What Makes a Chef's Kitchen?
While kitchens have always been the heart of a home, serious cooks are stepping it up a notch. Chef's kitchens are growing in popularity, providing beautiful and highly functional spaces for whipping up culinary masterpieces.
What's a Chef's Kitchen?
A chef's kitchen is a professionally inspired space for preparing large meals in comfort, with plenty of room for more than one person. Picture a family cooking a holiday meal without getting in each other's way or guests gathering with drinks while the host puts the finishing touches on a meal. Chef's kitchens aren't limited to professional chefs — home cooks, gourmet cooks, and food enthusiasts alike dream of these well-equipped, beautiful spaces.
Defining Features of a Chef's Kitchen
Every chef's kitchen is different, but they typically boast an open floor plan with lots of room to move. Most kitchens center around an island that offers a generous work surface to prep ingredients, plate dishes, and serve. The layout is designed to streamline the cooking process. Ideally, tools and appliances are within easy reach so busy cooks spend less time going back and forth between the sink, refrigerator, stove, and work areas.
Pro-Style Gas Ranges and Ovens
Professional-quality gas ranges allow for fast, high-volume cooking. Some cooktops have up to eight burners, a griddle, and a grill. High-output burners are great for quickly boiling water, searing foods and stir-frying, and low-output burners are ideal for simmering. The kitchen may also have multiple ovens to accommodate dishes that cook at different temperatures, as well as steaming and convection options. Warming drawers keep food hot until dinner is served.
Versatile Work Station Sinks
A well-planned chef's kitchen maximizes every bit of space, including the sink. A chef sink, or work station sink, has two or three deep basins to fit big pots and pans. These sinks are outfitted with handy accessories such as bins to hold ingredients or tools, colanders that sit over the basin, and sliding cutting boards that make washing and chopping veggies a breeze — and that slide to hide dirty dishes.
Other Nice-to-Have Features
High-end refrigerators with vacuum seals and air purifiers keep foods fresh and at the perfect temperature. A faucet over the stove easily fills large pots with water, and an extra dishwasher keeps dirty dishes from piling up. A built-in trash chute on the kitchen island — covered by a cutting board — makes it easy to sweep scraps away. Wine coolers add the perfect finishing touch for entertaining.