First Use of Baking Center & Marathon Baking Session!

15 years ago

Today was my first use of my almost-finished baking center. The results...it was so wonderful! Even though we still don't have power on that side, the granite isn't completely installed, and our prep sink isn't installed, it was wonderful having all that work space!

My DD and I made 13 batches of brownies, 3 batches of bar chocolate chip cookies, and a double-batch of a gluten-free shortcake...all for the Strawberry Festival at our church land tomorrow (we have land but no building...yet!)

In our old kitchen, there was barely enough room for one person to work...2' b/w the sink and range.

Today, we had more than enough room for both of us...and the mini-peninsula that my KD didn't think I'd want was so handy for putting pans on straight out of the oven (my cooling racks are packed away somewhere!).

And the ovens...we were able to bake 3 batches of brownies or cookies at once in each of my double ovens (used convection mode on both upper & lower ovens)!

And cleanup...3 bowls + 2 measuring cups fit in the larger bowl of my sink!! I could have put at least one more bowl in the smaller sink, but I didn't need it...but I did put utensils in it. Our old 2-bowl sink only fit one bowl & 1 measuring cup in each bowl.

Today I was just loving my almost finished kitchen even more!

Pictures....

Our baking results!

Cleanup:

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Comments (21)

vicnsb
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Congratulations on your first big use! How wonderful you must have felt while working in such a well thought out space!
aliceinmd
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Congratulations on finally having a functioning kitchen! You've come a long way with way too many delays and interruptions, and it's so good of you to dedicate the baking center's first workout to your church. I love your cabinets and the other choices you've made. Keep the progress reports coming, the end is near!
Ann
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Hiyall - I'm a little trigger shy about posting pictures; I did some as quickly as I'm about to post these a week ago or so and, um, it didn't go over well. We're still moving in. And constructing, too. This is not intended for show-off purposes! I actually took down a plastic calendar thingy I had magneted to the side of the fridge. Definitely inelegant but life is very chaotic, and, well, I have kids and - whatever ... please don't complain about the messiness or that we're still in construction, etc. It makes me feel really badly that I'm not a neater person! I'm OK living with it myself, but I hate how it isn't the way others are... So here's an overview: You can see that it's a deep 30" to match the fridge. The the counter to its right goes back to 24" because I wanted a corner lazy susan and that turns the corner into a deep bay window so pulling it all out to, say, 27" was going to make for a cleaning-problem (maybe; I'm not so sure in retrospect but that was the reasonsing). Also, I balanced the jog visually by placing another at the other end of this cleanup area by pulling the right-angled range-run back out to 27" after the sink. If you click on my photo you'll go to my photobucket where the plans are nestled way back in the beginning somewhere. I imagine the last of the plans posted is pretty close to what wound up happening (haven't looked back there in a while!) And here's a closeup in better light; not sure it adds much beyond the above pic though -- except notice that the KD added a 1" spacer between low and tall cabs so the countertop could die into something. I sure wouldn't have thought of that! She earned her commission right there I think): That bread's about to be turned into french toast, another long-missed family fav that I'm going to have to cut this short to attend to. BTW, it's really yummy, IMO, bread from costco -organic sliced -- I love this stuff but haven't french-toastified it ever. Back to the subject: re step-up boards. Personally, I'd be a little worried about the extra weight that would be brought to bear from, say, kneading on one of those things. I'd say the clllog route might be cheaper, safer, wiser. I have a large drawer with a lot of weight that really isn't faring too well even with the heavy-duty slides. It's possible there are more heavy-duty slides available still. But how are you going to lock the drawer so it doesn't slide with you if applying pressure? Also, remember it's expensive to put in another drawer; maybe OK with you but given the other concerns, well, I'd think twice. I agree it's totally groovy, but I'd worry about the safety - kids concern me too. Also, we're kinda messy around here (didja get that part?) and I'd worry it would be sticking out and someone would trip. Dunno, the worrier in me would find too many concerns. Plus, again, balanced against how wonderful it's turned out to be having the lower counter, and perhaps its location is part of the utility, with all that, I'd go for the lowered counter. =0.02 I'm getting yelled-at to hurry up big-time! BTW, it's a really nice height for just plopping your butt during unexpected I-know-you're-busy-which-is-why-I'm-taking-this-exact-moment-to-spill-the-beans-and-I'll-never-forgive-you-if-you-don't-drop-everything-to-pay-attention-to-me-teenager-moments.
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A big thank you to each of you who posted! Buehl, I checked out the sink you have and it's wider than my sink cabinet, so that one won't work for me. :-( I read about your baking marathon session. My new stove also has the option of convection baking and that is something else I need to learn about. It was good to read about your experience. cilantro, the sink you mention is also too big for my sink cabinet. I think that the S105 is the largest I can go, but I will be confirming this with my KD next week. Mustbnuts We were part of a CSA for several years and loved it also. We didn't renew this year because there we so many veggies that were part of the share that we were not eating (too many green leafy things for us). But I will really miss the Jersey tomatoes! I did wash my veggies in one side/bowl in my double sink. That feature is handy. holligator, thanks for giving my your thoughts on your sink grate. I keep wondering if I will be constantly having to lift it out of the way when I need to clean up the sink/rinse the kitchen scraps into the insinkerator. Old1880home, Your sink looks lovely. I went to the site you posted and I did run into a problem. Several of the sinks I clicked on could not be shown. Even your sink I could not get to on that site. Thanks again everyone! Decision #562!
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bluekitobsessed
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I am so jealous! Next week will be the second HS band concert where I have to borrow an oven to make a pie (I'm the band bake sale coordinator and I can't even bake!) and the second month of telling the kids that smores and ice cream are the only desserts they can have. Enjoy, and eat a brownie for envious GW'rs!

