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Angel
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Say you had the opportunity to set up your kitchen again from scratch -- you were moving, or remodeling, or a black hole sucked up all your pots and pans  .
How would you set up a kitchen to make it easier to cook in a "real food"/Nourishing Traditions manner? Particularly if you had a large family?
What kinds of equipment would you consider indispensible? How would you make it easier to soak grains, make yogurt, your own breads, naturally fermented pickles, etc.?
Would you rather have more cabinet space or work space? An island or space for different "centers" around the kitchen (or both?)
What kind of range/oven would you look for?
What kind of pantry would you have, where would you put it, and how would you set it up? What about a root cellar? Two refrigerators? Two freezers?
Would two dishwashers be worth it?
Is there anything completely unconventional that you would put in your kitchen?
Go ahead; dream big. 
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Angela
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stefoodie
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I've always had a "real food" kitchen, small to medium sized in the 9 homes we've lived in. I'd have a larger one if I could but probably not going to happen. 
We do have a large refrigerator with adjustable shelves so if I need to put in crocks, etc. I can just move things around.
I already have a grain mill, heavy duty mixer, and basic set of pots and pans that have worked for me through the years. I'd like more Le Creuset pieces.
My range with oven (gas) works fine, but if I really had a choice I'd have double wall ovens (Miele if I can afford it) and change my gas stove to an induction cooktop.
I'd have 3 work surfaces: granite or granite tile, butcher's block and stainless steel.
We have an upright freezer and it stores enough pork and beef and poultry and fish for several months, so I'm good there. I'd have it in the kitchen though if I could. Right now it's in the garage.
Two dishwashers would be nice. Again, Miele if I could afford them.
Completely unconventional? I'd have an industrial range or at least a Bluestar with 6 burners including a wok burner, a Vent-a-Hood to match, and commercial refrigerators with the glass doors instead of the things I listed above .
ETA: You said dream big so I'm adding one more: a Lacanche range -- I've been torn over that and the BlueStar for years, which is a good thing we can't afford a kitchen redo anytime soon or I'd be driving my dh batty. 
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stef
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CrunchyMom
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I think I would want a second refrigerator to keep less cold than the main one to use like a root cellar for storing fermented foods and root veggies in the pantry.
I think my dream kitchen would have a large pantry off from the main kitchen with space for storing bulk purchases of wheat berries, beans, grains, etc... Lots of open shelving for easy access to large pots, crock pot, clean Mason jars, etc... I'd also have a nice baking station, maybe with a section of counter a foot lower to keep my hefty kitchen aid (which, my grain mill attaches to but is really tall) out all the time.
I really like this baking station/key from Fine Homebuilding
I think I'd also like this dream pantry to have space for a gardening sink and counter with grow lights so I could more easily start my own seedlings and force bulbs with easy access to normal chores but a door to close out little ones.
While I'm at it, I want it to also be a laundry/sewing room, but now we're talking a dream space for a homemaker's "office" and not merely a "real food" pantry.
Of course, I have nowhere to put such things in my current home, but we're talking about black hole, lol.
Something I could have in my current home that I want some day is a dual fuel oven/range so I can have gas on top but an electric oven.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
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SusanJ
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| Posted: Feb 09 2010 at 10:35am | IP Logged
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Okay, third time's the charm, right? Let's see if I can post this time . . .
I would want a fermentation/soaking cupboard or pantry with good ventilation. We were living with a windowless, small, galley kitchen at the height of our fermentation enthusiasm and there was so much wild yeast in the air that jars from the fridge would come out moldy after being opened only once. Crazy.
I'd want pantry shelving with lots of clear bins/jars for bulk foods. I could do this now if I had a good source for bulk foods. I'd also want a space for composting. We vermi-composted our last place and it wasn't smelly but it was more unsightly than I wanted in my kitchen.
I'd want a gas range with a large center griddle burner and a really, really good but quiet vent hood. I hate the noise of the fan but I set off the smoke alarm almost every day.
