Imagine the scene: you’ve a few friends coming over for dinner. It’s nothing fancy, but you do like to do things properly. You’ve been having a great time getting everything ready, and you’re just putting the last-minute dish into the oven when – forty-five minutes early! – your least favorite best friend – the one with the perfect overachieving children and a dog that never, ever pukes on the carpet – shows up, just to see if you “need a hand with anything”.
We all have moments where our kitchens aren’t exactly company-ready. That’s why increasing numbers of home owners are integrating prep kitchens – aka ‘the dirty kitchen’, where the real work of meal prep gets done within a walled off area – into their Newton kitchen renovation plans. This is especially popular in instances where the home has an open floor plan, or in large eat-in kitchens.
The primary advantage of the prep kitchen is privacy. If you’d like to have a quiet area to focus on food prep without being interrupted, it’s a great place. People who entertain often swear by the dirty kitchen – closing the door keeps all of the mess away from prying eyes, leaving your guests to wonder how you get it all done and keep your kitchen looking so great.
The prep kitchen is a design feature that isn’t necessarily for everyone, but the people who love it really, really love it. Prep kitchens can range from the very simple – a small galley style room with countertops, storage, and a sink – to a true second kitchen that includes refrigeration, cook tops, and multiple ovens.
Is a prep kitchen right for you? Answering this question depends on a lot of factors, the first one being how often you cook and entertain. A prep kitchen can represent a significant portion of your Newton kitchen remodel budget, so you want to be sure you’ll be using it enough to justify the investment. Another question is the type of cooking you do. Serious bakers, jam makers, and other specialty cooks often appreciate the functionality of the prep kitchen.