DESIGNING FOR SPECIALTY COOKING SPACES : Meaningful Kitchen Functions Within the Kitchen

For oft-repeated functions within the Kitchen - ie the ritual of morning coffee, seasonal canning, or the weekly making of breads - having a designated space is a nice way to celebrate these facets of living and providing for our loved ones. These spaces are meaningful, and directly speak to how each of us functions within our homes in our day to day, week to week, reflecting the ebbs and flows of our lives.

Bread Making/Baking Kitchen Station

For those for whom making fresh breads and sourdoughs wasn’t just a COVID hobby, the hours of feeding, mixing, kneading, and proofing are a lifelong act of love. Some of these actions, however, could use special consideration in the Kitchen design. Designating a space for the making of breads or other baking helps to keep these design principles contained.

What to Look for In Baking Kitchen Appliances

The choice of oven is perhaps the greatest consideration for a passionate bread maker. Does it have adequate proofing settings? Does the appliance provide both upper and lower heat sources? Can the fan be turned off in Convection modes if required? Do your preferred sizes of baking sheets fit? Does the oven have heat consistency - ie electric - or does it cook with more moisture - ie gas?

Baking and Bread Making Space When You Need It

Often when spending hours rolling and kneading it helps to be able to stand ‘over’ the worktop. Even for taller people, a few inches shorter than the standard 36” high counter is helpful for reducing back fatigue. Designate a portion of counters that are 34” high and can be adjusted further with butcher boards, or alternately create a bank of cabinetry that can tuck under the main counter and moves out - 2” shorter - as needed. 

Pasta Making Kitchen Station

Having a nice, large counter space close to pasta-making Appliances like your KitchenAid with pasta attachments, is helpful for those who often make fresh pastas. Rolling and kneading, cutting and filling, all could use a generous chunk of space. Having set of big flour (00!) and semolina bins nearby and an area for hanging and drying are additional perks in creating a designated space.

Pasta Making Kitchen Space When You Need It

Similar to making breads and baking, standing over (vs more parallel to) your kneading can cut down on back and shoulder fatigue. Create a lower section of counter, or have a moveable portion of cabinetry that at 34” high can slide beautifully under the typical counter height. In addition for the moveable counter, using a nice, cold marble that can patina over time is a perk for dealing with doughs.

Dry Aging Kitchen Station

All kinds of home fermentation has become popular over the past decade or two. Meat enthusiasts will be thrilled to know that dry aging has finally become easy to do at home. For those who love a little extra love in their proteins, dedicating space where they can sit for a few weeks (fish) to 6 months (beef) is a big design consideration.

Dry Aging Specific Appliances

While some home hobbyists are happy to create their own dry aging appliances, the lucky rest of us can now purchase residentially-friendly Dry Ager fridges set up to accommodate your needs with a variety of settings. Some recommendations have been made to keep oily fishes and briny beef always in separate appliances, planning for a stacked approach. Is it a hobby you want to celebrate with your friends and family? You might want to also consider the look of the fridges. Otherwise, 6 month planning can easily be tucked into an adjacent space with a more commercial look.

Canning and Preserving Kitchen Station

With the cost of ingredients - even basic fruits and vegetables - preservation has become an increasingly necessary habit in the Kitchen. Purchasing the best quality means accessing foods in season, but also finding ways to maintain the majority of the health benefits long after the seasons have ended.

Designing Kitchen Space for Seasonal Food Processing

Canning and preserving food is a messy process. Having a countertop that is generously sized and made of an easily cleanable material is helpful.  It can be a portion of cabinetry that parks under the main countertop and is pulled out when extra work space is needed. Stainless steel is a great option for the inevitable spills and messes, for placing hot jars and for parking small Appliances. Bigger functions like freeze drying, fruit blackening and making koji might require a completely separate space for large fixtures and unwanted odors.

Small Preservation Kitchen Appliances

Smaller appliances used for preservation may or may not require a cooktop (as a pressure canner or water bath canner would). Rice cookers used for blackened fruits, liquid-friendly vacuum sealers for lacto-ferments or humidity- and temperature-controlled bins for bigger ferments may also need to be considered when designing the spaces involved for food preservation.

Canning and Preserved Food Storage in the Kitchen and Beyond

While an average amount of family groceries may keep well in a Fridge/Freezer and small Pantry or set of cabinetry, storing your canning and fermented foods will require additional consideration. From extra fridges for batches of kombucha and lacto-fermented condiments to shelving for rotating dried herbs and canned fruits, smaller Kitchens can adapt to hold what’s used day to day, while creating secondary spaces for less-used items might be helpful.

Fermentation Kitchen Station

Home fermentation has always been a way of life in some cultures. For everyone else, it’s gained - and continues to gain - popularity over recent  decade(s). From simple sauerkrauts to home wine kits to lacto-fermenting, gut health has never been so celebrated.

Special Fermentation Kitchen Considerations

The humidity and temperature controlled environments of the Dry Aging fridge or fermentation chambers may require additional fans, cooler home orientations, bigger power resources or extra air changes for odors.

Luxury Kitchen Design

Luxury means different things to different people. For some, it’s purchasing the highest end Appliances one can afford. For others, it’s the ability to cook on a professional level at home. It can also simply mean the luxury of having a Kitchen designed to fully suit your unique and particular needs, without having to think of potential re-sales or what is on trend.

Luxury Kitchen Design Features

Designing a Kitchen based on your particular needs and ways of moving about the space can be the ultimate in LUXURY. The Appliances might be mixed and matched to suit your particular styles of cooking and baking, or the layout organized to your particular ‘kitchen dance’. Finishes will be suited for how you use the elements and how you entertain others, geared towards your unique hosting style.

Designing the Kitchen for Circadian Rhythms

The circadian approach leads to design decisions based on the natural 24 hour, seasonal body clock. It’s a reflection of natural daylight, fresh air, and softer evenings that lead to increased biological health while we work in the Kitchen space. Mostly interpreted by a variety of lighting solutions, creating zones of work and relaxation can lead to greater efficiency and better mental health.

Designing the Kitchen for Aging in Place

Whether aging in your own home, or making a space that invites elderly parents to function on their own, considerations for reduced movements and better accessibility as you get older can add to the longevity of your Kitchen. Incorporating some lower counter heights, wider aisles, slip resistant materials, color blocked functions, drawers vs doors and easy-to-use hardware can lead to long-term safety and comfort.