An article on this subject was probably never written that did not pretend to describe the “model kitchen.” It is safe to say that no such kitchen was regarded as “model” by all readers. A model kitchen is something which is out of reason. No two housekeepers have the same requirements. Housekeeping practice varies greatly. Again, the kitchen that can be built to one floor-plan cannot be built to another. In describing a kitchen, it is in mind to set forth certain general principles for the benefit of those interested.
There is little difference between the requirements of a kitchen for a house of moderate cost and an expensive house. Work of the same general character is done in every kitchen. The conveniences are more a matter of thought than of money. Elaborate details add much to the cost, but little to the convenience. There is little or no difference between the cost of a well-planned kitchen and one which is poorly planned.
To state the case broadly, a kitchen should be arranged solely with reference to the work which is to be done in it: the cooking, dish-washing, the care of the kitchen itself, and possibly the laundry work. This latter work should be removed from the kitchen—in any event, the washing should be done elsewhere—when it is at all possible. The steam and odor from the washing, which not only fill the kitchen but permeate the house, are enough to render whatever food there is in the kitchen unfit for use. It is altogether possible to arrange in the cellar of any house that is being built, and in many that are already built, at a trifling cost, a laundry in which the washing and ironing may be comfortably done. Of course this does not contemplate set tubs; but set tubs are not found in houses where the washing and ironing are done in the kitchen, and it is possible to do this work both well and easily without their use. There is little or no objection to doing the ironing in a well-ventilated kitchen. It is clean work, and while doing it the servant may attend to any cooking which is necessary, and see that the other work of the house moves forward.
The kitchen the plan of which is here given ([Fig. 2]) has been in use for three years under the varying conditions of one or two servants, and at times none at all. These are the conditions under which most housekeepers operate. There have been no emergencies in which the kitchen and pantries have not proven themselves ample, and none in which the housekeeper thought that they were too large and complicated. It is as necessary in houses where the means for maintenance is simply moderate, that a kitchen should not be too large as that it should afford ample facilities for accomplishing any work which may be done.
The kitchen itself is thirteen and one-half by fourteen and one-half feet. In it are placed the range, tables, sink, drain-board, etc., and the kitchen safe. The room has been found large enough for the work which is to be done there, and not so large that the tables, range, and safe are so far apart that time and strength are wasted moving from one to another. The kitchen has one large window in it, which is three feet from the floor. This permits the placing of a table, ironing-board, or chair under it, and thus gives additional wall space. There are two windows in the pantry, and a draught is secured through them, the kitchen window, and the transom over the door. The door is glazed.
The most disagreeable work of a kitchen, and that which takes much time, is the dish-washing. It is possible to make this work lighter and pleasanter than is usual. The necessary conditions are plenty of water, hot and cold, a place where the dishes will drain themselves, an abundance of table room for them both before and after washing. In the kitchen given the sink is placed next the kitchen flue. This gives a place for the pipe duct next the warm bricks, which prevent freezing even in severe cold weather. During the three years in which this kitchen has been in use they have never frozen, even when the temperature was twenty degrees below zero. The exact construction of this kitchen pipe-duct and other kitchen wood-work is given elsewhere. The range, which is usually next the flue, is, in this instance, placed at some distance from it. There is no reason why this should not be done, as it has been in many instances, with no disagreeable results.
The sink is not enclosed, but stands upon legs. Enclosed sinks are places which cannot be kept clean even with the utmost vigilance. The brushes, scrub-rags, and buckets, which are usually kept there, are in this kitchen provided a place elsewhere.