Quote:Today's kitchens are outwardly oriented. The center of the room is open. Working surfaces are arranged along the perimeter of the kitchen in the form of countertops. The cook moves from work area to work area on what the military calls "interior lines". It is efficient but it is not Victorian.

The orientation of Victorian kitchens was just the opposite. The primary work surface was in the center of the kitchen — usually a large, heavy and sturdy table. The perimeter of the room held storage furniture, the cooking stove and the sink. A wide work aisle allowed access to the central work table from all sides. Movement around the kitchen is on "exterior lines". The chief advantage of this type of arrangement is that multiple cooks can work at the same time without getting in each other's way. The Victorian kitchen was almost inevitably a multi-cook kitchen.

(01-25-2019, 02:07 PM)Jeeter Wrote: Very interesting article, thanks for sharing it.  As the family chef (yes, dads can cook too, lol :P ) and a tad of a history buff, I love learning about how meals were prepped in ages past. 

The only issue I see with that type of kitchen layout today is that most newer houses seem to have the kitchen in the center; there's a living room/family room/foyer/something to the side.  In essence, no matter where you're going, you have to pass through the kitchen, so I could see how an inward oriented kitchen could cause traffic from family to get underfoot.

On the flip side, older houses I've been in have the kitchen isolated from the main activity areas of the house; on the back or side where you don't "have" to pass through it when you come in through the front door.

That being said, I'm still looking at building a kitchen island this year sometime, which would make our kitchen more "inward oriented."  The island would help free up food prep space.

(01-25-2019, 10:42 PM)TheQueenMother Wrote: No problem, Jeeter! I was actually thinking of you when I put in "Gents," as I remembered that you enjoy cooking for your family. 

Very neat about building your own kitchen island. I'm sure you and your wife will love it. My husband and I had also talked about building an island when we re-did our kitchen. In the end though, we went for the pub table. I love it because I can put a leaf in the middle and open it up for extra seating (we keep four bar stools under it) and/or prep space. And I can move it out of the kitchen if I want to, or shove it up against the wall. Yes, I do love it for it's flexibility as well as utility!

(01-26-2019, 10:28 AM)JacafamalaRedux Wrote: Yes, I want a Victorian kitchen in my Victorian house!!! My current kitchen was "updated", but that must have been like in the '70's or 80's I guess. You can see where the vent hole for the wood burning stove was plugged up. I totally want a wood burning stove. Actually, I'd like a stove that is gas and can convert to wood. They sell those, but they're pricey!!!

ETA: Great article, thanks!

(01-26-2019, 01:40 PM)Jeeter Wrote:

(01-25-2019, 10:42 PM)TheQueenMother Wrote: No problem, Jeeter! I was actually thinking of you when I put in "Gents," as I remembered that you enjoy cooking for your family. 

Very neat about building your own kitchen island. I'm sure you and your wife will love it. My husband and I had also talked about building an island when we re-did our kitchen. In the end though, we went for the pub table. I love it because I can put a leaf in the middle and open it up for extra seating (we keep four bar stools under it) and/or prep space. And I can move it out of the kitchen if I want to, or shove it up against the wall. Yes, I do love it for it's flexibility as well as utility!

I’m still drawing up plans, but I’m really leaning toward have a moveable island; I’m having trouble finding wheels that can support a granite top, lock, and look discreet/classy. The problem with our house is that it was designed for the token family with 1.46 kids, so the kitchen is a bit cramped for a family of 7. It has a breakfast nook area, which really reduces the amount of functional food prep space. Eventually I’d like to redo the breakfast area to have cabinets and counters, but that’s waaayyyy down the road.

As far as liking to cook, I made dirty rice with Patchy for lunch today! :D

(01-26-2019, 10:28 AM)JacafamalaRedux Wrote: Yes, I want a Victorian kitchen in my Victorian house!!! My current kitchen was "updated", but that must have been like in the '70's or 80's I guess. You can see where the vent hole for the wood burning stove was plugged up. I totally want a wood burning stove. Actually, I'd like a stove that is gas and can convert to wood. They sell those, but they're pricey!!!

ETA: Great article, thanks!

Gas stove that converts to wood? There is such a thing? We’re looking at pellet stoves now, since the fuel (recycled wood pellets) is cheap and super efficient. Although reading your post, I may have to do more research.

(01-26-2019, 08:05 PM)MaryTN Wrote: Research antique wood stoves for sale.  There are several sites that fix them up and sell them.  Lots of stuff from the black, cast iron wood burners up thru the 1960's - all colors.  One site also sells old refrigerators.  Very cool.

(01-28-2019, 02:55 PM)Jeeter Wrote:

(01-26-2019, 08:05 PM)MaryTN Wrote: Research antique wood stoves for sale.  There are several sites that fix them up and sell them.  Lots of stuff from the black, cast iron wood burners up thru the 1960's - all colors.  One site also sells old refrigerators.  Very cool.

Thanks for the tip.  We're flipping between a pellet stove and a wood stove.  I like the higher heating efficiency and lower smoke output of the pellet stove, plus they tend to come with hoppers so they can feed themselves.  On the flip side, a wood stove can burn just about anything, including pellets, so fuel isn't in theory a huge problem if poo hits the fan.  But then, keeping a wood stove running with wood alone takes a lot of prep time.  Choices, choices...