Designing the Two Cook Kitchen (December 23, 2007)

Authors Note: Since most builders, architects and even kitchen design professionals are not real cooks, many kitchen designs fail to design kitchens for 2 cooks. The kitchen is not only a gathering place but it is a place in which it is very likely that there will be more than 1 person working (2 cooks, mom and/or dad, etc.). Good kitchen design must allow more flexibility in kitchen design and for kitchens to be able to accomodate to the needs of their users.

Designing a two-cook kitchen is a necessity if you have two cooks who love to cook together however they may have very different ways of cooking. If you??re building a new kitchen, or remodeling existing one, the National Kitchen & Bath Association suggests that you take into consideration your needs and to consider how many cooks use your kitchen and then to consider designing your kitchen to accommodate cooks with different styles and different needs.

If the two cooks in your kitchen tend to work at the same time, you may find having a two-cook kitchen can make cooking a whole lot easier. Having a two-cook kitchen design means creating extra space for counter work. You will also need to have separate storage spaces for each cook to reduce the number of trips to and from the cabinets to the work center. You should also plan on having additional space for walkway clearances. This means allowing for 48 to 54 inches of space for the two cooks to pass each other.

Kitchen countertop space should be increased to accommodate the needs of both cooks, making easier the accessibility of the kitchen equipment that will be shared by each cook. There should be a special work center designed to the particular meet the needs of the cooks: a baking center or grilling area that would be separate from the main work triangle. The countertop heights should be varied to accommodate the needs of the current cooks, such as, putting in raised counters for taller cooks and lower counters for shorter cooks.

It is important if you have a two- cook household that you examine patterns of meal preparation. Since no two cooks prepare meals in exactly the same way, therefore no two people cook together the same way. For instance in some households the wife may be more into baking, so she would primarily be using the oven. Her area of the kitchen would need to have a mixer, access to all the ingredients she needs, a second sink, and a garbage disposal.

The husband is more the cook in the home. He would need to be closer to the range top and stove, as well as the refrigerator. If the kitchen has a rather long rectangle, it would be necessary to design a rather untraditional island for the kitchen. Perhaps an island that would start out narrow at one end and widen at the other end to provide room for seating. Also the more counter space that each one has the better. It is a good idea to have different areas of the counter designated for specific duties.

Kitchen island and peninsulas can may excellent work surfaces, particularly if they are sufficiently deep (about 36 inches). If the counter is deep enough then it is possible for two people to be able to work across from each other at the same time.

For two-cook kitchens, a work triangle should be placed for each cook. It may be possible for one leg of the primary and secondary triangles to be may shared, but the two should not cross one another. Appliances may be shared or separate. In an open kitchen design, the stove is accessible from all sides so that two persons can cook together. Also this open design allows for contact with guests or the rest of the family.

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