kitchen work triangle

How to set a kitchen work triangle that makes life easier

If you are looking for the 3 main kitchen stations and a brief explanation of how they work the kitchen work triangle determines where to fit them in your kitchen layout.

The 3 main kitchen stations are the following

Basically this setup consists of kitchen appliances  and work stations. The reason why they are so important is because this determines what kitchen layout best works for your home.

1. Stove

The stove or cooking area can mean 1  appliance for your kitchen that does it all or several different devices that help you achieve your cooking goals. The more modern cooktops can now lay flush with the top of your countertop especially the electric stove tops and this means that underneath you could still add a regular drawer or double door cabinet. If you are aspired by becoming a chef, caterer, baker, or pastry chef then you may need some designated cooking ware like a double oven installed in a large cabinet that blends in with the rest of your kitchen. 

(Food Preparation)

When it comes to preparing food this will involve baking any bread based foods in your kitchen oven. How about broiling a tasty soup with your favorite veggies and protein. The most popular food preparation for quick results include frying foods and heating up in the microwave.

2. Refrigerator

The refrigerator concept has shown lots of improvement in the last 10 years, not only are they taller and wider than the old simple white cubed fridges, but they have enhanced the opening capabilities and the food storage options. The manufacturers and designers of refrigerators have noticed that the average home has increased the amount of food we store on a weekly bases and not only that but the size of a lot of food containers have grown as well.  

(Food Storage)

There are 4 types of food storage that will need to be addressed. This will include storing your food in not only your fridge but also a pantry, closet, or in most of your kitchen cabinets.

  • Dry staples: The rice, potatoes, wheat, and root vegetable products
  • Freeze Dried: Frozen Berries and vegetables can last long time as well as your meats
  • Dehydrated: Best example are the ordinary bananas, apples, pineapples, and zucchinis
  • Canned: A proper well taken care of can of beans, soup or any item can endure a long time under the right room temperature

3. Sink

The sink one of the most customizable appliance of your kitchen work stations. You can add or take away depending on what your needs are. A lot of people prefer a large kitchen sink like the farmhouse design that adds a lot of space for washing those big pans and pots. Even though this sink is larger than the common sink it also offers a deeper bowl in a more rectangular manner which maximizes the area. Having a close proximity to your sink or dishwasher will improve the functionality and decrease your food cleaning time.  

(Food Cleaning)

The sink not only consists of washing and cleaning your cook ware like dishes, cups, silverware, or pots. This also consists of the physical removal of soil or debris left by farming on most vegetables and fruits. In some cases if the item is wrapped this may require a sanitation by use of light chemicals to fully kill off any bad bacteria that remains. Please be aware to not mix any cleaning agents directly onto your foods surface. Always go for soaking your produce in warm or running water. Some vegetables like potatoes may take hours to fully release all the soil ingrained on them to a certain extent.

What is the kitchen triangle, and is the kitchen triangle outdated?

History of the kitchen triangle rule

The concept of the kitchen triangle has been around since the early 1900’s and the whole idea was developed by highly experienced architects and engineers who were designing kitchen layouts. Their main goal was to create a system that reduced the construction cost and improved the accessibility in the kitchen. Ever since then the kitchen triangle has been recognized as the golden triangle and had been taught in lots design colleges across the globe.

Kitchen Improvement over time statistics

Keep in mind back then the average new home owner had limited options when it came to choosing the kind of kitchen work stations they could use so everything was a whole lot more generic and very repetitive. Also the kitchen layout of the older homes were also a whole lot more closed in with lots of walls from the dinning and kitchen area. Until recent years the statics show that the open kitchen concept has completely taken over home layouts and the new kitchen designs have improved dramatically by providing homes with spacious solutions.

Kitchen work triangle outdated today

This is a question a lot of people wonder especially when it comes to the kitchen work triangle with island and if the benefits are greater than the costs. So let’s break it down! The whole idea of the kitchen triangle was designed for the smallest kitchen layouts because back then the entire kitchen consisted of a fraction of the total square footage that our modern kitchens have today.

The reason why the size of our kitchens are bigger really matters and here’s why. The most natural point of reuniting a home with friends or family is ideally now taking place in the kitchen. So the kitchen work triangle with island is still standing strong today because island are on the uptrend and they  provide our kitchen with an eye catching focal point.

Our kitchens have opened up a whole lot more but this does not mean that the kitchen triangle is outdated because it still has be taken into consideration when spacing out the kitchen work stations across your kitchen layout. You can really sit down and personalize the format and layout of the kitchen appliances and they can even be arranged in the order that you normally would use them as well.

Take Away

The golden triangle kitchen is a very interesting and insightful topic because it serves as a guide for new home kitchen builders and remodelers at the same time it still stands as the golden triangle because it serves as a reference for seasoned builders as well.

We hope that you have learned a bit about the basic work triangle so please let us know what you think and show us your current kitchen project. Are you interested in adding your very own kitchen island, if so come check out our video here.

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