Cooking in a Tiny Kitchen | A Detailed Guideline

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Cooking in a Tiny Kitchen A Detailed Guideline
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This is my kitchen and its not the smallest Ive
had. But its still pretty tiny, especially when
you consider that we work from home, hardly ever
eat out and therefore prepare breakfast, lunch
and dinner in our kitchen every day. My kitchen
is L-shaped, small, and yet is perfect for us.
There are a lot of myths about cooking in a tiny
kitchen, which Ill be debunking in this
article. The tiniest kitchen I have ever had was
a kitchen-in-a-cupboard. Id open two doors and
there was a sink with a minuscule fridge below
it, a single bowl sink, a two-ring gas cooker and
shelves above. My current kitchen isnt as bad as
that, in fact, I love it. Its compact, theres
plenty of space and cleaning it is so easy.
Something is especially like is that everything
is near at hand. I used to be a kitchen designer
when I lived in England and for many years would
plan huge kitchens and dream that one day Id
have one of my own. Eventually, I did but I
prefer my tiny kitchen!
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A SMALL SINK Our sink measures about twenty
inches by sixteen inches but its used more than
anything else when Im cooking. Youll notice
that there are two items in the sink. On the
right is a plastic rectangular bowl. I do the
dishes in this so, when Im cooking and Ive
finished with an item or utensil, it goes
straight in there, ready to be washed. OVER SINK
DRAINER This is intended to hold the dishes and
silverware when they be been washed. I use it
for much more than this. The first step for
cooking a meal is gathering the ingredients from
the fridge or cupboard and putting them in the
drainer. I carry it to the fridge and add the
items from there, then the cupboard for any
canned or dried goods. See the next image. Decide
where garbage will go. WASTE DISPOSAL? No, I
dont have one. I also dont have a dog (and dogs
can do a pretty good job!) So its important to
decide what you are going to do with food scraps
and peelings while you work. Piling them up on
one side of he chopping board isnt a good idea
because they can overflow onto the worktop and
make more mess for you to clean.
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I USE A GLASS JAR I simply put a glass jar in
the sink and when I trim vegetables, add the
trimmings and peelings to it. If I feel a
vegetable stock coming on, I store this in the
fridge so that I can add them when I make stock.
This keeps all the mess under control. If
necessary, I move the jar from the sink to the
countertop if Im working there. SELECT UTENSILS
TOO I know that Im going to need a plastic or
wooden spoon to stir the beans and a spatula to
remove the pasties from the oven so before I
start to cook I get those out and hang them from
the tension rod thats over my sink. Now I have
everything to hand. Utensils I dont use
daily SAVE SPACE IN A TINY KNIFE DRAWER I need
my can opener for the beans but its not
something I use every day. Neither is my pizza
wheel or my ladle. So these live in a plastic box
thats kept in the cupboard below. Its easy to
reach when I need it but it keeps my knife drawer
uncluttered Use a Lazy Susan
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SO MANY USES My pasties are cooking in the oven,
I have a pan on the stove ready to cook the beans
and now I need to get plates and silverware
together and make a quick salad. But using a Lazy
Susan on the countertop I can easily make use of
the wasted space in the corner and its
protecting my white surfaces too. It can be
stored vertically so takes up little space and I
also use it on the dining table. Just a touch of
décor BUT WITH A PRACTICAL PURPOSE Youll have
seen from the top photograph that I have a lovely
ceramic jug and a black and white vase in the
unreachable corner of my countertop. Hey, I like
uncluttered rooms but I like a little decor too.
But they are practical too. If Im following a
recipe, its a great place to keep the cookbook
and the jug holds it while the vase keeps it in
place. As you can see, I use clothespins to make
sure that the pages stay open. Plating the meal
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IM LAZY Its only steps from the kitchen to the
dining table but I like to use a tray so that I
dont have to make more than one trip. I put our
meal and its accompaniments on a tray. This
protects the surfaces but its now also easy to
transport everything to the table. Oh and the
tray also fits perfectly on my trash can if I
need extra surfaces. Doing the dishes AFTER THE
MEAL When items are used during cooking, I put
them straight into the washing up bowl in the
sink. Just before we eat, I fill the bowl with
warm soapy water so that the used items are
soaking. After the meal, we simply add the plates
and silverware weve used and doing the dishes
takes about three minutes tops. DRYING THE
DISHES? I like to use a cloth but Ive learned
over the years that people (guys) are likely to
grab cloths and use them for just about anything.
We dont have a draining board but our drying mat
is placed on top of the ceramic hob, the dishes
are piled there and they air-dry themselves.
More tips for Cooking in a
Tiny Kitchen
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STORE CREATIVELY You may not be able to store
all your kitchen equipment in the room itself. We
have a small storage area in our apartment
building and if anything isnt used on a regular
basis, it goes into the storage area. If your
pressure cooker that you only use at the holidays
lives in your clothes closet, so be it. YES, YOU
CAN BUY IN BULK Many people who have small
kitchens complain that they cant take advantage
of special bulk-buying offers to save money.
Theres nothing wrong with having a twelve pack
of canned tomatoes under your bed! We have a
suitcase stored in one of our cupboards for when
we go traveling at the moment, it contains
bulk-bought cans of soda. Ive even stored bulk
purchases in the car for a few days until Ive
found them a home in the apartment. A wine rack
can live in the lounge. UNUSUAL USES Our fresh
bread lives in the halogen oven. Why not? It
keeps it close to hand and when we use the oven,
we just put the bread into the basket on the
shelf above.
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HOW MANY INSERT ITEMS DO I NEED? When I first
moved to the tiny apartment I found that I had
seven egg whisks seven! We dont even eat eggs
very often. And even if we did, how many egg
whisks can I use at one time? It was the same
with mixing bowls. I only need one medium sized
bowl. For small items, I use a cereal bowl or
even my jug. PANS I have five. Two skillets and
three saucepans. They live in the drawer
underneath the oven. I only really use two of
them. If I really needed more space, I could give
away a couple. Its a good idea to consciously
inventory your kitchen equipment to see what you
really use regularly. DOWNSIZE When we moved to
the tiny apartment I grandly declared that wed
downsize to two plates, two cereal bowls, two
knives, two forks, two wineglasses and so on.
This was a little impractical because we do have
guests from time to time. But nevertheless its a
good idea to donate any items you dont use to
the Salvation Army or Goodwill. The less clutter
in your kitchen, the better. ORGANIZE FOOD
STORAGE The more organized your store cupboard
and your refrigerator are, the easier it will be
for you to cook quickly and efficiently in a tiny
kitchen.