What is a spice kitchen?
A spice kitchen is a secondary kitchen located in the home. Spice kitchens are normally located adjacent to the home’s primary kitchen. However, these two kitchens have their own distinct ventilation systems. These separate ventilation systems allow spice kitchens to serve an important function in the process of cooking extremely spicy or oily foods such as ethnic dishes, meats, and fish. Other than its separate ventilation system, spice kitchens also possess several other essentials across their layout. This layout provides the owners of a spice kitchen with several benefits.
Benefits and Layout of a Spice Kitchen
Essentially, a spice kitchen is a smaller version of a standard kitchen. The only appliances a spice kitchen normally contains is an electric or gas stove and a single or double sink. Of course, the spice kitchen also contains a separate ventilation system that aids in the production and cooking of odor and spice ridden dishes. By cooking these dishes in the secondary kitchen, the smells and spices associated with them are contained within the spice kitchen and prevented from spreading into the primary kitchen and the whole house.
The space spice kitchens are normally constructed in is about the size of a pantry. It is standard for this space to feature a door that separates the spice kitchen from the rest of the house. Space in a spice kitchen is normally extremely limited. Therefore, owners of a spice kitchen normally design their kitchen’s in a highly organized manner that allows for the storage of spices and other essentials. Check out and implement the following design ideas into your spice kitchen to get the most out of the space.
Spice Kitchen Design Ideas
1. Pull Out Pantry
This spice kitchen innovation, takes a normal kitchen cabinet and turns it into a miniature pantry. By installing a set of pull out shelves in your spice kitchen, you don’t only increase your overall space but also elevate your organization. These shelves can hold canned foods, spices, or other spice kitchen essentials.
2. Flat Panel Cabinets
Flat panel cabinets allow owners to utilize areas of their kitchen that normally don’t assist in terms of space or organization. These cabinets don’t feature deep shelves or anything that holds large items. However, flat panel cabinets are perfect for spices and other smaller essentials.
3. Cutting Board Cabinets
Cutting board cabinets are slender cabinets that are normally taller than they are wide. These cabinets feature minimal space but are perfect for slender items like cutting boards and cookie sheets that are normally hard to organize and store.
4. Pull Out Towel Cabinets
Pull out cabinets equipped are the perfect place to hang dish towels. These cabinets are similar in size to the cutting board cabinets mentioned previously. However, these cabinets are equipped with steel rods that allow the dish towels to be hung for storage and drying purposes.
5. Spice Kitchen Above Cabinet Storage
The space above kitchen cabinets is usually troublesome to utilize. Height restraints normally restrict this space from being easy to access. The solution is a kitchen ladder that tucks away into its own cabinet. This ladder takes up little space on its own, and allows users to access higher areas of the kitchen that can be used for storage and organization purposes.
6. Custom Horizontal Spice Cabinets
To achieve additional storage space, owners of spice kitchens sometimes customize their horizontal running cabinets. This customization is normally done to store spices and other small essentials. One common method of customization is installing raised panels into the cabinets.
7. Cabinet Door Spice Holders
The inside panels of cabinet doors are normally bare. This spice kitchen design idea takes the doors of kitchen cabinets and transforms them into additional storage space. These added spice shelves are normally lightweight and only a few inches deep.
8. Custom Vertical Spice Cabinets
This design feature achieves additional storage similarly to the custom horizontal cabinets listed previously. However, these cabinets often are slender and utilize areas of the kitchen that are normally under used. Vertical spice cabinets often are installed in corners of the kitchen or around appliances like the stove or sink.
9. Spice Kitchen Lazy Susans
Lazy susans are rotating turntables that are normally placed on kitchen counters or tables. However, sometimes these turntables are installed into kitchen cabinets for added storage and ease of access. These devices allow deep cabinets to be utilized fully.
10. Spice Kitchen Magnetic Strips
Magnetic strips are a great addition to any spice kitchen. These magnetic strips can be adhered to the walls of the kitchen and can assist in the storage of items such as cutting knives, service spoons, and other magnetic tools.
11. Hanging Hooks
Hooks are the perfect solution to storing large pots and pans. These pots and pans can often be hung in a variety of ways to minimize their impact on the kitchen. These hooks are often also inexpensive. Therefore, they are not only impactful in terms of storage but also relatively easy on the wallet.
Enjoy Your Spice Kitchen!
Spice kitchens are a worthy invest for anyone who frequently cooks, ethnic dishes, oily meats, or fish. While these kitchens are normally smaller than standard kitchens, spice kitchens are often highly customized. These customizations range from pull out cabinets to the installation of magnetic strips and hanging hooks.
