Roll out baking cart?
After bring a few different versions of our layout here for constructive advice, I think my husband and I have finally found a layout for us where the scale of the project is within our means, but we don't feel as if we are settling and that this will serve our large family (6 children 12 and under) for the long-term. It involves a little addition onto our porch being made into a "baking alcove" to house the double ovens and a stretch of cabinetry to accommodate baking. We'll have about 42" of open counter space plus the corner beside the ovens that can house the stand mixer and maybe keep large canisters of flour tucked away but easily accessible. I also have plans to make that counter a little deeper (27") and lower than a standard counter.
However, I don't want to keep things like spoons, whisks, spatulas, etc... in there because I use all those things for cooking as well as baking, so I plan on parts of baking spilling into the kitchen proper to the left of the cooktop in the layout below. (For clarity, the peninsula plan below has a Kohler Stages sink).
Since I have 24 more inches between the front of those cabinets and the doorway and then 48 more inches between that corner and the pegboard, I wondered if that would be a good space to use a roll out baking cart for some extra surface during big projects. I thought it could become the rolling, kneading surface so the counter in the alcove was open for cooling racks and pans coming out of the oven. I was thinking of something similar to this so that the drawers were still accessible while in use and it could even be moved to a different location entirely if desirable.
These types of solutions always look so clever in magazines and books or Pinterest, but it all feels very academic since I have never actually known anyone who had something like this in their kitchen. Do you think this would add functionality to our design? Does anyone have such a solution that they really use and love?
Thanks so much for your feedback!
Comments (11)
lindsaymarie79
7 years agoI also thought that a roll-out cart that was 24x24 might be less unwieldy than a 30" cabinet and then I could add 3-6" to that side of the cooktop to allow for a 9-12" pull out for the utensils, something like this:
mama goose_gw zn6OH
7 years agoI can see that being useful to pull out to the end of the peninsula when the kids are helping, while you man the ovens. Just make sure that the weight in each drawer is toward the back--you don't want small kids leaning on open drawers and tipping the cart over. Deedles has something similar, but her message function is not enabled.
I've posted this pic several times--the cart has a fold up section to increase counter area. You could have it span the depth of the counter and overhang on the peninsula:
lindsaymarie79 thanked mama goose_gw zn6OHRelated Discussions
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Comments (7)Pepper, your cart idea sounds peachy! I could've used a gardening cart when I had an apartment. Hope you'll post pictures if it ever comes to pass. Florantha, I've come to the same conclusion about the stools. It seems like such a nice idea to be able to hide seating away...but not when it's such a tiny cart with tinier seating. I'm so glad to know your family used a similar old table for much the same purpose! I checked out a local antique store today and came across a few possible options. The one with the best body (sexy legs!) ;) was also a little beat up, but I'm hoping DH will let me know if it's worth saving and if so indulge my refinishing it (since it will distract me from wanting to paint the cabinets)....See MoreGarage storage solution to protect rolling cart from rust.
Comments (5)Hi Steve and thanks for your comment. No, our garage is not heated. The steel is finished with paint. It is a storage cart with mesh drawers and flat top. I was hoping to get it out of the house, as we'd like to use it for the small coal grill we have. Perhaps wrapping it in a cover first might help, then tossing in one of those large silicone packets before sealing the bag? Just a thought. Thanks for your reply. ~ Sandy...See More55 degrees out. Good day for baking!
Comments (34)Dandy, the pumpkin muffins were also an untried recipe but not as good as the ones I have made previously....kinda dry and not as much flavor. Here is my old recipe which produces moist and very flavorful muffins: Pumpkin Muffins 1 3/4 c all purpose flour 1 1/4 c sugar 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking soda 3/4 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground cloves 2 large eggs 1 c canned pumpkin (not pie filling!) 1/2 c + 2 tbs salad oil (I use canola) 1 c raisins, craisins or dried apricots 1/2 c warm water 1/2 chopped nuts (optional) Preheat oven to 400F. Soak the dried fruit in the warm water to plump. Mix all the dry ingredients together and set aside. Mix the eggs, pumpkin and oil and blend well. Drain the fruit and add to wet ingredients. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients and blend until just mixed....do not over-mix!! Spoon into lined muffin cups and bake 15-20 minutes or until tested done. (I do jumbo muffin cups and bake 25-30 minutes) I sometimes sub 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice in place of the individual spices. I also sometimes add a touch of ground ginger and allspice. And I top the muffins with coarse sugar crystals before baking. And here is the link to the sausage rolls recipe: Caramelized Apple, Onion and Fennel Sausage rolls. I used mild Italian sausage so omitted the fennel seed. And I added a scosh of dry mustard powder as my previous recipe included that as well. I have to pace myself with these or would try to eat them all as soon as they come out of the oven!!...See MoreRolled and folded baking powder biscuits recipe?
