PLANNING & LAYOUT OF KITCHEN

1. PLANNING & LAYOUT OF KITCHEN

2. Kitchen planning arises directly from the fact that keeping a family well-fed, receives priority in every home. It is impossible to imagine any house without a kitchen. A kitchen should, (i) be airy, well-lighted and ventilated (ii) have eastern or north-eastern aspect (iii) have three centres with enough storage space.

3. Characteristics of Good Kitchen- It is desirable that the kitchen be a cheerful, sanitary, well, ventilated and a properly lighted place to work in.- The surfaces should be durable, non-absorbant, stain resistant and easy to clean. - Cross ventilation is essential and an exhaust fan is helpful in removing odours and smoke.- A window over a sink helps the worker in getting a good view and also lights up the area.- A general central light and a light over each working area is important. - The ceiling of the kitchen should be painted in a light color.

4. Work Areas in a Kitchen:(a) Storage centre: Refrigerator and pantry where food stuffs are kept.(b) Preparation and mixing centre: Food is chopped and dish washing is done.(c) Cooking stove centre: Here food is cooked. This includes serving centre as well.The work triangle among these three centres should not less than and more than 22 feet.

5. Types of Kitchen:There are two styles of kitchen. (1) Foreign or standing type and (2) Indian or sitting type.(1) Foreign or standing type: (a) Pullman or strip Kitchen (b) U-shaped Kitchen (c) Corridor Kitchen or Two Wall Kitchen (d) L-shaped Kitchen (e) Broken U-shaped Kitchen (f) Island Shaped Kitchen(2) Indian Style or Sitting Type Kitchen

6. (1) Foreign or Standing Type Kitchen:(a) Pullman or Strip Kitchen: It is found in small houses in which there is little space for a kitchen. The strip kitchen is on wall with the components placed in row fashion so there is one wall with the one end to the other for food preparation.

8. (b) U-Shaped Kitchen: It is the best of the kitchen plans and most popular. Three work centres on three adjacent walls, provide a great deal of continuous counter space for work. Continous flow of activity from one centre to another centre.

10. (c) Corridor Kitchen or Two Wall Kitchen: It resembles the strip kitchen, the only difference being that it is on both sides of the wall, facing each other. This is more workable kitchen. Its disadvantage is that it often acts as a passage for family members on their way from one part of the house to the other part, and this traffic interferes with meal preparation. Unnecessary movement can be restricted as in the pullman type arrangement. Storage and preparation centre is on one side and cooking centre is on the opposite side.

13. (d) L-shaped Kitchen: This can also be regarded as a good type. It leaves two walls empty for windows and doors and the free corner can be utilized for keeping built-in storage or dining area. Three work centres right to left are placed on adjacent walls.

15. (e) Broken U-shaped Kitchen: This provides good continuous space for working whereas in the U-shape the continuity is broken up.

17. (f) Island Shaped Kitchen: It needs a fairly large room. The cooking happens on the island and it could be used for the food preparation area. It reduces the amount of walking. It allows the walking space for 1200 mm between the island and any other cupboard/obstruction.

19. (2) Indian Style or Sitting Type Kitchen:This style of kitchen are still in use in villages only. The cooking of food, serving, cleaning of utensils etc. are carried out in sitting positions. The racks and almarihs are of low height.However there should be proper ventilation for exit of smoke. These types of kitchen are gradually becoming outdated because of certain inherent drawbacks of excessive fatigue and health problem to person working in such kitchens.

21. Planning and Location Of Work Centres:The activities and the work in the kitchen are usually carried out at the three work centres:(i) Preliminary preparation of the working centres.(ii) Cooking centre(iii) Sink or the washing centreIn addition to above, the bigger kitchens also have serving centres within themselves.

22. In deciding about the location of work centres, their arrangement and planning should be appropriate to the individuals using the kitchen most extensively. The following generalizations is useful;1) Frequent movement of other family members around the work centres should be limited. 2) Distance between work centres should be short and movement should be as direct as possible.3) This means that the work triangle formed by cooking, sink and preparation or mixing centres measures more than 12 feet but less than 20 feet in length.

23. Serving CentreThe Work Trinagle Sink Centre for soaking water Preparation centre Cooking Centre Storage Centre

24. In usual conditions the working arrangements fall into four categories- preparing, cooking, placing cooked food and washing. Some examples are given below;i) Preparation Centre: It is also known as the mixing centre. This is the place where all preliminary preparations are made before cooking the meal. There should be adequate space for counter.It should be adjacent to the sink and just around the corner provided for cooking. If possible, a wooden inset in the space below counter, can be conveniently utilized for storage.Requirement for this area: a) A counter at least 90-100 cm long. This facilities mixing and prevents fatigue.b) Wall cabinets to store.

