Did your new kitchen change how you think about food?

13 years ago

Weird question, maybe, but now that the kitchen is done (and has no food in it yet), my husband and I are thinking: With this clean slate, should we approach food differently?

Did your new kitchen cause you to reevaluate how you cook, store and think about food?

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Comments (16)

beekeeperswife
13 years ago
Well, with our new fridge (48" built in) that is shallower than the old standard fridge, we are able to manage our food/leftovers much better.

We do have lots more of the plastic sealed containers to just keep things a bit neater.

Other than that, not much else changed, we always were really into cooking so this just makes it so much more enjoyable.
User
13 years ago
I can't say that it changed the way we think about food but it certainly aided the way we had already been going all these years.

We don't keep a lot of food in the house . I planned for very little storage and that has been good. I have a pull out pantry right next to the Twins and it is plenty. I can see at a glance what I have and need.

I have a Vintage white metal cabinet that holds all my canned chutneys and extra flour and all of DH's Chinese accoutrement. It is more than enough.

I have open storage now for dishes and the utensils we cook with are hanging right on the backsplash area of the cooktop. It makes getting them so fast and easy.

I have a huge ( for me) single bowl sink so clean up is now a dream.

i have a lot more counter space so prep is a breeze.

All this adds up to ease of preparing the same things we have loved to eat all of these years. I have explored some new things , I now have my Wild Yeast cultures in the fridge and can indulge my love of Artisinal Baking with the Miele ovens. I also can indulge in deep frying with the Miele fryer that we have built in. These are new pursuits .

DH can stirfry to his heart's content since we have the lovely high heat center burner on the Caldera and the 1400 cfm to remove all the HOGS. We have been doing this for 40 years but NOW there are no residual odors and the clean up is so easy.

So to answer yes we have changed but more than that we have evolved....moved forward with some branching.

I would love to see pics of your kitchen as you use it. There are lots of old threads that I started about using your kitchen and pics have been posted by lots of folks on here of WONDERFUL baking and cooking adventures. It is so enriching to see the spaces used and loved...not just photoed and looked at :)

Please do post how this new and wonderful space you have developed works for you . c
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marcydc
13 years ago
Not weird at all. Our kitchen use has changed.

We're eating out a lot less and cooking in much more. It's fun! There's room for all 4 of us to cook. We've been making home made pizzas now that we have an oven that can do it well. It's fun for the kids to decide what they want on a pizza (last night my daughters was pesto and carnitas!).

I also for the first time in my life have pantry/shelving space. I can stock up! Before, I shopped for the complete meal. It is nice to have things like canned tomatoes, extra olive oil, ketchup etc. in place should I run out during meal prep.

My Miele cooktop is so easy to clean up that we're doing a look more "messy" tings. Ton Katsu, french fries, etc.

In a built in fridge, things are not lost like they were in my horrible old GE from the early 80's with the top freezer. I could never find anything in that and things got pushed to the back and became science experiments. Now we actually eat the leftovers!

Enjoy your new place!
davidro1
13 years ago
yes. There is more variety now.
formerlyflorantha
13 years ago
Because we have the small upper oven on our GE Profile range, we are enjoying egg bakes or quick breads for breakfast more often.

Because the "baking center" gathers together baking containers, ingredients, the mixer, and a clean surface for work, we're using it a lot.

Because I had the room to rearrange pantry items, I have snacks and hors'douvers materials next to the booze and wine and a dual purpose bar area, spaghetti sauces and pasta near one another and right next to the range, and small knives and cutting surface right next to the refrig (the underhung drawer is my cheese stash) so I can have slivers of cheese quickly. I'm in a good place.
artemis78
13 years ago
Kitchen planning definitely changed how I organize and think about food, though whether it will change how I cook remains to be seen. The really funny part, though, is that a lot of the things I've learned are things I could easily have done in the old kitchen or any number of apartment kitchens over the years---I just never knew to think about organizing them that way!
johnnyl53
13 years ago
Not at all. We have more room to store. We eat the same things. I still think of food as something to eat and enjoy...same as before. The new kitchen is not treated as temple of cooking or food. It's newer and better organized than before but no light came shining down from heaven the first time we turned the stove on.
tracie.erin
13 years ago
My kitchen is not done, but we have some of the appliances and sink up and running. I don't dread making or cleaning up after dinner anymore. I understand now what it means to enjoy making a meal.

Having higher-powered, open burners to cook on makes cooking quick.

The larger, deeper cleanup sink hides all the handwashing items (big pots, pans) until I am ready to deal with them, and I don't slop water all over myself and the floor like I did in the teensy shallow double bowl sink.

The dishdrawer dishwasher means there's always a place to put dirty dishes and putting clean ones away is more frequent but less time consuming.