And now for the TKO stuff: what makes yours a baking center? Is the counter lower? Appliance/oven placement? Pix please?
loves2cook4six
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Well done! And I see you tested to make sure the goodies tasted OK too :)

Wishing you many years of joyful baking in your new kitchen.
edlakin
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
that's sweet! congrats.

the first few weeks using a new kitchen is so thrilling, but the downside is that you end up being super-anal about wiping up every crumb and spill immediately. or at least, i do.
bbtondo
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Looks yummy! I'm so glad you're enjoying your beautiful kitchen and that everything is falling into place for you. I can barely wait for my cabinets to arrive in approx 2 weeks!
Barb
rosie
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
That's so nice to hear. I'm trying to imagine you turning all that out on your old 2', which must have been very impressive to see and maybe required a little magic too...
holligator
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
What FUN!! I know it must have felt fabulous to finally be doing what you've been picturing doing for SO long. And those treats look delicious, too. :)
neesie
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
What sweet, sweet success! I hope your fund raising at the Strawberry Festival is successful to. Have a wonderful day.
mustbnuts zone 9 sunset 9
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Mmmmmmmmm! Everything you baked looks yummy as well as your new kitchen! Congrats. Can't wait to see it all finished.
cotehele
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
What a pleasure! Looks like good eating. Best wishes with your church's Strawberry Festival. The strawberries here don't come on for another two weeks. I'd love some of yours ;)
Jean Popowitz
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
YUM! Congrats on a successful maiden voyage! I would love the GF recipe as three of us can't eat wheat here.
cat_mom
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Yum, yum, yum!!! Glad you are having such tasty fun in your new space!
User
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Looks WONDERFUL ! You are so lucky to have such a great space. c
igloochic
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
how fun to actually put the space to work!

so ummm how much are the brownies...they look yummy lol
deedee-2008
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
What a great first run for your kitchen. I love the extra space my "mini pennisula" gives me for working. I know pennisulas are "out of style", but I didn't have room in my narrow kitchen for an island. By the way, Buehl, did you bake the brownies on "convection" too, or just the cookies? I just got my new oven a month ago, and I saw a thread here about 2-3 mos. ago how you shouldn't bake cakes on convection. Your brownies certainly look yummy, though. I haven't had too much time to read all my new owner's manuals yet.
awm03
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
What a wonderful way to spend the day!
Buehl
Original Author
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thanks everyone! It was a great way to "break in" at least part of my kitchen!

The Strawberry Festival was a great success! It was held on land that we've purchased to build our church as a "Light on the Hill". The Festival was held in celebration of making the half-way point of Phase I of our building. Another 18 months and we hope to be in our new church!

Now, to your questions:

What makes it my baking center? Well, a lot of thought went in to that. It's a combination of the configuration and location. First off, when everything is finished, my KA mixer will be in the far left corner (along w/functioning outlets), my baking paraphernalia will be stored in the cabinets/drawers of that same corner, and the DOs are diagonally across from it.

The "center" is made up of a mini-peninsula + the area b/w the peninsula & cooktop. My vision has been that I will have my cookie pans on the mini-peninsula, I will roll out my dough on the counter to the left of the cooktop, and I will have my mixer, cookie cutters, etc. in the corner...everything right at hand w/plenty of room to do it all!

Here're the best pictures I have right now...

Baking Center in upper right corner...

In lower left corner here...

Ovens across from peninsula....but not right in it's path...next to the pantry... You can see the end of the mini-peninsula that's part of my baking center on the right.

Gluten-Free Shortcake

2 1/3 cups Pamela's Baking and Pancake mix
3/4 cup shortening

mix together then add

1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

1. Heat oven to 425F.
2. Stir ingredients mix, milk, sugar and butter until soft dough forms. Drop by 6 spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

I doubled the recipe and baked it in a 9"x13" pan ... check it frequently, I don't remember how long it took to bake...maybe 18 or 20 minutes?

From: http://leaisglutenfree.blogspot.com/2007/05/shortcake.html

While just about anything can be baked/roasted using convection, there are some exceptions...cakes being one. My understanding is that it has more to do with aesthetics than actual baking performance. In most cases you want a cake with a smooth top. Convection baking does not generally lead to a smooth top.

Usually, when I'm making just one or two batches of brownies, I use regular (thermal) bake. However, I had 12 pans to make so I decided to use convection mode so I could bake 3 pans at one time in each oven. The temperature was reduced by 25o but they took the same amount of time to bake. So while bake time per oven load was the same, I was able to bake more at one time...instead of doing 6 "oven loads" I was able to do it all in 4.
boysrus2
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
That was an impressive array of goodies that you made. How wonderful that all your careful planning has paid off in perfect functionality. And your new cabinetry is really pretty. I like the way you did the mouldings at the top of the cabinets with the staggered heights.
marlene_2007
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I don't know where I've been, but this is the first time I've seen your kitchen. It is gorgeous!
cooperbailey
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Wow that's the way to break it in! Glad you got to enjoy your new baking center.

First Use of Baking Center & Marathon Baking Session!

Comments (21)

vicnsb

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First Use of Baking Center & Marathon Baking Session!

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