My New Kitchen

[MuskyHopeful]

After three months of eating in restaurants, the remodeling project my family has been living through is nearly completed. Some work remains in the new great room and dining room, but the kitchen is basically done.

I went a bit overboard with appliances, but some people buy expensive cars, I went with kitchen appliances. I am thrilled by the thought of putting this stuff into action.

48" All gas Wolf range/oven with 6-16,000 Btu burners, infra-red charbroiler, and the two ovens. Over the range is a 1200 CFM Wolf Hood.

30" Thermador Electric Wall Oven. It has about 20 different settings and I may have to take a computer class to utilize all of them.

Built-in Thermador Microwave, Jennaire Dishwasher.

Whirlpool Sidekicks freestanding Refrigerator and Freezer. These are 30" wide and 30" deep.

The low simmer on the Wolf burners should help me become a better sauce maker, the burners and charbroiler should be great for searing and browning (should really seal in the juices, LOL ), the electric oven I plan to utilize significantly as I teach myself to bake breads, pastries, etc.

I have an 8' granite island with a 16" prep sink with disposal, so my friend BBQHopeful and I can work on each side with plenty of room. I plan to order two quality cutting boards for each side of the sink.

I want to become more proficient in all phases of cooking. I plan to do a lot of braising. I've been dreaming of short ribs, and veal and lamb shanks. I hope to become a fixture at the Milwaukee area farmer's markets. Visiting this site has stirred my interest in these venues, unfortunately Wisconsin weather will soon limit my access to them.

I am set on pans aside from a few All Clad stainless pieces I want. I have a decent knife collection, though most need sharpening.

I think this kitchen will be as functional as it is beautiful, and want it to be a place where my daughter and her friends can be comfortable as she grows up. I want it to be a place where she can learn the joys of eating well, and cooking well.

I hope no one minds this long gushing post, but this is a once in a lifetime project in the house my wife and I hope to grow very old in. We'll have to, because it may take a while to pay for it. LOL

Kevin

I like muskies.

[Mannlicher]

Now that sounds like a great place to play. I think you made some exellent choices on appliances, and layout.

[Mezzaluna]

Gushing? Heck no! Jealous? You've got that right. I thought I had the perfect (for me) kitchen, but you never really know until you live with it for a few months- or go through a year of holiday meals, etc. The only big mistake I made was my choice of range (Viking), and that will soon be remedied.

Best wishes for many happy hours preparing delights for your family and friends! If you do make an appearance at the Milwaukee Public Market please let me know so I can zip down to see your demo and meet you.

Mezz

[MuskyHopeful]

Thanks for the replies. Mezzaluna, I think you misunderstood, I'll only be shopping at the Metro Market. I just love to cook, I'm not a professional, though a couple of my friends are. I doubt they'd have me. LOL

I had a Viking cooktop that I absolutely hated. I'm sure I'm going to be happier with the Wolf. Another range brand I learned about after I had ordered the Wolf was Bluestar. Lots of power. Might have gotten that if I would have known.

Kevin

[Jayme]

Kevin-
Can we all come cook in your kitchen?? We are all drooling at the description...... Cooking party at Kevin's house!!!
I'm sure you will never want to eat out again!

[MuskyHopeful]

I really am loving it. Burgers, pork chops, shrimp on the charbroiler. Had a couple over for an appetizer party on Saturday. Goat cheese, roasted pepper, and asparagus crostini. Seared some cubes of halibut in my new all clad stainless pan and you'd swear they were deep fried they browned so well. Deep fried some crab and potato balls, etc. New friends and they were quite pleased, I think.

I love the power. Only problem is I'm over cooking things a bit as I get used to the equipment.

My nine year old daughter wants double baked potatoes this weekend, so I think I'm going to have to try a prime rib as a side dish.

Sunday I think short ribs. I NEED to braise something.

Kevin

I like muskies.

[Gail@Flavours]

Hi Musky. Been there, done that. You're lucky to have gotten away with only a three-month renovation. When we did our renovation 3 years ago, I was without a kitchen for 15 months! Our renovation included some major work, including an addition to the house to create a kitchen/family room that was totally functional and which I designed with the intent on opening a small cooking school in. Like you, I'm loving it and still look at it in awe. I'm thrilled with my layout and equipment - I've got a 48" Viking dual fuel range, which I had before the reno (bought it about 6 years ago) - no problems with it, and a Gaggenau wall oven with a swing-open door (microwave style) that I love (they're incredibly expensive; this one was knocked-down at the appliance store when I was shopping for appliances).