I'd want two ovens. An electric oven for baking and then a second one so that I could have nuts drying, roasts slowly roasting, or bread rising without taking over my only oven space.
I'd want, like Stef, a variety of work surfaces for different purposes. I'm always designing the smallest practicable kitchen so that we can afford to put granite in it one day. So functional.
I'd get a grain grinder, I think, and replace my non-stick cookware with good stainless steel and cast iron. This is happening very slowly already.
And, while I'm dreaming I'd go to Minnesota and patronize all my MIL's potter friends for my table ware and serving bowls.
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JodieLyn
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You'd want to be sure that any taller appliances (mixers that can knead bread, grain mills, etc) don't have low cupboards above them preventing them from ease of use.
I would definately want at least a 6 burner stove.. gas or electric coil.. though I've also thought that getting two regular size 4 burner stoves could likely be less expensive than one big one and it would give me two full size ovens and 8 burners (and in the case of electric two storage drawers).. plus if something happened to one it would be cheaper to just replace the one than the whole kit and kaboodle.
storage space is a big plus. I have a second fridge in the garage and that is nice. Food Grade 6 gal storage buckets for grains are wonderful.
Oh and space for my electric roaster to sit out in the kitchen is important. But also a space to set it outside on some sort of patio/deck/breezeway in the summer. So much nicer to get it out of the house for cooking when it's hot. My favorite thing to cook in it is beans.. I can make lots that way.
Big, deep sink for washing the bigger pots and roaster etc that I use for my large family.. how nice would that be rather than putting things one end partly into the sink.. have to scoop water over it to rinse without ending up with water everywhere etc.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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SimplyMom
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For me the beauty of a custom built kitchen would be having counters at the right height. Two ovens, more cool storage. I would also like a deep sink.
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Darcee
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stellamaris
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I love all the great "dream" kitchen ideas! One thing I would want would be some kind of an "appliance garage", one of those concealed spaces on the counter that has a roll-down cover. I'd want two of these: one for appliances like the food processor, the blender, and the toaster, and one for a sort of pickling/soaking area that is out of sight, since you have to leave that stuff on the counter overnight or even for a few days. I'd also like a warming oven. My mom has one of these she uses to keep dinners warm and to heat breads, but I'd like one to incubate yogurt, kefir, or other cultured milks. It's hard to keep a steady temperature without some special arrangements, although I've had some success with a large thermos. It would just be nice to have a larger space that heats from about 90-140 degrees.
I would definitely want more counter space, an extra frig for the storage of pickles, kvass, grains, etc. I also like to make up whole grain bread dough and keep it in the frig where I figure it soaks and sort of ferments all at once. The new book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day has been great! I love the 100% Whole Wheat Bread recipe, but it is hard to keep enough on hand to conveniently serve a large family, as the containers take up so much space in my frig. A large freezer is also a definite necessity.
I love my large stock pot that has an insert for steaming in it. It is All-Clad stainless steel. I also love my Le Creuset oval Dutch oven.
I would definitely have two ovens, preferably electric, and 6 burners, preferably gas.
And, of course, a French Press coffee pot! 
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Caroline
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Mary G
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These all sound so wonderful .... wonder how long it will take on a one-Catholic-school-teacher-salary?
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Angel
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Mary G wrote:
| These all sound so wonderful .... wonder how long it will take on a one-Catholic-school-teacher-salary? |
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You know, I guess I always start out anything dreaming big and then whittle my way down from there.
We are 95% sure we're going to be moving some time toward fall and as I look at houses online or think about building from scratch, I start wondering, do these kitchens really support the way I want to live? There's one house in particular that has a lot of land in a desireable location for a good price.... but oh my, its kitchen!  So I guess I'm also thinking of remodeling (*if* we could buy a house at a decent enough price...)
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Angela
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Becky Parker
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stefoodie wrote:
I'd have 3 work surfaces: granite or granite tile, butcher's block and stainless steel.
