots and floods, under-cabinet lighting, and pendant lights makes a gourmet kitchen both usable and inviting.
Layout:
Whether the kitchen layout is modern with island, country with a kitchen table or a standard galley, the layout is all important. Flow between the stove top, ovens, refrigerator, prep areas, and sink needs to be natural and logical. One of the greatest concerns I have had in the past few years is open space. Is there enough room to open the oven and not have to stand to the side? Can several people work at prep stations simultaneously and not get in each other's way? And is there ample room around the stove top to keep your mise-en-place handy and set cooked food such as bacon to drain or meat to rest?
In conclusion, this is not meant to be an exhaustive study of gourmet kitchen design, but touches on the issues faced when evaluating a kitchen's potential. In home buying, it is rare to find a kitchen that meets all the requirements of potential owners. What is important is to make a list of requirements and check off how well the kitchen in question meets those requirements, but more importantly, can be updated within reasonable cost to the new owners needs. In my next installment, I will discuss my favorite aspects of South Bay luxury: Game Rooms and Studios.
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Mr. Coffee 12-Cup Carafe - Black Feature
- 12-Cup replacement decanter
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Mr. Coffee 12-Cup Carafe - Black Overview
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