New kitchen kit - which would you buy and NOT buy again?

[FiF]

Another vote for pan drawers.
ditto pyrolitic oven

Maybe it's personal taste but I don't like those corner base units with the revolving shelves. Can see the use in some circumstances.

[hedgefinder]

Griff Boy said:

Hmm, not sure I agree with this mate, I've been selling fisher and paykel dish drawers for years, and never had that issue once, everyone love the ease of use it gives. I've got a double drawer in my own kitchen and it's been working fine for the past 3 years, and never once had to clear the drains out, and that's even with a waste disposal on the same system.

Still, we all work by experience!

I'd have a pyro cleaning oven, a coffee maker, a constant hot water tap, high output gas wok burner and a wine cooler!

Avoid, any make, any form of washer dryers! Especially Smeg ones!

I can only back up Wozy on this one. Fisher and Paykel dish drawers are absolute and utter ste....if I could stress that any more I would... I can only think of one that i have sold to a customer that I havent had to go back to to either rip it out or replace one and the only reson for that is that I think its a show kitchen and the machines dont even get used.
I even have 2 singles in my own kitchen and they have never worked correctly from new and dont even get me started on their complete lack of customer service/aftersales.

[dterry]

Only thing not mentioned so far is a waste disposal unit on the sink. All food leftovers go down there, keeps the bins much cleaner and less smelly, and if you have dogs they never bin raid because there's nothing in there for them. Our original one packed in a couple of months ago, we couldn't live without it and it was replaced within a week!

Induction hobs are great, as are ice / water fridges.

We spent a load of money on a microwave and oven combi unit, I wouldn't do it again. It was sold as an oven with microwave facility, but the oven isn't very good at all.

[SimonMaidenhead]

stanwan said:

SimonMaidenhead said:

Steam oven................ £1200 to boil an egg, never again
Coffee machine.............£lots, but used every day

Why not use it to steam vegetables, dim sum, bake bread, bake cakes, loosen stubborn caked on bits on pans, and for slow roasting stuff?


The steam oven is great for everything except egg boiling....

As for coffee machines, get a proper small italian chrome jobbie - make much better coffee and look beautiful!!!

Steam vegetables....fair point
Bake........it's a steam oven
Slow 'Roast'.........ditto

Coffee Machine....... put the beans in (refill after about 40 cups), press button, proper decent tasting coffee


All appliances Miele

[onomatopoeia]

voicey said:

onomatopoeia said:

What is XPS?

Expanded Polystyrene aka Styrofoam. I bought 10mm blue boards from this eBayer: http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/eatingrose789rugby They also do 6mm boards if height is a concern.

Thank you! I was having trouble with the acronym and google wasn't much help. I'm going to install a stone floor and am considering UFH so that's something else to add to the mix.

[paolow]

Get:

If electric another nod to induction here - sooooo good - well worth splurging on new pans for.

A fridge that makes ice - I miss my big american fridge terribly

Not in your brief but - half decent knives!

A 'proper' sink - ie not a plastic tub of a sink

LOTS of storage - you need somewhere for all those rice cookers, muffin makers, toastie grills, panini presses and more besides


Don't get

Anything made by Beco

Anything that doesnt match your colour scheme - even in extremis - you will hate it every time you see it.

A cheap fitter to do your floor

A microwave that can't grill - very handy


NUMBER ONE - get a worktop you are happy with and will last - it is the bit you look at and work with after all. Don't skimp on this bit at all.

Oh, and get enough plug points and also make sure you have enough light - we do at mine (just) and we really over specced it. When making food you do need focused light.

Get a half decent filter for your hood - even if externally vented. you need to clean the air of oils etc or they will STINK in the pipework before it goes outside.

[bint]

Interesting you say no Beko paolow. I was going to say when it comes to fridges we've never had a single complaint with ours (7.5 years). Similarly budget fridge freezers if it's not needed for half a deer or needing spangly ice makers, budget is fine.

However, spend the money on a decent washing machine and separate tumble dryer. Dishwasher similarly buy reputable (I love our Miele).

The double oven/induction hob I bought is a belling and was only £350 and apart from a slightly dodgy timer knob has also been faultless.

Good knives, a good coffee machine and grinder, good non stick pans and a combi microwave are about the only other items I've insisted the budget was blown for.

[stanwan]

SimonMaidenhead said:

Steam vegetables....fair point
Bake........it's a steam oven
Slow 'Roast'.........ditto

Coffee Machine....... put the beans in (refill after about 40 cups), press button, proper decent tasting coffee


All appliances Miele

Ah, if you've got the steam only oven then you have the wrong one!!! Steam combi is what you need!!! Bake and steam in a single appliance!

