The Cook's Kitchen

With the integration of the kitchen as the focal point of the home and nowadays most commonly centered around the main living area, your kitchen design and product specification should be high on your priority list. Sometimes overlooked by both the designer and homeowner, the kitchen's workflow and functionality should come first before aesthetics.

Whether you are a certified master chef or someone who just loves to cook, getting involved at the planning and framing stages of your kitchen will ensure years of proficiency and stress-free food preparation.

It's worth taking the time to explore ways to make your appliances more accessible, like raising your dishwasher so you don't have to bend down to load and unload it. Check out all the wonderful options available for your drawers like warming ovens, refrigerators and dishwashers. If you love making pizza, you might want to add a brick oven or if wine is your passion you might want a beverage chiller or storage unit - some even come with a cigar holder. If you're considering a trash compactor, consider moving it to the garage to free up space in the kitchen.

You can express your passion for cooking by upgrading to premium appliances that meet the standards and style of the pros. Almost every manufacturer of kitchen appliances offers a professional line of appliances.

When all the cooking and dining is done, cleaning can be easy and practical by using drawer dishwashers. Drawer dishwashers are the latest innovation in kitchen appliances to help simplify the way you function in your new kitchen. You now have two independent dishwashers with the same performance of a full-sized dishwasher, which allow for flexible cleaning and greater energy-efficiency.

You can wash a small load of dishes after every meal, rather than waiting for a full load or running half a load. Better yet you can separate your heavily soiled pans from your delicate dishes and glasses and run two different cycles simultaneously. These trendy new dishwashers make it easy to customize the way you clean and are available in a variety finishes to match your cabinetry.

Another useful appliance for the cook who likes to do a lot of slicing, dicing, peeling and chopping is the garbage disposer. This important tool allows you to keep your work area clean without having to stop what you're doing. Garbage disposers can get rid of everything from orange peels to eggs shells in a matter of seconds. You simply drop in the waste and your disposer starts to run. Before you purchase a garage disposer be sure to check the horsepower, find out if it has an auto-reverse mode to easily clear jams, check the warranty and ask for a demonstration so you can check the noise level.