Kitchens

[jimmy_s]

Bob

I think you basically heat it up and slap some oil on it. I think it must polymerise to form a protective layer

 

[Bm101]

Mate of mine is a roofer who loves to cook. When he did his kitchen a few months back he went to town. One (of many) things I was impressed with was the extraction. Rather than overhead his vents popped up around the hobs while in use. The inline extraction then went out under the floor with fans system accessible under the hob. No idea of the efficiency compared to overhead but he was very happy and and it was silent by any normal standard.
I was very jealous of his kitchen.

 

[Bm101]

Bob, you oil it, wipe it, turn it upside down and bang it in a hot oven about 200 for an hour. Then as you use it (without metal utensils) it keeps getting better. To wash your pan you 'deglaze' it if you're a cooky type. If you a kitchen fitter of reknown with no real sense of taste who doesn't mind if his Mrs goes *shudders* veee- gan and starts feeding you marrow insead of roast beef, or a window cleaner, what you do is stick it under the tap while the pan is still roasting hot. It cleans itself. Give it an occasional thin wipe of oil.
That's it. Like everything there are types who use specific oils with higher cooking temps and stand on one leg during a blood moon and so on but I've never got beyond a bit of **** seed oil. It works fine.
Never tried carbon steel but I would. Lot lighter and it works alright for the Chinese who know a little about frying food. I read once that the size of China's population and lack of timber accessible for cooking is what led to cooking methods that favour a fast fry. Not sure it's true but makes a lot of sense.
Anyway back to kitchen design. It's been mentioned but looking down the garden is nice if you can. Ours is on hold at the moment due to current events, but I'm looking to plan it all around looking down my little garden.

 

[--Tom--]

Mostly it just seasons through use, the more you use it the better it gets.

Mine are from Alex Pole Ironwork, they get them handspun in the UK and then forge and river on the handles. A bit spendy but great to use. At least one of them gets used everyday.
The smallest is perfect for a fried egg or small Spanish tortilla.

 

[glenfield2]

A very quick comment on worktops - we have slimline (22mm deep) laminate worktops in ‘carrera marble’ finish which fool visitors into thinking they are the real thing they touch them. And they were less than half the price of course.
Our dark grey diy-kitchens units with these tops look the dog’s rowlocks (in my entirely unbiased opinion.)

 

[Robbo60]

best to just visit a few stores for ideas...even call in a few top end places..... some good ideas out there...
also depends grately on the room size and shape....is ur's a galley kitchen for example.....
as Roton says, imagine ur working triangle then see whats left.....
lastley what ever u decide u'll see something u like after u've finished.....
it's all about experience....once u'v done a few for urself u'll realise what ya want.....

for client I have bought the units and doors from different suppliers to keep cost reasonable....
my main bug with shed kitchens is the c*rp drawer runners.....got to say I like the Germans stuff...
fully opening and strong enough to stand in....provided the drawer carcass is quality....
u have to decide is it for keeping, say 20 years, will u sell the house on in a few....?
Lastley
I had a house that was almost finished rebuilding, new everything except the kitchen.....
was ready to buy the new one.....BUT the estate agent I dealt with at the time said dont bother....
it'll fetch the same money either way.....he wasnt wrong...saved me £5,000 and he got a bottle of decent Scotch....

I recently bought a drawer carcass from B & Q including soft close runners and it was excellent. £24 mind. Metal, clipped together then screwed. Once drawer front was fixed it even had a small amount of vertical and horizontal adjustment to get perfectly lined up. Would definitely but again

 

[xy mosian]

If the kitchen has two doors. Make a layout that doesn't obstruct the path between the two. The thought of having a running child colliding with a hot pan of spuds being lifted from the hob is terrible.
Another point. I have a friend who has a narrowish kitchen. The new units have soft close drawers, she frequently catches her hips on drawers which are yet to finish closing.
Ovens with drop down doors mean that reaching in for a roast invloves stretching over a hot, possibly very hot, oven door.
Ovens with grills in the top, or above, mounted below the worktop, make life difficult if you enjoy watching your toast change colour, or get a heavy tan.
Just a couple of points to think about.
xy

 

[Jelly]

'Fabulous' is a term only used by vegans to describe courgette, which is in fact a dwarf marrow and in truth tastes of nothing, just like marrow.

The best thing about eating courgettes, is that at least you're not eating an even larger quantity of marrows!

"Brush the surface with lard or oil and put it in a hot oven for about an hour. Turn off the oven and leave it overnight."
Olive oil would smoke though, so I would avoid that. I think the Chinese you Groundnut oil.

Nigel.

I find edible linseed oil (often sold as flax seed oil) works best for seasoning pans, you can get a good film thickness, which will allow the coating to self heal, and if badly scratched can be touched up with extra oil and heat without needing to strip it and re-coat loosing all the "wok hei"

 

[pe2dave]

A suggestion: Visit as many kitchen builders as you can: Note, unit designs, sizes etc.
(Ahem)
Ask a couple of designer / sellers to quote your kitchen and note the suggestions (carefully)
Get out your drawing board (What! you don't have one!) and design your kitchen.
IMHO
Spend as much as you can afford on the units, sink, taps. Used daily? worth spending on (IMHO).
Choice:
Fit it yourself.
Get supplier to fit it (more likely, one of his subbies).

Think about:
Underfloor heating (we love it - warm kitchen floor first thing in the morning? Wonderful). And! It frees up wall space (where rads were) for storage.
Unit height? "Higher" units (within 4" of ceiling) offer much more storage, but bugger up range extractor run. Take your pick.

We now store pans in a 'big' drawer... it works for us. YMMV

New kitchen 2019, supplied / fitted by Magnet. Review? All good except faux marble worktop. Stick to 2" chipboard is my advice. I dare not put a hot cup on this damn stuff - even if it does look "lovely"... Pah.

 

[Spectric]

Hi

Yes I think the underfloor heating is good in a kitchen, as you say frees up valuable wall space. Been a lot of years since I got near a drawing board, computers freed up a lot of space once occupied by the large drawing offices of old. We had a similar issue with hot items on our Iroka worktops before we moved, but at least they could be cleaned and re oiled, ended up with cast trivets everywhere.