Anyway, if anyone out there wants advice on how to cook in a small basement using a bar sink, electric frypan, electric roaster and a toaster oven, just ask. You'd be amazed at the creations I made in these appliances. I should probably write a book...

[MuskyHopeful]

Gail, you SHOULD write a book. That's a long project to endure. I'm telling you, there are about three hundred thousand ladies posting on the Home and Garden Web kitchen forum that would probably buy it. You would not believe how often people ask in anguish over there, "How will I feed my family?".

Since it was summer, I was going to use the grill a lot, then it was so darn hot in my enclosed porch that I couldn't stand even walking through it. My business that we run out of our basement was keeping us very busy, and it ended up being sandwiches and restaurants. Who would have thought a nine year old would say she was sick of eating out and sick of chicken tenders?

Kevin

I like muskies.

[MikeLM]

Kevin-

Sounds like you got it made. All the nice stuff you want to play with, and plenty of room, too.

You mentioned-
I plan to order two quality cutting boards for each side of the sink.

Suggest you get end-grain maple boards as long as you're going first class all the way. Extensive (I guess) studies at the Commercial Foods Department at the University of Wisconsin found that wooden cutting boards are far less microbe-friendly than plastic or glass ones. Anyway, they wrote several papers to that effect.

Mike

[SusanHarper]

Good work,

I want one as yours

Best regards

Susan

[chrose]

Kevin, I wish I could be more upbeat for you and your new kitchen but since my kitchen is on hold at the moment I'm finding it hard to appreciate yours in between the tears
Actually congratulations it sound fantastic. Ours like I said is currently in a holding pattern though we did pick out a floor this weekend!
When all is said and done, it won't be as impressive as yours, but it will suit me just fine. Now you just have to post pictures so we can ogle it for awhile!

[oldschool1982]

Musky,

That kitchen sounds great! I, like chrose, find it difficult to share in the enthusiasim . You see we are selling a house that has the Silestone,an entire arsenal of Monogram appliances (36 in gas cooktop with 4 17,500 BTU burners-low simmer and an 18,000 BTU gas grill, 1750 CFM Hood, double wall convection ovens, built in refrigerator, warming drawer, and dishwasher) along with the beautifull wall to wall Italian porcelean/ceramic tile floor,back splash and solid cherry cabinetry with full exetension drawers.

None the less the house we just purchased in a city just south of Richmond VA has a kitchen with a blank slate (well it's functional) and twice the size . It may be some time before we can get to remodeling since we have other more pressing things like selling the other home first, yet I hope to have something similar to yours (plus a couple extras) when we are done.

Still it's a great feeling once you complete things to your liking and can entertain friends with your efforts. Have a great time with the new tools! It's always nice to get new tools be it kitchen or other.

[MuskyHopeful]

Hey thanks for a few more replies! It's been fun, but hard to get the darn thing organized. Some stuff is still in boxes. We have a business we run out our house, and October was really busy. Thursday should be fun. Going to cook a big bird and there's oven room and burners for all the sides. No more partially heating them in the microwave.

Yeah!

The project is officially completed tomorrow with the installation of a dining room wood floor. Just in time for turkey day.

Chrose. It'll be worth the wait. We had one plan fall through due to problems with the designer and contractor. Had the appliances on hold for a year.

OldSchool. Big is good. We moved some interior walls to create some space and open up a living room and family. Expensive, Ugh.

Kevin

I like ChefTalk

[Mezzaluna]

Kevin, how about posting a picture of your new kitchen?

[MuskyHopeful]

I would love to. I'll do it this weekend after the holiday. The wood floor was just installed in the dining room today, so I'll be the guy getting organized for tomorrow until tomorrow. Table and chairs are in the garage. China is in boxes and needs to be washed. The china cabinet that seems to weigh 5,000 pounds is in the living room.

Can't wait to cook tomorrow, though.

Kevin

I like muskies.