You two should compare canning stuff. John, Alix is my goto girl for canning questions. She has good sources!
Designing a Seasonal Canning Kitchen
- Thread starter Diavolicchio
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John, I just realized you never got my PM before this post. If you look up in the right corner of the screen you will see notifications and private messages...
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Diavolicchio
Assistant Cook
I think I've found the best sink for this little kitchen. It's actually very cool because it has a raised saddle in the middle of it for resting heavy pots, allowing for greater ease in cleaning them. I'm sold. Being an undermount sink, it'll allow for the routed drain channels on each side and will work perfectly with a commercial kitchen sprayer faucet, as seen in this photo:
The sink is also the same width as the cooktop (36"), so I'm thinking of simply placing them on opposites sides of this kitchen to give the place some symmetry. It'll also open up a large prep/work space along the far counter, yet leave some space on the opposite sides of the sink and cooktop too.
Here's the cooktop:
. . . and here's how I'm thinking of positioning them:
Would you folks locate the sink and cooktop differently? Possibly the sink against the wall opposite the door? I'm open to other configurations if it seems they would allow a more efficient use of the room for canning purposes. . .
I'm all ears. . .
John
The sink is also the same width as the cooktop (36"), so I'm thinking of simply placing them on opposites sides of this kitchen to give the place some symmetry. It'll also open up a large prep/work space along the far counter, yet leave some space on the opposite sides of the sink and cooktop too.
Here's the cooktop:
. . . and here's how I'm thinking of positioning them:
Would you folks locate the sink and cooktop differently? Possibly the sink against the wall opposite the door? I'm open to other configurations if it seems they would allow a more efficient use of the room for canning purposes. . .
I'm all ears. . .
John
I love that sink!
The new drawing is helpful... are you right handed or left handed?
I might position the sink on the wall opposite the door if your right handed... here's my reasoning. If you think about how you cook, there are always hot dripping utensils.. If the sink is close enough you can actually place them in the sink instead on on the counter next to the stove. While the sink opposite the stove is very close, you have to turn around and will drip across the floor.
Also - on the off chance that you will have more than one person in this space, having the stove and the sink exactly opposite is going to mean some tush bumping, as one person is likely to be using the sink and the other at the stove.
For the same reason, I would consider placing the sink off center on the wall. Assuming the stove remains where you currently have it located, you might want position the sink on the wall opposite the door but further away from the stove.
On edit: Looking at your drawing again... I wold leave the sink where it is and move the stove to the center of the wall opposite the door (short wall).
The new drawing is helpful... are you right handed or left handed?
I might position the sink on the wall opposite the door if your right handed... here's my reasoning. If you think about how you cook, there are always hot dripping utensils.. If the sink is close enough you can actually place them in the sink instead on on the counter next to the stove. While the sink opposite the stove is very close, you have to turn around and will drip across the floor.
Also - on the off chance that you will have more than one person in this space, having the stove and the sink exactly opposite is going to mean some tush bumping, as one person is likely to be using the sink and the other at the stove.
For the same reason, I would consider placing the sink off center on the wall. Assuming the stove remains where you currently have it located, you might want position the sink on the wall opposite the door but further away from the stove.
On edit: Looking at your drawing again... I wold leave the sink where it is and move the stove to the center of the wall opposite the door (short wall).
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recipedirect
Senior Cook
Wow, that is some serious canning. I have a small area off my patio that is used as an outside kitchen. It is on a cement pad up against my brick house. It has a roof over it but is opened on three sides. I have a sink, cabinets and cooktop.
I love my little kitchen. It is great for oyster roasts, entertaining, canning.
I love my little kitchen. It is great for oyster roasts, entertaining, canning.
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Diavolicchio
Assistant Cook
I'm right handed.
That's a great point.
I'm designing this little kitchen to be used by one person at a time, but your point is valid. I think it would kind of challenging for two people to be using this space without there being a whole lotta tush bumping.
That may be the way to go. If I were to shift the sink to the far wall though, I'd have to shift the cooktop off-center to allow for an 18" cupboard door between the cooktop and the sink for the Hafele blind corner storage unit that will be going there. (If I go with the original configuration, I'd have both 18" cupboard doors along the far wall instead.)
