KITCHEN STOVES
9 July 2008
"Something for the Rest of Us" (Part Two of Two)
As we pointed out in yesterday’s blog on kitchen design, there are some very slick commercial stoves, but they don’t really work well in residential settings because they’re too large, too hot (because they are often un-insulated) and, frankly, too expensive. And, really when you think about it, you don’t need a stove that has burners that hot. I s
ee them advertised all the time, and all I can think is, I’ve been in kitchens since I was a teenager (never you mind how long ago that was!), and even though I have actually worked in both army mess halls and restaurants (and therefore know what a professional stove could do for me), I have never once felt the need of that sort of fire power at home.
I’m not sure what I 
would burn with a 22,000 BTU burner, but I have to say that it has always struck me as overkill. When I worked as a short order cook and had a restaurant full of diners, speed was very much of the essence. But let’s be honest with each other. If you really need it that quickly at home, wouldn’t you just order out? Given the number of young people who don’t cook at all these days, those of us who still do enjoy culinary arts are not really in a hurry, are we? So, why in the world are you paying so much for a burner that is so damned hot? Trust me on this, 15,000 BTUs is a great plenty.
In laying out a kitchen design, we often talk about the functionality of it, as well we should, but, really, what most inspires us is how it looks, which is why a commercial stove so often seems to be just the thing. But if we take this concept of kitchen design just one step further, what we have to concede is that what we most often find ourselves liking about commercial stoves is not
so much how they function, but how they look. That being the way of it, the question then becomes, is it possible to get a stove that looks like one of those slick European commercial stoves which is, in fact, a stove designed for residential users? Funny you should ask!
Electrolux has teamed up with Molteni on some of their stoves, and they have also put out a line of stoves that looks like nothing more than a commercial stove, without, I hasten to add, the deficiencies such a stove invariably brings to a home setting.
The 48" dual-fuel f
reestanding range (man, that’s a mouthful!) from Electrolux Icon is very much a case in point. It has six burners: two for power (although only 17,000 BTU, so they didn’t get ridiculous!), two regular, and two precision. And they have two ovens with a self-cleaning, cobalt blue interior. At $7,000, it’s a bit more than I’m willing to pay, but for those who are looking for something professional-looking that has been carefully designed to meet the needs of the average home user, this might well be the ticket.
Joseph
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