Less tools and dishes in favor of better tools and dishes - at least, better for what you cook. Less stuff means less clutter per cabinet means easier to keep organized and easier to grab something when you need it. Knives and spoons/spatulas are a big one - there just isn’t a time that I need three sizes of large spoons or a 12 piece knife set. I have 2 metal spatulas, one flexible one stiff. Three knives, small medium large (and could reduce this to two). How many mixing bowls do you really need? Minimal dishes - I keep some extras out of the kitchen in case of guests but a dozen place settings day to day is too many. Anyway, if you have more than one of something really think about the use case and if you have items that you haven’t used in months/years just get rid of them or store them in an overflow cabinet so you can get them out for the one holiday. This also reduces the amount of things that can end up dirty at one time.
No stacking (except identical items or small things like measuring cups). Ideally I can grab anything I need with one hand. Because I have less stuff than I could fit I have room for a shelf of unstacked mixing bowls (two sizes) - when I need one (or need to put one away) I don’t have to deal with unstacking/sorting them. Same for large measuring cups, dishes, glasses, pots and pans, etc. Exceptions for me are baking dishes (only have so much room and I use these less) and some other specialty rare use items.
Urgent needs go closer to the prep areas and stove. When I need a spatula or something right this second to keep something from burning those are close by. Baking supplies are far away because if I need those I’ll get them all out at the same time before I start. This is really specific to you. Pay attention to what you really use and how and sort accordingly.
Don’t worry about perfect organization. I have a drawer by the stove/prep area with my spatulas, tongs, spoons, food scissors, etc. It has dividers in it but nothing has a ‘place’. The dividers at least keep everything pointing the same way but it’s a sparse junk drawer - I can see everything so it doesn’t matter if it’s jumbled a bit. Same for most of my cabinets - if I can see it and get it with one hand that’s good enough.
If at all possible the triangle of stove/fridge/sink with prep area next to all of those is ideal.
Overall my current kitchen is pretty good. I have some cabinets I’d swap for drawers if I had a bit more room. I’d like to reduce a few things but it is fun to have some extras for special things (specific ramen bowls, unique coffee mugs to rotate through, a waffle maker). Extra storage (maybe in the pantry) would be good for larger less used things but I don’t have that…
I’m totally not going to talk you out of it because this is what I would love to do. The apartment I live in has a tiny kitchen with hardly any counter space. If I could rip out the stove, replace it with a counter top, and use individual burners I’d be happy. I can’t so I won’t, but if I could I would. I’d only need two because I hardly ever use all four burners at once.
I use a double burner induction cooktop in my tiny kitchen because the gas range that came with this apartment is a crappy quality, inaccurate POS. I’ve been using the induction cooktop every day for about two years now, I usually leave it out too, since it’s a really nice glass surface. I just don’t give it power unless I’m actively using it. My cooking has vastly improved since I switched over to this thing. I wish I could toss the gas range. As for aesthetics, I honestly think it looks pretty cool on my counter.
Stop using fossil fuels to cook. Go for induction. Yes, you may need to get new pots and pans. It will be worth it in the end. I cannot wait to move to my own place so I can get away from this gas burning relic in my kitchen
Thermodynamics question: do you think it is more or less efficient to burn coal or natural gas, use that heat to boil water to turn a turbine, generate enough of a surplus to avoid brownouts and blackouts, transmit that power over long distance, radiating energy the entire way and losing more at every transformer power station eventually using energy to boil a pot of water...
Or to burn gas to boil a pot of water directly.
I own stock of energy producers and transporters in my 401k, so I'm extremely glad those in power get this question wrong. But I also know that wrongness has a cost.
And before you say "solar" please realize capacity does not equal production. Germany is on the forefront of renewable energy, and generates 10.4% of power from solar compared to 20.1% from lignite, the dirtiest possible coal. Hard coal, natural gas and lignite add up to 11.3 + 13.3 + 20.1 = 44.6%. United states has solar at 3.93% of our energy mix, with 37.82% generated from natural gas.
Energy efficiency is only part of the equation. Combustion inside the home also worsens air quality and has the small risk of gas leaks.
It is also possible to reduce the carbon footprint of an electric range (either coils or induction) by changing the energy mix feeding it. It is not possible to due that with a gas range.
