This is such a great post for those still in the planning stages. My DH is the super practical and logical one in our family. He really helped me think about the kitchen from a functional standpoint. HEre's a couple of things that helped me make decisions:
Chose my Dacor 36" range because it is one of the only ones that offers a convection oven that fits FULL size sheet pans. (This means I can bake an entire batch of cookies at one time!)It also has the burner configuration that best supports having lots of pans on the stove at one time cooking the way I do (pan searing meat, making sauces, etc.)

Also, we made sure that I had lots of counter space on my island to put baking sheets as I take things out of the oven.

I do a lot of baking of cookies, breads, rolls, etc. THis means I need lots of large counter space.

We also enjoy a bottle of wine most nights. This caused us to create a wine bar in the kitchen so that we have a specific place for the wine opener, glasses, wine storage, etc. We wanted this out of the wa of the cooking zones so that we didn't get in each others way.

I have found by visiting friends and neighbors that often they plan their kitchen based on what is "hot" at the time but then find it doesn't work for their cooking style.

No baking or beautiful photos from me - but I will say I got one of my double ovens without convection and it's been a good choice for those occasional really deep items that are otherwise obstructed by the convection fan. Something to consider for those who don't have a need for two convection ovens at the same time.

I love to eat and I love to cook, but I am not into complicated stuff. Sure, occasionally I don't mind devoting a lot of time for "fancier" stuff, but overall, I consider myself peasant-style :-/ .
Bread baking occasionally, simple meats/fish, etc.
I did get a very large pan for sweating chard, spinach, etc. but that's about it. I've made yogurt, breads, souffles, etc...in this current simple kitchen. I figure anything we build will have to be at least this good or better.
LOVE that bread!!!

Gorgeous pics pauline!

Completely hear you on the 30" counters. I love mine - they're a boon. I do have a nearly 8 foot segment of those 30" counters and one thing that I realized is that when you have deep counters, you don't even need that long a counter stretch for it to be completely functional.

I have a Bosch wall-oven and I can definitely get a half sheet pan in there and with at least an inch if not more on all sides - including front and back. I use the half sheets a lot - primarily for roasting vegetables, cookies, or for making appetizers and petit fours when we have company. I do agree that it is worthwhile to check that the oven can hold this but definitely not all convection ovens have that handicap. And I must say that I do appreciate the convection.

Definition of a "cooker": an apparatus or utensil for cooking.

I am a real "cook" and have also found my convection oven to be a bit on the small side for some sheets, but it's not a major problem. You can find slightly smaller ones that fit.

Paulines, I have the smaller 27" GE Profile double ovens with the top one being convection. My 1/2 sheet pans fit just fine. What size is yours? That is a bummer!

I didn't make any special allowances for the way I cook, but I did for entertaining. Our new 5' x 5' island replaced a peninsula and gave us traffic flow on two sides of the kitchen instead of the single pathway we used to have which was always log-jammed at our parties. Also I kept the island flat, so I could place many platters of food out while entertaining.

We also installed a beverage fridge in the island facing the breakfast room and outdoor deck. It's perfect for guests to grab a beverage and at a great level for my 4 year old twins to grab a juice box or water too.

What an interesting thread! I did not know that some convection ovens are smaller than regular ovens. This is useful info.

I love to cook, and what I appreciate most is an unbroken stretch of counterspace. That is why I didn't put any sinks or appliances on my 6x3 island. It is splendid for spreading out.

Outlets at either end, as well as on the regular counters, gives me lots of flexibility with placing small appliances.

I like that the wet area is somewhat separate. I can always bank on having a clear area for washing/drying produce even when my main work area is busy. And cleanup can go on at the same time without the two interfering with each other.

I very much took what we cook/bake and how into consideration. We like to bake a lot, as well as cook, and the kids like to join me in the kitchen, so it was essential to have plenty of room for all baking tasks that wouldn't interfere with prepping and cooking tasks. The prep sink and 'zones' are of huge benefit to us.

You have cited the reason I turned from my original plan to have GE Profile ovens...Actually thought I'd get 2 ranges with convection. But only 13 1/2" of oven depth quickly changed my mind. We use larger baking sheets, 10x15 glass baking pans I like to put side-by-side, and we like to make pizza on our 16" pizza pan. None of those things would fit in the GE convection. I took a tape measure and a mental list of pan sizes when I looked at ovens. It has been often suggested that when looking at ovens you take your most loved and largest pans. It's also helpful to think of the largest platters and pans you might ever want to refrigerate when shopping for a fridge and freezer. Don't be afraid to take pans, etc. with you.

The baking counter where we do the mixing is standard depth, but the island, which is 4 ft across (3 would've done it, too) provides the work surface for bigger projects.