I like your idea (and rationale for) shifting the sink to that far wall of the kitchen. The problem with having the stove against that far wall is 1) it wouldn't be positioned below the 12" x 72" awning window that will be directly above the left counter, providing great ventilation; 2) it's just bad feng shui (my apologies for the woowoo stuff) to have a stove positioned where you have your back to the door while you're cooking.
I'll try modifying the layout with the sink against the back wall and with the cooktop shifted. Thanks for the input; it's much appreciated.
John
I was worrie about the sink and stove being exactly opposite but now that I think about it, it shouldn't really be a sticking point.
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Diavolicchio
Assistant Cook
Janet:
Here's the space with the sink and cooktop moved to the alternate layout:
Actually, I think I like it even more. I could actually go with a slightly deeper pair of blind corner storage units in the lower cupboards on each side of the sink, allowing me a ton of storage.
These are the units I'm talking about:
The cupboard doors to each of these units would now be on the each side of the room (rather than at the back.) I've got just enough space between the cooktop and the back counter to allow for the largest model.
I really appreciate your input and perspective on this. Thanks.
John
Here's the space with the sink and cooktop moved to the alternate layout:
Actually, I think I like it even more. I could actually go with a slightly deeper pair of blind corner storage units in the lower cupboards on each side of the sink, allowing me a ton of storage.
These are the units I'm talking about:
The cupboard doors to each of these units would now be on the each side of the room (rather than at the back.) I've got just enough space between the cooktop and the back counter to allow for the largest model.
I really appreciate your input and perspective on this. Thanks.
John
about corner cabinets....
We redid our kitchen this past summer and before we ordered cabinets, I went and played with lazy susans and other corner solutions. Some look like great ideas, but in practice aren't so great. I especially didn't like the ones that folded out although I didn't see the specific one you are contemplating
Here's a drawing of the ones we settled on and so far I'm really happy with them. The doors sort of fold together in the center and then spin around with the lazy susan. They snap back into position when they come back to the from of the cabinet. The benefit here is the wide access to that corner cabinet and I have actually begun to store my biggest stuff on these shelves.
I like the new drawing - it gives you some bigger work areas.
We redid our kitchen this past summer and before we ordered cabinets, I went and played with lazy susans and other corner solutions. Some look like great ideas, but in practice aren't so great. I especially didn't like the ones that folded out although I didn't see the specific one you are contemplating
Here's a drawing of the ones we settled on and so far I'm really happy with them. The doors sort of fold together in the center and then spin around with the lazy susan. They snap back into position when they come back to the from of the cabinet. The benefit here is the wide access to that corner cabinet and I have actually begun to store my biggest stuff on these shelves.
I like the new drawing - it gives you some bigger work areas.
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Diavolicchio
Assistant Cook
I grew up in a house with a Lazy Susan in the corner of the kitchen. As kids, we would take great delight in spinning that thing, fully-loaded, like a roulette wheel and listening to all of the cans and boxes blow off the sides of it from centrifugal force, not to be seen again for many years. I wouldn't be surprised if my dear mother, who still lives in that house, occasionally retrieves a circa 1970 can of Campbell's Mushroom Soup from the bowels of that cabinet.
I'm glad to hear you found one that you really like. I've just got bad associations with them.
Thanks. I think moving that sink to the far wall and shifting the cooktop closer to the door a bit make the space just a little more workable than the previous layout.
Honestly, I never thought I could fit this much kitchen into a 7' x 8' box. I'll be really curious to see if this room is as workable in real life as it looks to be on paper.
Thanks again,
John
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Diavolicchio
Assistant Cook
I just discovered that the 36" cooktop I've been considering would require a few more inches in clearance on each side than I'd anticipated, which would cause some issues with laying out the cupboards beneath them. So I've shifted to the 30" model which fits perfectly with the clearances. The five burner would've be nice, but probably a little bit of overkill.
