Q & A on Oven Placement in the Kitchen

Q.

Thank you for providing great information on kitchen design, your experience and insight are very helpful!

I have a question concerning double oven cabinet placement.

1. When using a cook top with the double ovens in a separate cabinet, are there any rules about where to place the double oven? The reason I ask is, I have seen some designs with the double oven cabinet next to the refrigerator and others showing it placed outside of the main cooking triangle. How do you know "How far is too far?"

My kitchen is U-shaped, please see attached drawing, and as I plan for my kitchen remodel, I'm puzzled as to the best placement of the double oven should be. In the model home kitchens of my floor plan, one had the double oven by the refrigerator, the second located it in the left U corner. In both homes, the center island however, had reduced width and extended length to 40 W X 95 Long. They also extended the sink/half wall area.

What guidelines can you give to help determine the best placement for the double oven cabinet?

Thank you so much your time I appreciate any feedback you can share,

Jengi

A.

Without getting into the specifics of your design Jengi, which would entail consulting costs, I can comment in general about my philosophy when it comes to oven placement in the kitchen.

You have already mentioned some common locations for consideration:

1. Next to other tall cabinets like the refrigerator or a pantry.

2. Completely out of the "Work Triangle" in a remote area of the kitchen.

Here are some more options to consider:

3. Use two separate ovens and place them either under the counter, or in a pantry cabinet. One "handy" and the other remote.

4. Buy a range with one or more ovens...This option only makes sense for those who want a range and have enough storage space around it.

The ovens are statistically the least used appliance in most kitchens. You put something in the oven and it stays there until it is ready to be removed. Therefore, most cooks don't miss having an oven within the work triangle area, especially when counter space is tight.

Of course there are exceptions to the rule: The cook who broils every night; the cook who wants a combination microwave oven unit. But for most cooks banishing the ovens is no great loss in the overall scheme of things. You must weigh the relative importance of each choice you make in designing a kitchen against the other possibilities.

An experienced kitchen designer will take their client through a series of decisions to develop a kitchen design that is tailored to the individual and the space. There are almost always compromises because the space is not unlimited. But the result will be a kitchen design that the client knows is the best it can be, for him or her.

1. Because so many of the kitchens I help design in the San Francisco Bay Area are small, option 1 is something I do a lot. Burying the ovens next to something else that is tall seems to make the rest of the kitchen feel more spacious. Since there is usually counter space on only one side, I usually place the refrigerator next to the counter space. That counter space is the "sandwich making center". Devoting it to oven landing space doesn't make much sense when you compare refrigerator usage with oven usage.

2. Option 2 is used less often, but still viable when there are no other options (How far is too far? Outside the kitchen is usually too far, unless one oven can be placed inside the kitchen).

3. Option 3 is fairly common for those clients who can afford two separate ovens.

4. Option 4 is also common for those clients who like the "commercial look", or where the main cook is a man.

Another issue that often comes up in discussions about oven placement is back problems. Those clients who have back problems do not want to bend to use an oven. For such clients placement of the oven at a comfortable height is mandatory.

Another common question regards placing the oven in close proximity to the refrigerator. Some clients are concerned that the refrigerator will die an early death as a result. This has not been an issue at all. Refrigerators these days are so well insulated and ovens are vented out the front and well insulated as well.

Then there is "landing space". An oven doesn't HAVE to have counter space next to it, but there must be counter space within easy reach. An island, or peninsula, often provides such a spot.

Lastly there is the issue of safety: Ovens are hot! Removing a heavy item, like a hot 25lb. turkey, from the oven can be dangerous if the open oven door is positioned too high to be safe. Kitchen designers are trained to carefully specify the placement of the oven opening height to be safe for all users.

Peggy