We do have spans of 30" deep stainless counters on either side of the rangetop, which can serve as a nice place for cooling things just out of the oven.

We took into consideration that we often have multiple cooks in our kitchen.I cook, hubby grills, barbecues and is the gravy master at our home. Our son also enjoys cooking and when he and his new family are over he joins us in the kitchen. So we planned for cooking "stations" rather than the old kitchen triangle setup.

We also have a large flat island to spread out, two sinks because of the multiple cooks, and a beverage area for guests and grandkids to grab drinks and snacks out of the way of the main cooking areas. The beverage station is also by the door out to the screen porch and patio so it is great for staging food to move outside or for people to run in for a quick beverage.

As empty nesters we entertain more often (ironically, it's often those who flew the nest and their expanding brood..)and I'm no longer the sole cook in the kitchen. So we designed aspects of our new kitchen with those things in mind.

First off we did not install a microwave over the range as what's in our older kitchen. This forum convinced me of the need for proper ventilation, but that aside, so often preparing Sunday brunches together DH and I would jockey for position at the stove while one of us was cooking on the range and the other was trying to put in/remove something from the MW. It's tucked in its own spot under the island with a drawer beneath it that houses all the stuff we use with it (plastic wrap, etc.)

We kept our island clear of sinks so we could use the large, wide expanse for multiple cooks prepping and for cooling baked goods. And we raised the serving area so that folks could be served drinks and appetizers while chatting w/ the cook(s) without being directly across onions being diced, squirting lemons being squeezed, etc.

I like seeing a thread like this for those in the planning stages. It's easy to get fixated on a "look" we fall in love with in a magazine spread and neglect to plan for how the kitchen is really used and lived in.

Paulines, I asked about deeper counters before doing my kitchen and no one recommended them, esp for me because I am not very tall. Don't forget to consider that if you make the lower cabinets and countertops 6" deeper, the upper cabinets, and esp. the backs of the upper cabinets are 6" further away and it can cause you to have to reach more to get at things, and even put things out of your reach without a stool that would have been easily reachable over standard lower cabinets. It is also harder to get at items at the back in a very deep lower cabinet. In a very large kitchen, with several cabinet runs, it would probably come in handy to have it in one smaller area, but I would not want it for the most used cabinets in the main areas of my kitchen. I think an island if you have room for it would also give you the large work surfaces you find helpful. Of coarse if you are over 5'8" or so, it would great. (I am only 5'4") But it is worth really thinking about first, esp if you have members of the household who will need to use the kitchen that are not very tall. I would be nice to have just one baking center with a nice deep counter area and deeper cabinets for larger items.

Sue

I'm sure my employer would say that a real cook is someone who earns their living doing it. If so, that would make me a part time cook because I work for her part time on catering gigs.

Back on the home front, available space and personal preference led me to design a compact (64 sq ft) kitchen. Rather than divide the possible counter space equally among the various work stations, I minimized all but one of them and included a 52" long 25" deep butcher block counter with nothing permanently on it. It's a very useful space for two people working on fairly large projects like the eight tuna casseroles DW and I knocked out yesterday for a church function. (We could have done the same amount in two big trays but this way each table had an individual casserole.)

When we bought our 24" BlueStar range we took a half sheet pan and my mother's old Mauviel roasting pan along to make sure they would fit in the oven.

30" deep counters x 7' long and 15" deep uppers and I am 5'2". I love them . We have huge soup plates that wouldn't fit in a reg 12" deep cupboard.I have step stool when needed.

{{gwi:612474}}

30" double convection for lots of baking

zones for multiple cooks

gas 36" and deep fat fryer....VENTILATION...so important.

big wide 30" x24" sink...shallow though in the European style...8".

Nice sized 3ft x 4ft island that is movable.

more Challah...Paulines yours are gorgeous :

Pogne de Romans--Breads of France:

I like to bake so I included a baking center, which is a normal 39" wide base cabinet cut 4" shorter than usual.

One of my extremely health-conscious clients designed a juicing zone, which was a prep sink plus very large veggie-juicing machine, which I thought was very cool if not necessarily helpful for resale. OTOH, it was Malibu :)

We are just the two of us and it is simple fare but we cook daily. We don't need a big stove or ovens but we do need a big refrigerator/freezer -- 48 inches and always filled -- freezer is filled with raspberries and tomato sauce (frozen from our garden) and suet for the woodpeckers, but no meat. Lots of produce in the refrigerator -- we eat fish, salad, fruit. Very little baking except raspberry pies. So, need lots of room to spread out and make salads and process produce. I am going to move my sink off center to get a long unbroken counter and also bring out my lowers to 30 -- thank you trailrunner!

sayde,,,you are welcome...you will love the 30". I want raspberries :). DS1 has had weeks of thumb sized ones at the restuarant...they are about over now. He gets Driscoll brand from CA...nothing =home grown I bet ! You are so lucky.