Will four burners be enough? I think the four burners on the particular cooktop I'm going with (a Bluestar) should be quite sufficient. Bluestar makes the only ranges (and cooktops) on the market with a restaurant-power 22,000 BTU burner. Actually, the 30" cooktop has two of them, along with an 8,500 BTU burner and a simmer burner. I think it's ideally-sized for this little 7' x 8' kitchen and powerful enough for a 40-quart pressure cooker.
Here are two great little video clips about these cooktops.
Video Clip 1
Video Clip 2
John
Will four burners be enough? I think the four burners on the particular cooktop I'm going with (a Bluestar) should be quite sufficient. Bluestar makes the only ranges (and cooktops) on the market with a restaurant-power 22,000 BTU burner. Actually, the 30" cooktop has two of them, along with an 8,500 BTU burner and a simmer burner. I think it's ideally-sized for this little 7' x 8' kitchen and powerful enough for a 40-quart pressure cooker.
Here are two great little video clips about these cooktops.
Video Clip 1
Video Clip 2
John
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Diavolicchio
Assistant Cook
Wanna Be:
What a nice post. I appreciate the kind words.
John
What a nice post. I appreciate the kind words.
John
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Diavolicchio
Assistant Cook
I'm happy to report I was able to make a number of minor modifications in this little kitchen space to be able to accommodate the 36" cooktop afterall. Do I really need the extra burner? I'm sure I could manage without it. But I just really prefer the flexibility of this larger cooktop.
Both the 30" and 36" Bluestar cooktops come with two - 22,000 BTU burners. The challenge with the 30" model is that both of these burners are in the front. If you're using a huge canner/cooker on one of them, it makes using the burner behind it really awkward.
On the 36" model, Bluestar has located one of these powerful burners in the middle of the back row, making it ideal for accommodating a huge canner while keeping it from blocking anything else.
John
Both the 30" and 36" Bluestar cooktops come with two - 22,000 BTU burners. The challenge with the 30" model is that both of these burners are in the front. If you're using a huge canner/cooker on one of them, it makes using the burner behind it really awkward.
On the 36" model, Bluestar has located one of these powerful burners in the middle of the back row, making it ideal for accommodating a huge canner while keeping it from blocking anything else.
John
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Diavolicchio
Assistant Cook
Regarding storage of canning jars, It looks like the lower cupboards to the right of the dishwasher will be able to accommodate 16 cases of 1 quart canning jars (192 jars), and still provide sufficient space to accommodate the necessary lids and rings.
It should make the whole sterilization process effortless having the jars right next to that little dishwasher.
John
It should make the whole sterilization process effortless having the jars right next to that little dishwasher.
John
Salamander20
Assistant Cook
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2010
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I know that this post is probably dead but I came across it today when I searched for canning kitchens. I am wanting to put in a small canning kitchen that will also double as a kitchenette for visiting guests. After reading this post and thinking of how I would set up a dream canning kitchen I would put in two stoves with a sink in the middle.
I can grape juice, apple sauce, peaches, pears, tomatoes, cider, and apricots. When I can the tomatoes and the peaches it would be so nice to have a stove on each side of the sink. The one on the left side to have a pot with boiling water to dunk the fruit and have it close enough to the sink to remove fruit and put in cold water bath to remove the skin. And the stove on the right hand side to hold the canning kettles. Also two stoves would come in very handy for making apple sauce, one for cooking the apples and one for canning. Also two stoves would come in handy for canning grape juice.
So my dream kitchen would have a small stove on the left side, a sink in the middle, and a larger stove on the right hand side
I can grape juice, apple sauce, peaches, pears, tomatoes, cider, and apricots. When I can the tomatoes and the peaches it would be so nice to have a stove on each side of the sink. The one on the left side to have a pot with boiling water to dunk the fruit and have it close enough to the sink to remove fruit and put in cold water bath to remove the skin. And the stove on the right hand side to hold the canning kettles. Also two stoves would come in very handy for making apple sauce, one for cooking the apples and one for canning. Also two stoves would come in handy for canning grape juice.
So my dream kitchen would have a small stove on the left side, a sink in the middle, and a larger stove on the right hand side