You do however have the ideal machine for fantastic steamed dishes. How's about:

Steamed sea bass with ginger and scallions
Steamed ribs in black bean sauce
steamed chicken in rice wine.

Give em a try?

[tomw2000]

Thanks for all the feedback.

FYI there's only the wife and I (plus loads of pets, but no kids).

We will now probably not bother with a boiling water tap.
We've never had a dishwasher (we have me for that) - so I will think about whether to bother with one or not.

Will look at the pyrolitic ovens. Will deffo get induction hob.

I have a standalone gaggia coffee maker - which I think I'll keep - instead of fitting a new integrated one.

Cheers

[FiF]

tomw2000 said:

We've never had a dishwasher (we have me for that) - so I will think about whether to bother with one or not.

On our refurb we decided not. Just us two and occasional visits from No 1 daughter using us as a full service hotel

We decided that we wanted more storage space as the old kitchen/utility were distinctly lacking, plus we have some tableware that is distinctly not dishwasher safe.

Now we've finished and have a bit more cupboard space than we need, which is a nice place to be as things can be laid out logically and not crammed into every corner, we wonder if we could have squeezed in a slimline d/w.

Time over again? Don't know to be honest, would have probably had a design done with a D/w included to see what the knock on effects were. Eg probably not two 800mm units of pan drawers I'd guess which would be a shame as they are better than expected.

[SimonMaidenhead]

tomw2000 said:

Thanks for all the feedback.

FYI there's only the wife and I (plus loads of pets, but no kids).

We will now probably not bother with a boiling water tap.
We've never had a dishwasher (we have me for that) - so I will think about whether to bother with one or not.

Will look at the pyrolitic ovens. Will deffo get induction hob.

I have a standalone gaggia coffee maker - which I think I'll keep - instead of fitting a new integrated one.

Cheers

Left the dishwasher out on the last house, never missed having one until it came time to sell. It was one of the first questions potential buyers asked when viewing.

[larrylamb11]

I would suggest:
Dishwasher - essential, get a slimline one if space is tight, but you must have a dishwasher.
Two bowl kitchen sink with draining board - goes without saying really.
Pull out kitchen tap - you know, one of those taps where the nozzle comes out and is on a hose - SO useful.
Drawers for pans, as mentioned - I would also try and put a big drawer under the sink for 'products'. (Undersink cupboards are normally wasted space that can become useful with a drawer and it stops the plumber being lazy about the install.)
Ice making / filtered cold water fridge - I went for an integrated fridge and regret not having filtered cold water / ice facilities on tap.
Masses of power sockets - when you think you have enough, add a couple more, its amazing how many you use.
Proper drawer liners for cutlery drawers - look so much classier than a moulded plastic tray from B&Q.
Soft closers on all drawers and cupboards and proper (read: not cheap) hinges - don't forget to consider opening angles for doors and get the appropriate hinge to allow a wide opening angle.
Sensible use of the various pull-out, revolving and cantilevered storage systems to allow full use of corner cupboards and narrow cupboards - things like these http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQBePWwLlr4 or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf47aicZOgA all make accessing the storage so much easier.
Discreet LED lighting strips under wall cabinets - to flood the worktop underneath with light & so cheap to run.

Its good fun designing a kitchen and there is a lot to consider. Get it right and its a real pleasure to be in, cock it up and it will haunt you every day you use it! Best of luck and please post pictures.

[cb31]

The only thing I miss in our current kitchen is a waste disposal, but it has to be one operated by a button. A mate had one where you twisted something near the plughole which was awful.

[essayer]

I had six months of living without a dishwasher before we had our kitchen done and it was hell. I couldn't live without one. Life is too short to waste scrubbing at a sink

We wanted a pullout tap but apparently you have to have good cold/hot water pressure for this to work, so got a 'normal' one.

We didn't go for induction but were really pleased with our 5 burner gas on glass hob. Looks ace and great to cook on.

Something with multiple bin storage would definitely be worthwhile, two or four on a pullout? Depending on your recycling setup

[boyse7en]

If I was doing our kitchen again I'd go for:

Induction hob - have a DeDietrich one which has been working faultlessly for 10 years (was expensive back then!) Dead easy to clean too.
Fast action grill - cheese on toast in about 30 seconds. mmm!
Textured worktops - Ours is a black granite-effect. If it gets accidentally scratched I draw over the scratch with black marker pen then rub off the excess, voila! no visible scratch. Glossy finish worktops seem to age really quickly
Externally ducted extractor fan - ours is recirculating and useless
Drawer space - get plenty
Big freezer - ours is permanently full
Pull out larder cupboard (or walk-in pantry if you have the space) - means you don't end up with a tin of soup from 1995 at the back of a shelf
Knife drawer - if you got decent knives get them their own drawer so they don't get damaged and blunted. Lineing a drawer with anti-slip matting should do.

