Guide to setting up a new Kitchen

Basic things required in a kitchen

Kitchen furniture and cabinets, cooking range or cooktops, and a host of other gadgets and appliances go to make your kitchen a truly functional place. Let us understand each of these requirements.

• Appliances: Large and small kitchen appliances take the drudgery out of cooking, making the various cooking processes simpler, faster and efficient. Your cooking habits and the space available in the kitchen determine the number and sizes of the kitchen appliances you can have. However, there are some basic appliances that are a must-have in every kitchen. These include:
• Range and cooktops: Choose between a gas, electric or dual fuel cooking range that combines a conventional, convection or trivection oven or go for just a gas stove. Gas cooktops come with open or sealed gas burners, while electric smoothtops made of ceramic or glass offer heating coils, electric heating elements, halogen bulbs, hotplates and induction hobs for cooking. Choose as per your family and kitchen size and budget. The standard size is 30”.
• Blender: From making frozen drinks to smoothies, from soup puree to custards, chopping and emulsifying, the blender does it all. One with a powerful motor of 500W should be good enough for most processes. Generally blenders come with a wet jar, a dry jar and a blender.
• Food processor: Do all the chopping, grating, slicing, blending, dough kneading, emulsifying and pureeing jobs, in minutes with your powerful food processor. Before buying one check the attachments and jars that come with the food processor as their blade quality will determine their prowess.
• Toast Ovens: Great for toasting and heating bagels, home breads, waffles and French toasts, these ovens can also make delicious mini pizza, cookies, melt cheese, brown breadcrumbs or broil a sugar for topping. If you are not looking for anything fancy, go for a basic temperature adjustable oven that offers a toast and broil setting. For simply toasting bread slices go for a basic pop-up toaster. 
• Countertop Grill and griddle: Perfect for cooking a healthy meal, an indoor grill is great for cooking fish, steak, chicken breasts and burgers. A grill with a floating hinge that lets you cook thicker meat and removable grill plates can be interchanged with a smooth griddle plate. Griddles make delicious making Panini-style sandwiches, eggs and pancakes.

• Microwave: From thawing frozen foods and ready-to-eat meals, reheating meals, making popcorn and cooking, the microwave does it all. Go for one that suits your requirements and fits well into your kitchen.
• Coffee-makers: Perfect for a morning cuppa, a coffee-maker is a must to start your day. From manual to fully automatic, there are plenty of models available. Some even come with a beans grinder or let you use instant coffee and espresso pods. From 1 cup to 12 cups, coffee makers come in different sizes and capacities.
• Rice cookers and steamers: This helps you cook rice and other vegetable dishes as well. It keeps food warm in its insulated case till it is ready to be served. An auto-thermostat will switch to warm mode once the rice is cooked. Rice cookers come in varying sizes and choose one that meets your family’s requirements. The best cooker is one where rice is cooked from bottom up, ensuring proper cooking. Teflon-coated cookers are the best.
• Refrigerator: Preserves perishable foods like fresh juices, milk and vegetables and also stores leftovers. Refrigerators are also used to keep cold things cold and make the perfect desserts. Available in many sizes, choose one based on the size of your family and kitchen. There are three types of refrigerators, single-door, double door with a bottom drawer and side-by-side models. Choose an energy efficient model with a powerful compressor.
• Hand mixers: Perfect for mixing drinks, whipping cream and whisking egg whites, kneading bread dough, the stand mixers varied attachments make the pre-preparation process a cinch. Some newer models from leading manufacturer’s like Kitchenaid come with additional tools that aid in grinding, slicing, grating and making pasta.
• Other must-have kitchen utensils and tools include a can-opener, vegetable peeler, a set of knives to tackle all your chopping tasks, cutting boards, ladle and spatula set, pepper grinder, grater, measuring spoons and cups, sifter, whisks, mortar and pestle, kitchen shears, etc.

Cookware and utensils: Depending upon the task, different cookwares made from different materials are used. Buy cookware keeping into account the number of people you will be cooking for. There is some basic cookware that one should have in the kitchen.

Get the right size of cookware with heavy bottoms, riveted and ovenproof handles and lids that are sturdy and durable. Stainless steel and copper bottom pots are good conductors of heat and hence cook food faster. Frying pans can be coated with non-stick Teflon allowing you to cook with less oil. Use wooden utensils on non-stick surfaces. Grills and Dutch ovens made from cast iron are long lasting and cook faster with burning the food.