26. (ii) Cooking Centre: The cooking centre is designed for all kinds of cooking and serving of hot foods. It should not be away from the mixing and sink centre. The cooking is the main equipment in this centre.Important features are:(a) Heat resistant counters on both sides of the stove.(b) Wall cabinets to store spices, small cooking utensils etc.(c) Base cabinets for heavy utensils.The height of the working surface should not be 2-1/2 feet above the floor.

28. (iii) Washing or Sink Centre: Cleaning after the meals is an equally important operation. It is the place used for number of operations. Working space should be provided on each side is usually adequate for stacking soiled dishes and about 32º long on one side is usually adequate for the dishes and same on the other side for the cleaned vessels. It should also have provision for collection of trash and garbage. It is often located between the cooking and preparation centre.

29. HOME SCIENCE FACILITATOR JASMINA S Serving Centre • Bigger Kitchen – 2 purpose • Cooking and serving • Serving space should be adequate • Serving centre should be continuous to the cooking centre /separate table may be provided in the cooking area. • Small window, storage space for table-ware, pickles, salt and pepper etc.

30. HOME SCIENCE FACILITATOR JASMINA S Storage Centre • Adequate space near the table, • stove and sink, • Groceries • Cooking utensils • Pots and pans • Cleaning materials

32. Other considerations in Kitchen Planning : FactorsApart from the shape of the kitchen there are certain other factors to be considered when planning a kitchen;a) Aspect: The aspect of the kitchen should be east or north-east, so as to get the early morning sun rays. The cool kitchen is preferred for rest of the day.b) Size: The size of the kitchen is dependent upon several factors, among which important ones are the available space in the house plan and the number of persons for whom the food is to be cooked.

33. c) Doors: These are considered as necessary evils, because they take space and ease of movement and working efficiency is decreased. So doors should be minimum and can be provided where no major work centre comes in between.

34. d) Windows: Windows provide the kitchen with natural lighting and ventilation. Therefore, enough area should be provided for windows to the extent possible. Minimum window area should equal atleast 10% of the floor area. If possible, one counter should have daylight from window and facilitate an outlook.

35. e) Floors: Floor should be made of such material and finishes which are easy to clean and maintain. The floor surface should be smooth and maintainable with minimum effort but it must not be too much smooth, otherwise it becomes slippery adequate friction should be provided for safety. It can be made of colorful tiles , which are not hard on the feet of the cooker.Some other varieties in floor covering are also available specifically for the kitchens.

36. f) Walls: Like the floors the walls should be easy to clean and maintain. For walls, often a wainscoting or glazed tiles or a splash back of washable material of a permanent nature wall paper may be used. Wood in the kitchen adds warmth and color but must used to minimum, lest it should overpower the room.

37. g) Work Counters: The height of the work counters should be 2, 2 ½ feet above the floor. They should be according to the height of the person who is to work in the kitchen.Materials to be used on work counters should be resistant to acid stains, withstand heat and at the same time are easy to clean and maintain. Mouldings for facing the counter edge should be of the material which does not stain the clothing of the person working there.

39. h) Ceiling: The kitchen ceiling should be simple and neat. Wall-paper or any other type of special wall covering for the ceiling should not be used. Any pattern on the ceiling is likely to create a disturbing effect.

40. i) Lighting: Good lighting in the kitchen is very necessary. Single fixture is generally not sufficient. Instead small subsidiary lights should be installed over the cooking and sink centre. Plenty of electrical points should be planned, if electrical appliances are to be used.

42. j)Storage: Proper storage in the kitchen is very important because the placement of equipment and utensils can either improve or reduce the effciency of various functions.Shelves within the cupboards should be properly designed and also there can also be moveable units in cupboards so that the person working can utilize the space as needed. Drawers should have movable dividers. Proper storage space should be provided near respective centres for the relevant items.

45. k) Color: Colors is of great importance because wrong colors in the kitchen may creat a disturbing feeling. Intense warm colors should be avoided. Hues on the cool side of the color wheel should be used. Generally, light colors should be used in the kitchen ceiling preferably white or it may counter act the heat of cooking.

47. KITCHEN EQUIPMENTS

48. Various equipments used in the kitchen can be divided into two main categories:i) Equipments for food preparationii) Equipments for servingLet us study food Preparation Equipments in detail:The type, size and quality of equipments required for food preparation depends upon the size of the family, its interest and social activities, and the work that has to be carried on in the kitchen. The number and the size of the utensils significantly affect the storage space.

49. We can divide them into major groupings as follows:a) Utensils for preliminary food preparations prior to cooking or baking, such as paring knives, graters, choppers, beaters, measuring cups, spoons etc.b) Utensils for cooking over the stove which may include pans of various sizes.c) Utensils for baking inside the oven.Apart from the above, some equipments are essential for storage and cleaning.

50. Measuring Devices:- Standard measuring equipments are essential for the accurate measurement of ingredients.- Invariably the measuring equipments, used in kitchen are based on volumetric measures.- These measuring cups and spoons re necessary. The top diameter of one cup-measure type must exceed 3 inches and the capacity must be indicated on the side.