Don't get
Belfast sinks - take forever to fill up and have no draining space
Wooden worktops - need looking after too much
Steam oven - don't justify the cost
Oven with loads of programmes - after a while you just end up putting it on Fan oven all the time.

[PhilboSE]

Just inherited (from previous owner) a very expensively equipped kitchen. Things they spend big money on that is utterly wasted:

- Two insinkerators. I've never had an issue putting rubbish in the bin, now there's a mechanical device to go wrong and get clogged

- Miele integrated coffee machine. Cost £2500, had to be replaced twice apparently, forces you to source Nespresso pods at stupid money, and the results aren't anything like as nice as I get from my Jura bean-to-cup machine at one third of the price.

- Boiling tap. Must be expensive to run and I don't like the thought of a couple of litres of water being kept at near-boiling point permanently by an immersion heater.

- My mind is not yet made up about the ~£20,000 Aga that has been installed, as we're still learning how to use it.

Pan drawers and big deep pull out drawers for things like casserole dishes are Good, however.

The best advice is just to plan your kitchen and work out where everything will go, especially for high-use things like mugs, tea-bags, toasters and crockery/cutlery. These need to be on hand. Most mid-range kitchen shops and brochures will try and sell you stupid things like flap-down ironing boards and cupboard carousels. The novelty wears off quickly. Interestingly, high end and hand built kitchens tend not to offer these gimmicks and stick to the basics that work well.

[Wozy68]

PhilboSE said:

. Interestingly, high end and hand built kitchens tend not to offer these gimmicks and stick to the basics that work well.

Yup ....... madness the tat you can empty your wallet for, that will at best lose you space within the furniture or at worse, be a total and utter pain that is of no use to man or beasty and never used.

Pull-out ironing board anyone?

[DanX5]

Having had our kitchen only since October here are my thoughts after an intensive use over Christmas for the whole family:

Quooker tap - a definite yes, we went for the standard capacity size tank in the new square nordic square version (where the cold tap design matches the hot tap design unlike many other hot water systems where the hot tap is often the odd one out) and it didn't let us down despite being intensively used for filling pans for cooking, cups of tea, etc for 13 on Christmas day

Integrated coffee machine - a definite yes, we installed a Neff one to match other appliances, a bit expensive and a faff fussing with the milk container every time but very well used by the family over Christmas even though I don't drink coffee I am glad we chose this over the steam oven option

Induction hob - OK but not as fast as I thought it would be despite spending a fortune on new pans, in hindsight I wish we had specified gas so I echo one of the earlier comments about putting both supplies in just in case

Pop up extractor - a cool talking point having something rise up out of the kitchen island but what with the work / cost to install and limited practicality what with it being so huge, I would have gone with a flush mounted ceiling extractor in some kind of false ceiling arrangement over the island which I was talked out of by the designer

Pop up sockets - looked at a number of cheap looking pop up sockets and eventally opted for Evoline - top quality and if you go onto their German website you can specify any combination of cat6, usb, UK sockets, audio, LED backlit, etc, that you could hope for. However, at £1,400 for three pop up socket towers they weren't cheap but they are quality items.

American fridge / freezer with ice dispenser - the kids love it and would be their number 1 item I think, probably will be more so in the summer.

Lighting - I am so glad that I got advice on the lighting (Guy on here) as was going to go with standard spots, but now have ability to light up just the unit, just the island, just the plinths, etc, etc which means that you can adjust the lighting to what you are using it for.

Expensive unit fascias - we went for these textured finish unit fascias by Metris which were hundreds of pounds each, and in retrospect we should have saved our money as no-one has even noticed what we thought was quite an unusual finish!!

Seating - we have 3 stools on the island and another three on the peninsula - the designer tried to say that this would be too much but it works really well with family spreading out and making the kitchen the hub of the home.

Finally I echo what other people have said on the quality of fitting - it does show, as well as good quality worktops - our quartz top had to be re-templated as it was incorrectly measured and then they had to come back after fitting to correct one of the joins that they used the wrong colour glue stuff and therefore was very noticeable. All good now though but if you are paying the pro's make sure they get it right before they go......

[anonymous-user]

stanwan said:

Why not use it to steam vegetables, dim sum, bake bread, bake cakes, loosen stubborn caked on bits on pans, and for slow roasting stuff?


The steam oven is great for everything except egg boiling....

As for coffee machines, get a proper small italian chrome jobbie - make much better coffee and look beautiful!!!

I agree with this.

[Simpo Two]

DanX5 said:

Induction hob - OK but not as fast as I thought it would be despite spending a fortune on new pans

Seems odd; mine is about as fast as it can be and I have boggo s/s pans from Homebase. Is it working at maximum current I wonder?