Kitchen Cupboards & Shelves

Kitchen Cupboards & Shelves

The dish cupboards should have glass doors with large panes; small ones are too difficult to wash. The shelves should be adjustable; for example, several lower shelves can hold platters to prevent their being piled one on another and getting chipped. The shelves can easily be made adjustable with brackets and cleats.

Low adjustable shelves for platters. Nicking is avoided as platters are not piled.

The cupboard for cooking dishes should have a wooden door perforated for ventilation. If placed under a window, see that some light gets into it. This will make it more convenient and more sanitary. Do not put the utensils on the floor, have a hook for each pot. Arrange the utensils in the beginning and keep each one in its place; in fact, the secret of kitchen orderliness is to have a place for everything and to keep everything in its place. An opening between the kitchen and the dining room with revolving double-shelf waiter will prove an aid where one or no maid is kept. Beneath this can be a silver drawer running through from the kitchen to the butler's pantry or dining room, and so arranged that it can be pulled open on either side. The silver can be washed and laid in the kitchen side and taken out on the other. These little contraptions for facilitating service may be frowned upon by those who never use them, but they are counted invaluable by those who do.

Keep all kitchen tables covered with white oil cloth, but the moment it breaks, renew it. Water, seeping through, will warp the wood beneath, and, in order to give any wear, the oil cloth must be over a smooth surface. Before spreading it on the table, see that the table is brushed clean; oil cloth breaks at once on a rough edge.

Revolving dumb-waiter and a drawer for silver which may be opened from kitchen or dining room.

In a small kitchen, collapsible shelves which may be used as a table when serving or preparing a meal and which take up no room when let down, prove a space economizer worthy of attention. These and all shelves of cabinets used for storing food should be removable so that they can be taken out, washed and aired.

The ice chest should be in the pantry, as far removed from the stove as possible. It should be placed against an opening in the outer wall so that it may be filled without the iceman having to come through the kitchen. Beside it may be constructed a cold storage closet, which will save room in the ice box. In the country, the coal and wood bin should also be arranged to be filled from the outside.

An expensive but serviceable table of white enamel with porcelain top is by far the best for kitchen purposes. All tables should be on casters so that they may be easily pushed aside when the floor is being washed.

A high stool with a low back makes dishwashing easier. In addition to this, there should always be a scrap basket for the cook's convenience. Without one, she will invariably stack the coal scuttle high with all sorts of waste odds and ends.

An electric light should be placed directly over the stove and over the sink.

Put white paper on all shelves. See that it is changed often. Keep the shelves in order, and the furniture in repair. Tolerate no such lax equipment as a loose drawer handle. At the beginning have a place for everything and label it, for cooks may come and cooks may go, but pots stay on forever.

While it is not within the province of this book to go deeply into the subject of cooking utensils, it may be mentioned that copper pots and earthenware casseroles give the air of a French cuisine and will outlast the modern galvanized type.

Finally, to be efficient, have a card catalog of recipes and a petty cash box.

Next Page: Kitchen Decorating Ideas.