A substantial proportion of the heat from burning gas on a stovetop in the usual manner does not heat the content of the pot, so the difference in thermal efficiency between electric and direct gas heating may not be as large as you might expect. This factor could probably be improved with different stove designs though (cheap burners do a worse job of putting the heat where it does the most work).
Additionally, gas ranges impact indoor air quality a lot more than electric stovetops, and gas delivery to homes leaks into the atmosphere a fair amount of gas with high greenhouse potential (I work for a gas pipeline company on leak tracking software) so there are other tradeoffs that one should consider beyond just thermal efficiency.
I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all answer here, both are good options for different situations.
No one is cooking enough for their fossil fuel emissions to affect the world in any way. Throwing something out and buying everything new has a cost as well. Plus for cooking, it’s hard to beat a cast iron pan.
Depending on what kind of outlet you’re talking about and what country you’re in you may be limited in the power it will have. In the US at 110 V and maybe being able to pull 15 A (based on fuse for that circuit) you could only get 1650 W. A regular cook top or range is hard wired, has a much bigger fuse on they circuit usually 30 to 40 A and gets two phases so has 220 V which allows for much higher power output. My range’s big induction burner has 3600 W for example so it’s quite the difference.
If your house is older, you may not be able to support multiple induction burners outright as your wiring from the power company may be insufficient. You can check by looking for a main circuit breaker in your panel. If it is only 100A, you probably cannot support induction ranges. You would have to request new wiring from your power company, then also rewire a significant amount of your in home electrical. You can still buy the desktop singular ones though.
I feel like kitchens might have 20A circuits. Regardless, I think the individual outlets are only rated 15A for the most part and I’ve never seen kitchen appliances use the 20A plug.
There is a minor safety issue, as portable units are - by definition - easily movable and can be jostled, tipped, etc. A range isn't going anywhere.
On a range you will typically have four burners, two front and two rear, with controls for all four on a common panel which is easily accessible at the edge of the counter. Each portable induction plate will have its own control.
As others have pointed out, a combined cooktop (in the US) will generally have a dedicated 30-50A / 240V circuit supplying power to the group of heating elements. Unless you have asked for multiple circuits when you built your house, there will often be a single 15A/120v (or, in the last 20 years 20A/120V) circuit supplying all of the receptacles in your kitchen. If your house is older than ~1975 or 1980, the refrigerator may be on the same breaker as the receptacles. Even with a 20A/240, it means you'd be sharing the circuit with a countertop microwave oven, stand mixer, toaster, coffee machine, sous vide, etc, and possibly even the overhead lights and lights/receptacles in adjacent rooms.
I made the note about special circuits because when I had the kitchen in my 1960s house redone, I had 4 separate 20A circuits run, plus the fridge, plus the lighting circuit both separate. Two pairs of the outlets are actually on adjacent breakers so that, if I were crazy enough to do it, I could get a 240V/20A service with a custom (and definitely not UL rated) dual plug. I've never done that and, though it would be possible, it's a terrible idea because it's not a common breaker but two individuals and they should really be able to trip with a single breaker if used that way.
So did you have gas at some point before? Due to some moves over the last year and a half I've been able to use resistive, induction, and gas in a relatively close time span. I've found both quality gas and induction cook tops are fantastic and I could happily live with either. I did have some annoyances with gas (smell, maintenance, risk with small children), nothing that couldn't be worked around but given the performance equity with induction I find myself preferring it instead of gas. Curious what drove you the other direction.
I got two of the cheap single hob ones from ikea. I have been using them for a while and the function just fine. Having two seperate ones also means that I can just put either one away if it's not needed.
In my experience, which is by no means gourmet, there are reasons for both. Sometimes the need gor the garlic is to add a flavor without being explicitly consumed - not quite a tadka, but cooking in oil to release flavors. In those cases presentation comes into play too - sliced fried garlic as garnish, versus crushed and chopped/minced garlic as a cooked-in component.
Many times, I personally cannot be arsed to do garnishes for a dish I am making for flavor cravings, so I fire the garlic in minced. There’s, like, a very few Chinese dishes I’ve had that use the garlic in the cooking but not intended for consumption so in it goes, regardless of whether or not it’s supposed to be included.
Chex mix, savory homemade shortbread (my fave is cheese flavored), seasoned oyster crackers (you toss them in a little fat plus seasoning and bake them), oven roasted chickpeas tossed in seasoning (if you want them really hard you can skip boiling them after soaking them, or boil them and roast them), and so much more. I could go on and on.
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