Cookwares from Corningware are attractive, stylish, durable and chip-resistant. Being refrigerator, freezer and microwave and oven safe, the Corningware cookware can be taken straight to the dining table for serving. The non-porous surface of this ceramic cookware does not absorb any flavors or stains.

One of the most common cookware, Saucepans come in varying sizes and most of them have lids while some have spouts for pouring out liquids. Have saucepans range from 1 quart to 4 quarts. Sauté Pans with or without lids are great for making sauces, pan frying, for making risotto and other rice dishes. Sauté pans with oven-proof handles can be used in the oven as well. Wider and shallower than sauce pans, Dutch ovens can make stocks and soups, fry, brown, braise and simmer. Those made of cast iron retain heat well and can be used on stove tops and ovens. For cooking stews, soups and pasta you need an 8 quart stockpot. Some stockpots feature a basket for steaming veggies and a lid that doubles as a pasta strainer. An 8 to 14 inch frying pan or skillet with lids, an omelet pan, a ridged grill pan and a roasting pan are also needed.

Kitchen Cabinets and drawers: The most basic furniture in the kitchen is the storage area, namely the kitchen cabinet and drawers. These are used to store almost anything including foodstuff, gadgets and appliances, cookware, crockery and much more.

The design, size and position of the cabinets will depend upon your kitchen size. Cabinets can be wall-mounted or under countertops. In an island kitchen, cabinets and drawers are found under the island counters too. Standalone cabinets can be floor to ceiling.  Appliances such as a refrigerator or a cooking range, a microwave, mixer-grinder or a toaster that you will be having in your kitchen will all influence your cabinet design. Cabinets and drawers can be large or small, wide or narrow, shallow and deep, depending upon what all you plan to store in them. There should be space for all the large and small things that you have in the kitchen. Most of the cabinets stand flushed against the wall in a U or an L shape.

Glass, Steel, aluminum, a variety of wood, with a vast range of finishes such as veneer, laminates and more is used in the construction of cabinets and drawers. Wood gives a homely warm feeling, glass give an open feel and stainless steel gives a cool sophisticated look. A combination of materials such as a wooden cabinet with glass doors is also pleasing. The colors should blend with that of your kitchen countertops, refrigerator and cooking range for a harmonious look. A single solid color or a combination of two is generally used aesthetically to create a pleasing effect. The hardware such as knobs and hinges should be smooth to operate and should match too. Cabinets can be made to order or purchased as readymade from the kitchen stores. A modular kitchen has many options to offer in terms of color schemes, layouts and designs, so that you can instantly select what you like.

If your kitchen size permits, you can have a wall mounted or a small standalone breakfast table for two or four people. You can have chairs or barstools to accompany the table. This is useful when your kids or husband wants to have a meal in a hurry.

Kitchen sinks and faucets: Sinks should be conveniently located from the working area, preferably in front of the window for natural lighting. Kitchen sinks come in various shapes, sizes, materials and layouts. Select one with size and looks that blend with your countertop layouts. There are single, double and triple bowl sinks. The central bowl is used for washing veggies and other food. The standard sink size is 22” x 30” with two equal-sized bowls that are 30 inches deep.. But for larger cookware, there are larger sizes available as well. Material-wise you can choose from stainless steel, enamel cast iron, composite acrylic and fiberglass sink, quartz sink and huge glass bowls. Brass and copper are also used in kitchen sinks.

A wide choice of kitchen faucets is also available from a single to a double faucet, for hot and cold water. These could be a two-handle side-spray faucet or a single pullout faucet or pot-fillers.

Made of child-safe materials, Play kitchens are a great way to build social skills and imbibe a sense of responsibility in your child. With real looking household items and gadgets that allow kids to mimic their elders while learning social skills. Toy kitchens display stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, sink with faucet, wooden cabinets and gadgets like oven, a pop-up toaster with an alert sound, a cooking range, dishwasher, microwave and gas burners.

Decision making:

Setting up a kitchen is not something you can do in a hurry; it is bound to take a lot of effort, alertness to your kitchen needs, and prioritizing based on your budget. Options are aplenty when it comes to kitchen ranges and accessories. Use this guide as you are short-listing stuffs for your kitchen, and making a comparison to narrow down your options so that you are able to set up a kitchen that you are satisfied with.