Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Community House Kitchens

[Berrins (Berrins]

In a message dated 11/25/03 7:30:45 PM, jimkacki [at] mb.sympatico.ca writes:

<< For a community of say, 30 families, how much kitchen 
equipment do you need in the community house?
# of ranges (stoves)
# of fridges
# of sinks >>

We have 24 "on-campus" households and three associated nnnnnnnghboring 
households, 27 total.  People also use the kitchen for various size parties; 
our 
great room seats about 70.  

We have a six burner stove and seldom, if ever, use them all at once.  
However, we need the space a six-burner stove provides for the very large pots 
we 
frequently use.  That said, we often have four burners going at once, 
occasionally five and it's possible we've used all six at once. 

We have one double-sided reach in, commercial grade refrigerator.  It's just 
about the right size.  We can store left-overs, lots of staples such as 
condiments and salad dressings, food for upcoming meals and still have some 
room for 
co-op orders.  It's often close to full but never for long.  We have a 
freezer in the basement that someone donated that we haven't used yet (we've 
been 
using the common house for a bit over three years) but will probably use soon 
(long story).  

We have a triple stainless steel sink, a small sink near the pass through and 
a spray sink near the dishwasher.  They all get used regularly.  We could 
probably get by with a double stainless sink, but we usually have two sinks 
full 
of soaking stuff, like one for large pots and another for large baking trays, 
while using the third for the actual cleaning.  We don't need the small sink 
but it's very convenient and didn't really cost much to put in.  I personally 
love the spray sink and use it a lot, both when cooking and cleaning up.

It's tempting to put in as little as possible to save money.  I don't 
recommend it.  You may only rarely use your kitchen to capacity but if you make 
it 
small you will never be able to have a large function without it being a pain.  
And you may well have more larger functions then you now envision, especially 
with thirty families.  Our kitchen is well laid out and well equipped, making 
it easy to cook and clean up.  Why make it difficult for you and the 
generations to come?  

Roger Berman
Pathways
Northampton, MA
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