I wanna see more pics ! c

paulines...great thread and beautiful bread!

I am not a baker (maybe someday) nor do I use the oven
everyday, but I did want my ovens to be wall height instead of
range height. Now is the time to do it and as I age...I'm sure I
will prefer not bending over and reaching.

I have a rangetop counter/cab run that I could make 30" deep...I will have
to look at photos of rangetops on deeper countertops and what they
look like at the back part that meets the wall. I guess its just about a 6"
space with countertop but I have never looked at it before :)

trail...as usual, your goodies are making me hungry!

vic

The best advice I ever read on GardenWeb was to lay out the kitchen to accommodate the way you actually use it. Our kitchen is a wide galley (11x17) and I spent a good bit of time at first trying to make it into something else until I realized the layout worked for us in a lot of ways. We often have 4 people in the kitchen at mealtime, one unloading groceries, one emptying and reloading the dishwasher, one starting dinner prep and one wandering through to get a drink or chat about schoolwork, social plans, whatever. I divided the space into zones that minimize the tripping over each other and made all but one 5' stretch of counter 28 1/2" deep to reduce the sideways spread while working at the counters. So far it's working out beautifully.

I'm glad this thread has been helpful. There are so many things to consider when planning a kitchen, sometimes the cooking part gets overlooked, lol

cindyinsocal, very good point about designing based on what's hot, although many cookers tend to be design rule breakers when it comes to their workspace, you agree?

boysrus2 (and mmme), I misspoke (or mistyped, lol). It's actually the full sheets and 16"d round pans that don't fit. The oven's usuable depth is just about 15". The fan casing protrudes about 3" or so into the space.

Gorgeous breads, trail!

lmarletto, graph paper is a great tool also - it really helps to visualize flow and clearance and it's cheap!

A few folks emailed me in regards to the fig recipes. I linked to a great thread below. When I can get my hands on fresh figs, I like to cut them in half, place a small slice of chevre in the middle, s & p, drizzle with a bit of honey, roast and finish with a balsamic reduction.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cooking forum...

My counters range from 30" deep to 37 1/2" deep (next to the big range). I wanted room for appliances and tools to be left out on the counters and still have ample work space for stuffing grape leaves, rolling out phyllo, etc. Now, I don't know how I would adjust to anything shallower. (For some reason, I'm a major spreader-outer. LOL.) I tend to prepare large quantities and freeze or preserve. I also have two buffet lamps on one stretch of counter for additional task lighting. The only other place for lighting in that spot would have been on the outside of my stove hood and I kept thinking the lights would have made the hood look like a Mouseketeer. Posters here have criticized photos of kitchens with lamps, saying they were done by stylists run amok, but I love it.

We have a peninsula with a countertop that is about 33 or 34" wide (wide enough for any food prep buy narrow enough so that I can wipe it off from one side.) I use it for all our food preparation. Forget about the perimeter counters---everything that I do gets done at the peninsula. When our kitchen was on paper there were lots of zones where I thought I would do different tasks--i.e veggie prep on the counter between the fridge and prep sink, sandwich prep on the counter next to the toaster oven, pie crust making on the counter next to the baking cabinet. No everything gets done on the wide peninsula counter. Any helpers get to use the perimeter counters--I prefer the peninsula with our range just 90 degrees to it on my right.

Also, I didn't think about the functionality of extra deep uppers while planning the kitchen. We put in a hutch between the kitchen and eating area and 18" deep glass uppers (accessible from both sides) seemed to work out well proportionally. I store all our dishes there and it holds a lot thanks to the extra depth. We also put in a 15" deep cabinet at the elbow of the peninsula. The extra depth was for aesthetic reasons (to set it off from the symmetrical cabinets flanking the range) but turns out to be very handy. So even though I didn't plan extra deep cabinets into the kitchen from a functional aspect, the fact that they were put in for aesthetic reasons was a happy accident.

I tend to be a "slow cooker"--we cook mostly vegetarian and my knife skills aren't good enough for me to get through veggie prep quickly. We planned a prep sink into our kitchen so that I could get much needed help in this area but still have my cooking space unintruded upon. This was a "must" based on my cooking style.

