i4Q2 The Cornell Reading-Courses 



The kitchen 



The kitchen is the working center of the working area. It is the crux 

 of the farmhouse. Labor economy will be in direct proportion to the 

 excellence of the kitchen arrangements, and this excellence depends on 

 a rational understanding of the function of a kitchen. 



Function of the kitchen. — From the modern viewpoint, a kitchen is 

 a scrupulously clean room, intended for operations relating to foods — 

 and for this purpose only. Formerly, besides being used for cooking 

 food and washing utensils, the large kitchen was used for eating, for washing 

 and ironing clothes, for washing hands, combing hair, shaving, removing 

 boots and overalls, and as a passage from the back door to the front of 

 the house. In other words, while preparing meals the worker was 

 obliged to travel over an area that included dining-room, laundry, and 

 passageway as well as kitchen. Such a situation is both wasteful and 

 unclean. Not only are most of the tasks described unrelated to food, 

 but they are really unsanitary operations in a place where food is being 

 prepared. By taking out of the kitchen all work foreign to foods, we 

 may have a smaller and more convenient room where work may be brisk 

 and uninterrupted because one may reach things instead of stepping 

 for them. Such a kitchen, together with a separate washroom, dining- 

 room, and pantry, will furnish a cleaner and more systematic combina- 

 tion than the old arrangement. The readjusted area will probably cover 

 no more ground than the former one, but the woman will not be working 

 over all the space all the time. Common sense has rung the knell 

 of the large kitchen. 



Kitchen planning. — The actual size of a kitchen will depend chiefly 

 oil the number of workers and the amount of pantry space that is provided. 

 Usually the an a of the kitchen proper should not exceed 150 square feet. 

 Sizes 9 x 14 feet, 10 x 12 feet, 10 x 13 feet, 10 x 14 feet, 10 x 15 feet, 11 x 11 

 feet, 11 x 12 feet, 11 x 13 feet, or 12 x 12 feet, will furnish sufficient area 

 for a good farm kitchen if generous pantry space is provided in addition. 

 In general, kitchens that are nearly square are more satisfactory than 

 those that arc long, for the reason that the average distance traveled 

 to any given point is less. Any kitchen should be large enough to 

 accommodate two workers if necessary. 



The location of the kitchen will of course depend on the remainder of the 

 house plan and 011 the location of the other rooms. For reasons of light 

 and ventilation it should haw- ;it least two outside walls, with openings in 

 each. When possible a kitchen should be given one northerly wall for 

 the placing of a cold food- or storage-pantry. North, northeast, and 

 northwest are more comfortable exposures for a kitchen than is direct 

 south. Furthermore, southern exposures are usually at a premium for 

 the more important living-rooms. 