The 48" SZ fridge is used and needs to be replace because the bottom is rusting out.. but I wish it didn't. It is really nice to have the shallow horizontal space, we can see all our food, and eat our leftovers before they go bad.

We are DIYing everything so we have these things in, but minimal cabinets & counterspace so far. Our only countertop is actually my 4' marble DR table that I plunked in the kitchen. I can't wait until we get all that together.
formerlyflorantha
13 years ago
bump
User
13 years ago
No, but it turned me into a more inspired cook. I never felt like experimenting or making anything fancy in the last house. Now, I have such a beautiful kitchen, it would be a shame not to. :) (I guess there is also the fact that my husband said I had to cook more if we bought those expensive cabinets ;))
mailfox7
13 years ago
It just makes everything about food prep and clean up more fun!
plllog
13 years ago
It hasn't really changed my thinking, though I can see how it might for some, especially younger people. What it has done is changed what I do in practice.

1) With proper storage there isn't anything I don't bother with just because it's too much of a bother to get the stuff out. Except toast. When I get the haven't finished stuff out of the way I might start leaving the toaster out. But then, it'll be easier to plug in when there isn't all the finish the kitchen stuff on the counter, so maybe it'll stay in the drawer.

2) With induction there's no impediment to making hot lunches during the Summer. And it's so quick and easy, I sometimes even make cooked breakfasts.

3) With things so easy to assemble, I'll cook something simple when I don't feel like cooking at all.

4) With things so easy I don't mind cooking simple things even when I'm sick.

5) I can get ingredients for a stack of recipes and just bang them out in a few hours. There's the capacity, equipment, zones, and a comfortable place to sit while waiting for things. And the fridge space to put them away once made.

6) I'm much more likely to make something new out of leftovers because cooking is fun again, rather than a chore.

7) Making casual meals for a few guests doesn't take a lot of planning and effort, and making feasts isn't nearly the effort that it used to be.

8) I've had the energy to put into experimenting and creating because I'm not fighting the kitchen anymore.

9) I'm cooking a bigger variety of meats because I finally have appliances I can control.
1. Baking is a breeze because I have a reliable oven. Also the kitchen is much easier to keep clean so I don't have to clean the whole thing before baking.
withoutanh
13 years ago
My previous stove was avocado green, and not in a good way. The rental I lived in before we bought this house had a tiny harvest gold number; at least it was gas instead of electric. It has taken me over a year since we finished remodeling to realize that I now have AN OVEN THAT WORKS! It doesn't char the bottom or the top of anything and the middle cooks evenly. I love baking, but hadn't done any for years. I'm now starting my wild yeast cultures again and reading food porn about bread making.

I'm hoping I'll be able to post finished breads to rival Trailrunner's in the near future. I also have my mother's recipe boxes and am working my way through her cookie recipes. She is of Swedish extraction, so there are a lot of them.

And I'm starting to do stir fries now that I have burners that will do more than simmer...I think Trailrunner and I may be soul sisters.
cotehele
13 years ago
Interesting question. I have to say no. My old kitchen, age and cooking experience changed the way I think about food. That is why I was dying for a new kitchen. Cooking is much easier these days. :-)
boxerpups
13 years ago
Great responses. I loved this post. I think I need
to join a cooking blog.

I had to think about this post for a few day.
My view has definitely changed how I view cooking food.
I have always considered myself an average cook. And I can
safely say NOW my cooking has improved. I have Uncles who
probably dreaded eating my pasta who now rush for seconds.
My nephews and neices now devour my baked goods. When I
need water boiled, it boils! When I need to simmer, no
fears of burning. Having the big range with large knobs
makes me feel like I am a super hero in the kitchen. All
those years I wasted with garbage appliances. I feel more
confident about taking risks in my cooking. I will never be
a Giada De Laurentiis, Lidia Bastianich, Mario Batali, or
even half the cook my grandmother was. But I am no longer
afraid to try it, be brave or dive into something I have
never cooked before.
~boxer

Trailrunner- Me too, the big sink is a dream to clean with.

Marcydc, my kitch is still a little crowded for 4 but
I have a similarity in that we use our left overs more
often. And I really enjoy cooking with quality appliances.

Plllog-not fighting the kitchen. I love that statement!

withoutanh,
I think Avacado is coming back and not in a good way. ; )
User
13 years ago
fun reading all the responses ! I am so glad that you ( withoutanh) are enjoying bread baking !! I hope you will post pics soon of the breads as well as the stir fry.

The most common response has been the ease of doing things. Yep that is what makes it possible to explore all the new things you want to do and improve on the old. Ease of prep and clean up.

A very nice thread indeed. c

Did your new kitchen change how you think about food?

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