I am and cook and a baker. You already know why I made my kitchen what it is, but I agree that yes...a deep counter is extremely useful. (I try to have a reason for most decisions that I make!) If you don't have the option of a three foot wide island, a deep counter is a must have. The only problem with that for me would be that it's hard for my (short) arms to reach very far for cleaning. For that reason (I have the burn marks on my arm and hands as proof) it's also why I chose a side opening, counter height oven as my convection oven. At 27 inches, it fits my half-sheet pans beautifully, and as those are the pans I use most often, that's important to me. (There are six in my cabinets which are constantly rotated, and often in use all at once.) I use those same half sheets for freezing foods on a shelf that's up high in my freezer, which is also 27 inches wide, and there's another high shelf for that purpose in my fridge as well. (The shelf has just enough head space for the food on the pan. I placed it high so I can put/pull the sheet pan in, yet don't use the shelf for anything else since it's above my eye level.) I like to bake and cook things ahead so I have the option of good food fast when life intervenes, so this suits my cooking style well.

Most of my kitchen was planned for optimal cooking ease, but one of things I use most that I don't often see mentioned is the pull-out cutting board next to my range. When it's pulled out, it blocks traffic from coming into my space, and it adds ''just enough'' extra counter to keep me functioning well at the stove. The block is big enough to hold an array of veggies for cutting, and I really like the combination of wood and granite next to the cooktop, in an L shape pattern. My cooking space turns into a cockpit, and it's very efficient. When I've had an injury (which is more often than I care to admit), I've sat in a chair at that cutting board with ease, cutting and chopping since I can roll a chair right underneath it.

Something else I did I don't see mentioned much, is place a lazy susan on my island to hold things I use all over the kitchen. It's incredibly useful as I can spin it from almost anywhere (prep space at the island, near the range or next to the fridge&freezer/sandwich/beverage counter). It holds paper towels, my knives on a magnetic block, a kitchen timer, salt, pepper mill and a small crock full of spreaders, spoons and spatulas.

Beautiful gorgeous breads Pauline and Trailrunner! You inspire me to get the yeast out soon for bread. Yesterday I made Chocolate Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream, and this afternoon I'm making pizza.

Cupcake anyone?
{{!gwi}}

ME!!! i'm a real cook and a baker too. i do lots of mediterranean dishes as well (we're greek) for easter especially, to feed up to 30 people. i considered 30" depth on my counters but honestly, i won't need them since i am planning a baking center. it will be 36" deep and 4' wide. it will look sort of like an armoire, with receeding doors and drawers on bottom for flour, sugar, baking powder, etc... behind the doors will be inside lighting and power for houseing my mixer, food processors and the like. baking pans will be stored up top. i'll be able to mix and roll out dough all inside the cabinet and close it up when i'm finished. as far as resale goes, i'm not concerned. who wouldn't love a baking center? and i'm pretty sure this is our "forever" house. we're getting a 48" capital range (can't wait to use the rotisserie!) as well as a turbo chef. i was originally going to get the 60" range but figured i'd get better use from the turbo chef.
we're building so we're living in a temporary house. the 38 year old wall ovens gave out two weeks after we moved in, three years ago. i couldn't find a cheap replacement (or even a pricier one) to fit the 25" wall opening; so for now i am working with a cook top, micro and a (gasp!) toaster oven.

I CAN'T WAIT TO LIVE A CIVILIZED LIFESTYLE AGAIN.

Yep, good thread!
I had my hubby weld cookie sheet holders. I can fit a half sheet into my kitchenaid convection ovens, 6 at a time to bake a load of cookies. I also roll out pie dough for my chicken pot pies on a routine basis, so the end of the island is the pastry section of the granite counter top. All my bread baking suppies are stored in tupperware in a drawer at the counter end. I have a cabinet that was just the right size for a mixer pop up, but chose to make it a tupperware dedicated cabinet instead. I have a half shelf in the lower cabinet so I can store my two bread machines & kitchenaid mixer. I needed lots of outlets for plugging in a crockpot,letting it sit all day and not be in the way. Three appliance garages for the Cuisanart,can opener, toaster and mixing bowls. A corner lazy susan is dedicated to spices. I also have a planning desk, so looking up a receipe on the computer is handy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cookie sheet holders

Hi zelmar, not sure if you're familiar with, but the Moosewood series cookbooks are awesome. My DB who was a vegetarian for many years turned me on to them.

Luna, your kitchen is an outstanding example of space beautifully designed for function. For those starting out on their project, I highly recommend checking out Luna's kitchen in the gallery - there are so many wonderful details and ideas!

Cinnamon buttercream??? TDF!

Kate, what do you mean by receding doors, like pocket doors? DH is greek also, but doesn't eat any of the good greek specialties. He likes meatloaf - go figure.

Nicole, I've heard so many times that folks don't care for the mixer pop-up cabinet. I would think a larger area, more stable counter is preferable, but would love to hear from those that love theirs!