Small Kitchen? You need a Kitchen Triangle!
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My sister Maggie, of The Artcafé on Mersea Island, sent me a card the other day saying; “Happy nothing in particular day … this is us when we were young”. It’s very apt as we have both spent a lot of time cooking in a small kitchen both at home and professionally.
Lovely innit!
This, and loads of other great cards and prints are available from Cannsdown Press here.
What with Covid restrictions and the weather being not that great I admit to having watched a bit of day time television recently, in particular Escape to the Country and A Place in the Sun, and have seen some lovely houses but what I want to know is – why does everyone want a large kitchen? If it’s to enable people to cook more easily then I disagree. I can think of …
Only One Reason for a Large Kitchen
The only good reason I can think of for a large kitchen is not being cut off from friends and family when cooking, and I agree and sympathise with that. The best solution is to have a small kitchen area as part of a larger open plan dining/lounge/kitchen area – kind of an en suite kitchen!
Many Reasons for a Small Kitchen,
if you do it right!
The picture at the top of the page is the tiny and perfect kitchen in our home, I apologise that I haven’t quite tidied it up for having its photo taken. It is part of our lounge area.
When I cook, I stand in front of the chopping board to the left of the cooker. I have a bowl full of hot soapy water in the sink for rinsing my hands (which I do loads), I have a small box for trimmings and other bits of rubbish on the counter beside me which I decant into the bin when it gets full. The cooking utensils are in a pot to my left next to the olive oil, salt, kitchen roll and red wine (which, I admit, is not solely for cooking purposes!). The toaster and microwave are on the counter behind me, the pots and pans are in the cupboard under the chopping board, the plates etc. in a cabinet behind me, dry goods in other cupboards around me and the fridge/freezer within one step’s reach. I love it.
In fact, I have asked my partner to promise that, if we ever move, he will replicate the kitchen in our new place. If I can stand in one place and cook, drain, rinse, wash my hands, add water to pans, reach utensils and select my ingredients then yippee!
Kitchen Triangle
- each side of the triangle should be no less than 1.2 m/4 ft and no more than 2.7 m/9 ft.
- the three sides of the triangle add up no less than 4 m/13 ft and no more than 8 m/26 ft.
- the three sides of the triangle should comprise a main working area, the sink, the stove and fridge/freezer.
The triangle doesn’t have to be tiny, as in my kitchen. Make your triangle larger if there’s often more than one of you in the cooking.
Having said that, here is a photo of a not-very-big kitchen in the Caribbean where I worked for many years. On a Sunday, three of us cooks regularly served upwards to 150 brunches and it wasn’t difficult thanks to its somewhat triangular arrangement (and my utter brilliance, of course!).
If you enjoy cooking and are thinking of installing a new kitchen or re-doing your existing one do consider this trianglular arrangement.
Mise en Place
Another way to streamline your cooking is to establish a mise en place before you start. This link also has another picture of my lovely little kitchen with me looking a bit grumpy in it – no idea why!
Please tweet this to help others get their kitchen right!
How to Make the Most of a Small Kitchen
Suzy Bowler
Having been a somewhat itinerant chef for over 30 years I was amazed, on my return to the UK, at the blatant food waste that now seems to be rife in the country; amazed and irritated. So much so that I decided to start a blog about spontaneous cooking from leftovers to show people that there are great alternatives to throwing food away.
One Comment
Tony
Love your tips