Your perfect canning kitchen

Tessynae · #1 02/14/12, 11:15 AM

My DH and I are looking to build a house in the next 12 months and are hoping to build it with a canning kitchen. My DH loves it when I can and bake and what-not but he hates that it takes over the whole kitchen. He thinks, and I agree, that if we have a canning kitchen then we can really knock out a ton of canning/baking/cooking in bulk without making the main kitchen a disaster or unusable for regular meals.

So here's my question: If you could design your dream canning kitchen, what would it have in it? One oven or two? Flash freezer? Also, how big would it be?

I haven't done enough canning and such to know what would make the job easier. But I'm looking forward to it!

Faith · #2 02/14/12, 11:27 AM

If I could build a canning kitchen I would have tons of cupboards so that my jars and other utensils were handy. Cupboards to put my stock up of sugar, flour etc. I would build a huge table to work on with shelves built underneath for all my cook and canning books. I would have two stoves so that my sterilizing pots would not be in the way of my canning pots. I would have a wallboard just to hang cheese cloth, large spoons, jelly bags and holders etc. everything at my fingertips. There would be a pantry just off the canning room to put all my finished products. I would have lots of counter space to screw on my apple peelers, pasta maker etc. I would have one full run of counter space for electric can opener, bread maker etc. two sinks would be great as well for blanching.
You sure got me thinking of my dream kitchen. Sigh

madness · #3 02/14/12, 11:43 AM

Yes, LOTS OF STORAGE! That's my biggest issue is just where to put all the canning supplies. They get crammed at the far back of some inconvenient place when I done and it takes forever to dig everything out.

I have actually thought about turning half of the two car garage into a canning/processing kitchen. Ah, the dream...

Wanna design my kitchen Faith? Sounds perfect!

Faith · #4 02/14/12, 11:49 AM

Hey madness, I stare longingly at my garage as well. I would also add pasta racks, my kitchen looks like someone had a spaghetti fight when I make pasta.

Tessynae · #5 02/14/12, 12:02 PM

Thank you Faith and Madness! those are great ideas. Keep them coming if you dream of more things. We are looking at plans that have a bedroom or garage next to the kitchen so we can attach them with a walk through pantry. He also wants to put in a dumb waiter that we could load up with canned goodness and send to the basement that will be full of shelves. He's so smart!

I would have never thought of a cork board or pasta racks. I love those ideas!!

Izitmidnight · #6 02/14/12, 12:05 PM

How about two kitchens! My grandmother had a downstairs kitchen which was only used for canning. Oh, how I miss that second kitchen.

Faith · #7 02/14/12, 12:11 PM

The dumb waiter is an awesome idea! Wow we. You must be so excited! I can't wait to see what others on this site add to the kitchen.

starlady · #8 02/14/12, 12:18 PM

In no particular order, here are the things I've thought about for my own dream kitchen (maybe one day...)

A section of counter that is lower than the rest for kneading bread - much easier on the shoulders (plus, I'm short, so kneading on a regulation countertop is extra hard)

A chest freezer that rolls away under a section of countertop

If we're really dreaming - a dishwasher just for sterilizing jars - maybe one of the "drawer" types

Really good ventilation for steam/dehydrator fumes/whatnot

Again, if this is my dream canning/baking kitchen - wall ovens with "french" doors instead of the standard swing-down door

Definitely a pot faucet - I don't know what they're properly called - they sort of hang down from overhead and you can move them around to easily fill/wash large pots

Triple sink - wash/rinse/bleach

A separate LNG/propane burner for the canner that is low - maybe half-counter height or so - to make it easy to get jars in and out (again, I'm short)

LOTS OF ELECTRICAL OUTLETS - on separate circuits if possible so that you can plug in the stand mixer, dehydrator, bread machine, etc. all at the same time and not blow a fuse

Hooks or a pot rack or something for hanging up often-used implements like funnels, jar-lid-fetchers, jar tongs, etc.

Really easy-to-use spice storage system - right now all mine are jumbled up in a cabinet but in my dream kitchen I'll have one of those magnetic systems so I can just grab a canister off the wall when I need it

Good lighting - sometimes hard to judge crust color, jam color, etc. under harsh fluorescents or in dim light

Pull-down cooling racks on the walls (you could do something like this for pasta racks as well)

Again, if we're really dreaming here, articulated shelving in the upper cabinets so that I can pull down whatever I need without having to go get a stepladder

(can you tell I've spent some time thinking about this... in my current miniscule kitchen?

)

Faith · #9 02/14/12, 12:30 PM

Ahhh I will add your ideas to my dream Starlady. I love the low counters, I'm short as well.

wwubben · #10 02/14/12, 01:13 PM

We have a canning kitchen in our basement.We moved the kitchen cupboards from our old house to the basement of our new house.We also moved the kitchen range to the basement.We have a chest freezer and a solid table with our meat grinder mounted on it.I built several stand alone shelves also.Our cupboards had a double stainless steel sink in it and we ran hot and cold water lines to the sink.We tried all the gadgets over the years and we have come back around to doing most of our processing by hand.We have a pressure canner and all the water bath equipment things we need stored in the cupboards.I installed plenty of lighting and ventilation.This set up works perfect for us.