Comments (10)Thanks, Ann! This reads like a hybrid between the two types. I'll definitely give it a try. As one would expect, your biscuits are lovely. ;) Martha, I'm not familiar with "beaten biscuits". Amylou's linked recipe is pretty much the method I used to use though a wire pastry blender rather than an FP (I don't remember the proportions at all). It sounds a bit baking powder heavy, but I can tweak if it's not just right. It's a good starting place. Ann's biscuits sound like a good blend of not worked and folded. So, of course, I looked beaten biscuits up. :) Talking about developing gluten!! Garden & Gun has a very amusing article about them, starting: The beaten biscuit doesn’t disintegrate into buttery crumbs. It lacks the tang of buttermilk and the lightness of baking powder. It’s a dense holdover from the antebellum era that can require more than an hour of hard work, or a bulky, nearly extinct piece of equipment. Then continues after awhile with: While the delicate crumb of the buttermilk biscuit requires pampering from mixing bowl to oven to table, the work of beaten biscuit–making is prolonged and violent, and was often left to enslaved cooks in centuries past. To create layers in the dough, bakers armed with rolling pins, axe handles, and even hammers whomp and fold it until it resembles a blistered hunk of putty, anywhere from forty-five minutes to an hour and a half. Those hard-earned layers inflate just slightly in a hot oven, releasing steam through the holes traditionally poked into each biscuit with a fork. The effect doesn’t compare to that of baking powder, but a little bit of rise was better than no rise all for nineteenth-century bakers without ready access to leaveners. And today, proponents of the beaten biscuit say that its firm texture and unobtrusive flavor are the reasons why it pairs better with country ham than its flakier kin. “In Europe, you eat ham with crackers,” Worley says. “Beaten biscuits have that crackery texture, and they’re more neutral than buttermilk biscuits. People either get it or they don’t.” https://gardenandgun.com/recipe/the-art-of-the-beaten-biscuit/ Thank-you, Martha, for introducing this to me. When I was talking about the firmer texture, I meant something like what Ann shows. There's some directionality to the crumb, and it's not so melt in your mouth. Trailrunner's biscuits are cut, but barely patted into a cuttable mass. Their texture is more like drop biscuits, but fluffier, at least as I make them, and they're very lofty (loads of water and high heat)....See More
suzanne_sl
7 years agoNo idea on the cart, but I do have a suggestion on the utensils: get a second set of spatulas, measuring stuff, whisks, etc. I don't know why it took me so long to figure it out, but I was 60 or so before it dawned on me that my cooking/baking life would be much more efficient if I had more than one set of measuring cups and spoons. It's not like those things are expensive or take up an undue amount of space.
Another efficiency move: along with the epiphany that I could have more than 1 set of measuring spoons, it occurred to me that I didn't need to pick out just the spoons I needed from the drawer for each recipe. I could put the entire set in a container that can be moved from the drawer to the counter, pick out as needed, and put the leftovers in their container away as a group at the end of the recipe.
It's all so obvious, but I didn't think of it until long past when the kids were grown and gone. Hope it helps someone else to mention it sooner.
lindsaymarie79 thanked suzanne_slpractigal
7 years agopractigal
7 years ago
Don't forget to build some pull out shelves for above the oven it's so much easier when you can pull the slef forward and look at it as opposed to dig around at the back of the cabinet.
The second picture shows a corner where there was a cart that was pulled out and then instead of having a completely blind corner they made it possible to pull forward the portion of the cabinet that would be in the corner. I cannot recall the name of the woman who posted this but it was an excellent kitchen.
lindsaymarie79 thanked practigallindsaymarie79
7 years agolindsaymarie79
7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
lazy_gardens