Shopping For Cooking Appliances

You would be surprised how many clients don't realize that the appliance choices are a main priority to us cabinet designers. We don't want you to be stuck with the wrong tools to keep and cook your food, no matter how beautiful your kitchen turns out. When you remodel is the time to improve your ventilation, BTU's, space to store perishables. I like it when I can be involved with appliance choices, even though I don't sell them. If you want a microwave range hood, there is a whole litany of pro's and con's I like to go over. Same for wall ovens or integrated ovens in a range. Induction cooktops, downdraft vents, icemakers, trash compactors, wine refrigerators, built in espresso machines, there are so many possible ways to make cooking more enjoyable. But, the cabinets to make these fit and function have to be figured out. Make sure you share your appliance shopping list before ordering cabinets. Once the cabinets are ordered, you must be committed to your appliance choices that might affect the cabinet sizes.

With the small kitchen, try to use a 30'' range to do double duty instead of a wall oven and separate cook top. Roomier kitchens can have an an oversized range that is based on the idea of a professional's cooking station and might be 36'' or 48'' wide. This makes a dramatic statement, and is something for a serious cook to consider. It seems to me the most important part of the kitchen is the stove. Key features to look for having to do with performance are the BTU's, which means the amount of heat the burners are capable of, the size and type of burners, and the ergonomic way the controls are designed. Also important aesthetically is whether the stove has it's own back splash, or if it is a slide in with no back splash. When you use a range with a splash built in, it affects how you may decide to add a decorative, functional stone or tile back splash. If your dream is to have a feature on the wall behind the stove, bear the style of the stove in mind. As you can see, using a slide in front control style range opens up more possibilities for how you finish the wall behind it.

Should you decide you prefer wall oven(s) and cooktop separately in your kitchen, that involves using 5 feet or more of lineal space instead of a typical 2 1/2 feet for a range. When you have room for this, it opens up more custom options. Putting an oven up away from the floor further is attractive to serious bakers. In ranges and wall ovens a good feature to consider is convection, which is fan forced heat that circulates to speed and even out cooking. Your salesperson should also be able to point you in the direction of ovens that have concealed, more premium elements for the bottom and the top of the oven cavity. Exposed elements are tough to keep clean. Self cleaning and continuous cleaning ovens have their benefits to consider. Once again, salespeople with good information should help you decide what sort of cleaning style for your oven is best. High heat is involved with self cleaning, so talk to your cabinet designer about protection for the doors.