Kmac15 · #11 02/14/12, 01:16 PM

I love my new kitchen! Some of my favorite features are that my counter tops are 4 inches deeper than normal. This means the counter in front of my sinks are usable and I can fit more things in it.(not good for short people, I am 5'2) I have a sink that is normal on one side and is extra long and extra deep on the other, great for rinsing lots of veggies or dumping a large pot. My lower cabinets are all deep drawers, no digging on my knees looking for something in the back of a cabinet. Good Luck

Kmac15 · #12 02/14/12, 01:19 PM

I do wish I had a pot filler on the stove. DH offered, but I was worried about the possibility of a leak.

Macybaby · #13 02/14/12, 01:21 PM

I would love to build an attached garage, and expand the laundry room to add a canning/processing kitchen. However I'll keep my baking in the regular kitchen but I might put a third oven in the processing kitchen.

The canning/processing kitchen will have stainless steel counters. I'd have a few at different hights, and each counter would have a small sink. There would be a big double bowl sink - right now I use a double utility sink and the only problem is it's too low. I have to bend down to reach the bottom and that causes problems. I plan on raising it up. Also get a high pressure sprayer - for cleaning veggies. Faucets are too restricted in flow to make a sprayer work, so don't run it through the faucet, hook it up direct.

Lots of outlets at counterhight for things like mixers, grinders (meat and grain) slicers, strainers, vacuem sealers.

LARGE exhaust fan. One that is way more then adequate for the room. I run my dehydrator and smoker in my summer kitchen, and the both can get a bit fragrant, not to mention the steam from canning. Heating up vinegar is another smelly job.

two cooktops, not real close together. Most have the burners a bit too close together to use at the same time, even the 5-6 burner units. So two 4 burner units would work better.

I'd have the floor slightly sloped with a floor drain (since mine would be on a slab). Cleanup is important.

And storage, lots and lots of storage. I'd have no uppers as I need the working space above the counters. Most of the storage would be full wall, and lower storage would be mostly pull out drawers for smaller items. I'm getting older and lifting big stuff off the floor isn't all that easy. I keep my canners in wall storage at countertop hight, so I just pick them up and move them, no bending needed.

SquashNut · #14 02/14/12, 01:29 PM

a gas kitchen stove, Because the canner will kill an electric one.
big double sinks.
enough shelves to hold all your jars, empty and full. dehydrators and food processors.
enough cubords for 3 different projects to be done at once.
all my deep freezers,
room for my 3 canners and my 3- 5 gallon crocks, mixing bowls, and other dishes.

terri46355 · #15 02/14/12, 01:53 PM

I bought a 3 compartment pot washer sink, hand wash sink, commercial gas range, and stainess steel and butcher block tables from restaurants that went out of business. All I need now is the exhaust fan and the room to use them in.

TRAILRIDER · #16 02/14/12, 02:29 PM

Great thread! So much to think about. Previous owners of my little farm house built an addition onto the house, so off my kitchen I have a 12 X 15 room with a door to the outside and lots of windows. Its also the only room with lots of electrical outlets. (the house is so old most rooms have one outlet, some had none.) Anyway, eventually I want to make that my canning/project room. Buying from restaraunts going out of business is a great idea.

Yvonne's hubby · #17 02/14/12, 02:41 PM

I am collecting materials for our canning kitchen now. It will be an addition to our covered deck. Gas stove is a must, with a long stainless steel counter top and sinks. Shelves to house the canning gear and supplies under the counter. It is located on the shady side of the house to keep the heat to a minimum while working... and of course outside to keep all the heat out of the house.

OkieDavid · #18 02/14/12, 04:09 PM

I'm like YH.... Once I found out our new glass top range wouldn't work for canning I began eyeing our large outside deck. Since I'm going to have to do my canning outside anyway, might as well put a roof over it and fix it up right..... Sinks, dishwasher, good ventilation, astronomically long counter space and most importantly EVERYTHING will be stored right where it is needed instead of having to unload half a closet to get to anything.

Aseries · #19 02/14/12, 04:18 PM

Before I built my house I learned from my moms house, put in a big stove, one with not necessarily lots of burners but burners that are wide apart. I bought a dented gas stove top that has 6 burners and a grill on it. Its great when using 2 Pressure Canners at once, and boiling water, and what not. Lots of space...

I find all you need is a good fold up table to fit in the kitchen. The thing I did was I built a room for a pantry, and love it. Most people have tiny pantry, mine is in the next room. No crappy little cupboards, and all the stuff I dont use everyday is in there instead of crammed in one cupboard on top one another... But I still need a second room lol lol

enjoy

Faith · #20 02/14/12, 05:40 PM

Ah, this is a dream thread. I can't even imagine what it would be like to not have to dig through cupboards throughout my house to find my preserving items.