Читать книгу An Ideal Kitchen: Miss Parloa's Kitchen Companion - Maria Parloa - Страница 3

AN
IDEAL KITCHEN.

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How few people who build houses give proper attention to the plan and construction of the kitchen! Pains may be taken to have the exterior of the building attractive, the halls broad, the parlors spacious and finely finished, the dining-room bright and inviting, the chambers airy and sunny, but the plan of the kitchen generally receives much less thought than its importance deserves, if one be seeking to make the house as nearly perfect as is practicable. The trouble is not wholly due to unwillingness to expend more money than may have been at first appropriated. A little extra thought alone is needed to effect many improvements on the average kitchen when a house is in process of construction, but this extra thought usually is missing. Of course, in order to have a model kitchen, one must be willing to pay a good price for it; yet the price will not be so high that one will ever regret the expenditure; indeed, most persons will promptly admit that the money has been used as profitably as that used for any other part of the house. The object of this chapter is to show how a model kitchen may be arranged; and although few people may adopt the recommendations as a whole, it is hoped that every reader may find some suggestions of value, to be followed whether the house be already built or yet to be erected.

The first matter to be considered is the size of the room. While it is important to have ample space for range, sink, dresser, tables, and chairs, and for free movements, it also is important to avoid having the room so large as to oblige one to take many steps to and from range, sink, table, and pantry. A good size is 16 × 16 or 15 × 17 feet.

Be particular to have the ventilation as good as possible; for the comfort of not only those who have duties in the kitchen, but of the entire household, is in a measure dependent upon it. If the ventilation be poor, the strength of those who work in the room will needlessly become exhausted, and they are likely to get irritated easily. Moreover, odors of cooking will escape to other parts of the house instead of passing to the open air. The room should be high, and have large windows that can be raised or dropped easily. If the kitchen be located in a one-story extension, almost perfect ventilation may be secured by means of a ventilator in the roof or by a skylight; or it may be found easy to have a ventilator placed in the chimney. If expense be no obstacle, it will be well to have a separate chimney for the kitchen, as this is one of the surest ways of preventing odors of food from reaching other rooms. Although the room may be admirably arranged and finished, it will not be a model apartment unless there be good ventilation and an abundance of light. Most kitchens have some dark corners, but there should be none.

Excepting the ceilings, every part of the room, as well as of the pantry and the adjoining closets, should be finished in a way that permits of washing. A hard-wood floor is desirable. Avoid spruce. Hard pine, if carefully selected, makes a good floor; but the best wood is maple or birch, in strips not more than three inches wide. If soft wood be used, splinters will in time get torn up. Oil-cloth often is used for covering the floor. It may look bright and clean, but is too cold, and frequently causes rheumatism. Lignum, which somewhat resembles oil-cloth, but is thicker and warmer, is as good a covering as can be found. It is clean and durable. Tiles are sometimes recommended for the floor of a kitchen; they can be kept clean and will wear well, but they tire the feet, and for that reason should not be used.

It is well to have the woodwork in a kitchen oiled. A wainscot is desirable. Have the walls painted a rather light color. If one can afford it, the walls about the range and sink should be tiled. At the outset tiles may appear costly, but after experience one finds it is really a saving to use them. They can easily be kept perfectly clean, and will last as long as the house itself. English or Dutch tiles should be used, and there is nothing more appropriate than the blue and white. The price for furnishing and setting such tiles is from seventy cents to a dollar per square foot. Probably the time will come when nobody will think of finishing a house without them.

Do not be satisfied with a small sink. Have one of good size, and of iron, with a sloping and grooved shelf at one end, on which to drain dishes after washing them. Let the sink rest on iron legs. The space under it should not be enclosed, as every dark place is a source of temptation to a slovenly domestic.

One caution in regard to the sink: have the strainer screwed down firm. Anything that will not pass through the strainer should not go into the pipes. The hinged or loose strainer gives but little protection, as the temptation to lift it and let sediment pass through is very great. With an immovable strainer and the use, once a fortnight, of the hot solution of soda described in the chapter on “Care of Utensils,” there will be no trouble with pipes, unless it be caused by wear or freezing. After using the hot soda, flush the pipes with cold water. This plan has been followed in the care of the plumbing of a large house for many years, with the most satisfactory results. Put hooks under the sink, for dish-cloths, dish-pans, etc. Unless there be tiles above, below, and at the sides of the sink, all this space should be finished in hard wood. If tiles be used, have a broad capping of hard wood extend across the upper edge of the top row, in which to place brass hooks for the various small utensils in frequent use at the sink.

Between the doors leading to the china closet and the hall have a dresser. Here can be kept the kitchen table-ware and some utensils. Near the back part of each shelf have a groove, so that plates and platters may be placed on edge without danger of their falling. There also should be two drawers, and below the drawers two closets containing shelves. The doors of the upper part of the dresser should be made in part of glass, and instead of swinging on hinges they should slide one in front of the other.