Kitchen design

[jfc]

On another thread someone mentioned the working triangle ( cooker , sink , fridge ) Who actually thought of this ? Why do you need the fridge there Cooker , sink , dishwasher , microwave is more like it . Kettle , toaster , fridge i can understand but doesnt everyone take what they want from the fridge/freezer to prep a meal before they start rather than going back and forth
Sounds to me like this triangle was made up by a salesman that eats alot of ready meals

[engineerone]

can't tell you who invented it, and you are probably right it was an american salesman.

however, this is the reason, to cut down the distance in prepping the food.

take the food from the fridge, cut and clean up, dice and otherwise prepare around the sink, and the rubbish bin, finally move it to the cooker.

a triangle is obviously the shortest distance between the three items. actually from practical personal experience, the most important thing is to have clear space on either side of the sink, and preferably alongside the hob, as well as either above, or to one side of the fridge and freezer.

next part is then to make sure the pots, pans, cutlery and crockery are as near as possible to cut down the distance to walk.

however you pizza eaters who buy in do not need a triangle ;D

paul

[mel]

I think a woman invented the triangle

[paulchapman]

The kitchens in most new houses are so small you can usually reach all three without moving your feet ;D ;D

Cheers

Paul

[mel]

;D

[nickw]

We looked at an Arts & Crafts house once where the kitchen was 5' by 5'; You would have been hard pressed to get a fridge, sink and cooker in it! It's not as if the house was small, it was a good sized three bed semi. Still they do say that "The past is a different country".

[paulchapman]

When we re-did our kitchen, we put the fridge, oven and hob on one side, the sink opposite and the worktop in between is clear, which gives a nice, large work surface for preparation and stuff. Works well.

One thing we did, which has been very successful, is to have the hob lower than the rest of the work top. My wife is only 4ft 10ins (she was an inch taller when we married but I think I've been wearing her down) so our work top is lower than normal, and the hob is lower still. Apart from me forever bashing my head on the cooker hood, it's been a great success ;D

Cheers

Paul

[promhandicam]

jfc said:

snip . . . Why do you need the fridge there . . . snip

Where do you keep your beer then? ;D

Steve

[jfc]

Where do you keep your beer then?

4.5m from the sink and cooker ;D

[davyowen]

jfc said:

Where do you keep your beer then?

4.5m from the sink and cooker ;D

That's a bit of a trek isn't it Jase... You need to get one of these:




;D

[Dave S]

Oh to have a kitchen big enough that walking distance was something to consider!

We have our fridge out in the utility room because the kitchen is small. Doesn't really cause any hardship and the extra worktop we get more than makes up for it. To my mind you can never have enough worksurface. I'd definitely agree with Paul - worksurface next to the hob is a priority.

Good point from Paul C about hob height, especially if you do a lot of wok cooking. One thing you always notice in Taiwan (apart from having only two burners and no oven) is that the hobs are much lower so that you can easily toss food in a wok. It's something my wife moans about and will be addressed when we redo our kitchen.

Dave

[paulchapman]

daves said:

Good point from Paul C about hob height

Our thinking behind this was that the true working height is the height of the hob plus the height of the pans on it. For us it's worked out well and we would do the same again.

Cheers

Paul

[jake]

For average people these days, the opposite is true though: ergonomically, worktop heights are too low, having been established when the average person was shorter.

I don't have a problem with standard hob heights, but I do with standard worktops and (especially) sinks, where the true working height by the same token is somewhere near the bottom of the sink.

I'm going for 940mm worktops for our kitchen. I'd love to make the sink part nearer a metre, but the architecture doesn't allow it.

[jfc]

Speaking of sinks

www.sinks-taps.com/default.aspx?view=item&itemid=749


Its soooo nice

[thallow]

jfc said:

Speaking of sinks

www.sinks-taps.com/default.aspx?view=item&itemid=749


Its soooo nice

Is that a plate of sweets on the draining board ;D

[jfc]

i dont think they come with the sink ;D

[dom]

Why not ?

[jake]

Nice innit - we're going to have two of those, a LH and a RH (or the Blanco Zerox equivalents, whichever is cheaper) welded into our s/s tops to give a double bowl double drainer arrangement.

[sainty]

Nice sinks - does sink steel not scratch? If you have two you could have one to look at and one to use

[jake]

sainty said:

Nice sinks - does sink steel not scratch?

Shiny ss is a bit stupid, ours will be brushed down with the rest.

If you have two you could have one to look at and one to use

Don't you rinse your dishes, or soak stuff, or wash veg-while-there's-washing-up-in-the-other bowl?

[jfc]

SS tops , your brave ! I fitted a SS kitchen once and it was a total nightmare trying to keep the fingerprints off it .

[jake]

Satin finish, not shiny, and anyway, what's the big deal about fingerprints/watermarks etc.

[sainty]

What's washing up?

[jake]

Fair enough - saves having a sink at all.

[engineerone]

ah a plastic plate man ;D

paul