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At the risk of sounding totally naive, why would you have each of these in your kitchen?
I love this thread, by the way!
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Becky
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Donna Marie
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I would have some larger containers for soaking and a designated place to put them. Right now I have my bread dough soaking in different bowls stacked 3 high with plates between. These containers are barely large enough to take the rise. Not to mention the fact that I want to have several other containers for soaking beans..ect going all of the time without cluttering things up or being in the way when I am rinsing or whatever the contents....
I am Nourishing Tradtions-ing more than ever these days. It is a lot of work for a large family, but! I know I just have to be more efficient and I think larger containers would really help so I can have less visual clutter...I hope that makes sense...
Also more large stockpots for bone broth AND whatever else you want to make for dinner and a stove that can handle them without pushing other pots off their elements.
I would also like an area just for working with/grinding flour...so flour is contained instead of strewed....
hmm...
Plenty of room for storage of large glass containers for fermented veggies and drinks.
and a large freezer!
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SusanJ
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| Posted: Feb 11 2010 at 11:14am | IP Logged
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Becky Parker wrote:
stefoodie wrote:
I'd have 3 work surfaces: granite or granite tile, butcher's block and stainless steel.
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At the risk of sounding totally naive, why would you have each of these in your kitchen?
I love this thread, by the way! |
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Well, I like the look of granite and I found it to be a great conductive surface. Hot things could get put down without looking for a trivet. Pie crusts could be rolled out without the butter melting all over. I could pull a ziploc of soup out of the freezer in the afternoon and it would be liquid by supper time.
I'd like a good butcher block chopping surface without needing to get out a separate board. I'd also use this for dough projects needing a lot of scraping .
I'd never actually thought too much about stainless steel until Stef mentioned it but I think a stainless steel surface close to the sink would feel more sanitary to me when working with raw meats and fish. This would be my lowest priority, however. I think I could live without it.
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JodieLyn
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if you are going to use granite for rolling out dough.. don't do tile at least not where you'd be rolling out.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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stefoodie
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i'd love to do granite slab, but i don't think i can ever justify the cost. (unless maybe i find it on ebay or craigslist, and i do find that sometimes there ARE choices there.) i found a tutorial years ago where a lady and her dh DIY'ed it themselves and there were hardly any gaps at all in the tile. and at a fraction of the cost of slab!
yes, it would be stainless steel on one side of sink, granite on the other. stainless steel or granite as landing pad on both sides of range. hardwood on the island for kneading bread and chopping veggies. with a small hole on top that goes down to the trash. yeah, i've got the dreaming big thing down.
another dream big item for me: a salamander broiler.
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stef
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stefoodie
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one more dream item that supposedly is really easy and cheap to DIY. a proofing drawer. just put some lights in there. someone on chowhound did that and she also does her yogurt in there.
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stef
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JodieLyn
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Stef, I was thinking you might be able to do a portion of slab for rolling dough on and surround it with tile.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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D. Marie
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I really admire you ladies. I have read over the Nourishing Traditions book three time now, and have attempted many more times to implement it. However, I find money to be my greatest obstacle and time to be another.
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onthelane
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Love the post. We also are looking at a gut/rehab in our house with the original 1960 kitchen.Know any good websites to see kitchen ideas and all of the cool things to consider? Keep the ideas/experiences coming....
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CrunchyMom
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This Old House has lots of picture galleries of kitchen remodels.
Any of the books from Taunton Press are excellent. They publish Sarah Susanka's books as well as a line of "Idea" books which include "The Kitchen Idea Book" as well as Storage, Organization, etc... which would include many kitchen ideas in those areas.
They also publish Fine Homebuilding magazine. I think that you have to pay a subscription to access all the online stuff (didn't think of that when I posted the above, sorry if you can't access my link), but I think they have lots of super neat ideas for kitchens.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: setting up a "real food" kitchen
