Best things I did in my kitchen remodel(s)
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5 years ago
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Should I redo my kitchen cabinets if I'm doing a remodel?
Comments (3)I think it depends largely on the condition of the cabinets, since you wouldn't want to invest in a new countertop on worn out cabinets. I'm keeping mine and doing a minor facelift. I prefer the look of hinges showing, too. If you have plans to move soon, though, it might be worth seeing how your neighborhood real estate is going. My parents had a realtor look at their home before their remodel. She recommended not doing a thing for resale value; they did the remodel anyway, but knowing it was for their enjoyment, not investment. Do your cabinets work well for you? If not, might be worth saving for. I'm on the conservative side when it comes to money and resources, though....See MoreThe best thing in my kitchen is...
Comments (57)This thread is totally fascinating to me, because it highlights the fact that what you value most in kitchen items is so heavily dependent on who you are as a cook. For example, if someone gave me a rice cooker, it would end up on a shelf in a closet somewhere, because I've been making rice the same way for thirty years and it turns out exactly the way I want it to, every time. On the other hand, I'd be lost without my mandolin slicer and my OXO garlic chopper, because those save me a ton of time. I rarely use my pretty santoku knife, but couldn't live without my 5" Wusthof Classic serrated. Some people use their food processors to grate everything, while others prefer the control of an old-fashioned box grater. I think if you're a newlywed or just setting up your first "grownup" kitchen, it's probably best to stick with the basics until you develop your own cooking personality. A basic set of the best knives you can afford, plastic and glass mixing bowls in graduated sizes for prep and mixing, a good selection of sturdy spatulas/wooden spoons/whisks, a couple of basic half-sheet and quarter-sheet pans with lips on all edges, at least two cutting boards, a good set of pots and pans with well-fitted lids including a few non-stick, measuring cups/spoons, a few glass baking dishes, a sieve that adjusts to fit over your sink, and a decent hand mixer should get anyone started. Oh - and a decent vegetable peeler! If I had to narrow the things in my kitchen down to the single most critical item, I'd have to say that would be my whetstone. It's not an expensive or glamorous item, but if you don't keep your knives sharp, everything you do in the kitchen is more difficult and frustrating than it needs to be. And those electric sharpeners usually do more damage than good to an expensive knife....See MoreRemodeling a small kitchen - what order should I decide things?
Comments (9)As you can tell from the previous posts, there's more than one way to plan your attack. I prefer to have everything selected in advance but it didn't work out that way this time. I think the floor selection should be decided early on. I prefer the floor to go down before the cabs are installed (have done both ways). I went with the cork flooring; despite the zillions of stain choices, we came up with our own color and to be honest, it's dark, you can only tell its cork when looking closely. The cork works for our old bones; my neighbor with toddlers also interested in product. I got the soapstone countertops I wanted, but the color wasn't exactly as I had envisioned. I really liked the soapstone that caught my eye, so I'm re-thinking other previous decisions (backsplash tile, etc). Maybe I'm the only one who has a hard time making 'permanent' decisions and changing my mind is common. ;-). Treb's advice sounds so logical, I just couldn't get it to work in my project ;-). For example, wall paint color sounds like a great idea to hold off till near the end. Unfortunately my contractor painted fairly early on in his process (before cab install). Lighting is critical and should be considered for nearly every item going into kitchen. Once the lighting changes were made during early structural stage, I bought several bulbs with diff color tones to see which worked best with the limited natural light, etc. etc. Everything I viewed for the kitchen was done under the lighting tones. I guess I'm just trying to say, whichever early decisions you make, be open to changes of other decisions down the road. Being flexible is key. You're at an exciting stage right now...enjoy it all. Good luck....See MoreBreville Sous Chef Peel and Dice processor-Best thing in my kitchen!
Comments (55)Sorry, I haven't checked back here for awhile and just saw the latest messages. I haven't done much big cooking for awhile, do to current life demands, and still haven't had a chance to try the new dicing sets. I probably should, just to say I did, but for a single vegetable, I just grab a knife. I really like the dicing (original set) when I'm cooking for the crowd. I wish it worked better with raw hard roots, but I understand why there are issues. I hypothesize that the fresher and damper the roots are, the better they'll dice. Still, there are peppers and onions and squash and all kinds of softer things I chop regularly. I should make some gazpacho and play. :) OTOH, I have a highly rated manual hinged lid dicer which I can't even get an onion through, so whatever help I get, is good help. What the W-S staff were doing wrong is focusing on french fries. Most of the people I know offline don't make french fries at home. They're a drive thru thing. :) The peeler was designed for potatoes, though I've used it on apples and other things. It looks like it's taking a lot of good product, but it's really not more than most veg peelers do. The result gets beat up, though, so not for pretty work. The peeler, however, is best on smaller potatoes. I just cut mine and don't worry about loosing a little more on the cut edges. If peeling potatoes is a big enough task to even think of going to the machine (like for latkes for the multitudes), it's good. But then if you take what you've peeled and put it through the dicer, you aren't going to get much in the way of lovely long fries. I haven't tried, since I don't make french fries, but I'm guessing the demo didn't use the narrow feed tude, either, and if you're doing something vertical, you need to, or it'll fall over and give you the wrong shape. But I wasn't there and can't be sure of what they did or what you saw, Loves. I'll put it on my list of things to try just for trying. I can always cube them up after. While I do love the chopping element, the FP as a whole is just amazingly beautifully designed, and I still adore it. I never much liked my Cuisinart. It was a bother to use. The other day I was making ... fangipane, I think ... the directions called for the food processor, which is common with almond flour so you don't have to sift it. I wasn't thinking and just put my ingredients in the main bowl, rather than the small one. I was worried because it was a thin layer on the bottom of the bowl. It worked fine! I was amazed. This thing is so easy to use and clean! LOVE still blooms!...See More
Bonnie Riley
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoI'm starting to plan a kitchen - bought a truly 1980s house and the kitchen is going to be a total gut job. These suggestions and ideas are fantastic, so if I can resurrect this thread, I'd love to hear more1!! Here's what I'll be working with. The cabinets are their own special nightmare - the shelves, and most of entire interior are some kind of very dark brown particle-board-esque stuff, and the shelves are permanently fixed in place. There's no saving much of anything in this kitchen. So, keep those ideas coming - I need ALL the suggestions!
heatheron40
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoBonnie Riley
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agosujinheerin
2 years ago
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