Occupation and Kitchen Mise en Place
Senior 1 · Home Science
Occupation and Kitchen Mise en Place
Lesson 2 of 5
20 min
Let's begin
In a badly planned kitchen the cook walks back and forth all day: from the store to the sink, across the room to the stove, round a table to find a knife. Raw meat is carried past the plates of finished food, and smoke fills the room. In a well-planned kitchen the same meal takes less time and effort, and it is safer.
In this lesson you will learn the functions of a kitchen, the main types of kitchen, the parts and work zones of a kitchen, common layouts and the work triangle, and how a kitchen should face the sun and wind.
In a home the kitchen may also be a place to eat, to talk and to do laundry.
| Type | Where it is found | Main features |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic | Homes | Small; cooks for a family; simple equipment such as a charcoal or gas stove |
| Commercial | Restaurants, hotels, cafés | Cooks to order for paying customers; large, heavy-duty equipment; a brigade of staff |
| Institutional | Schools, hospitals, prisons, army camps | Cooks large amounts of the same meals at fixed times; menus planned in advance; special diets in hospitals |
| Industrial or central production | Factories, airline and event caterers | Prepares food in bulk to be packed and sent elsewhere |
| Mobile or outdoor | Food trucks, field kitchens, outdoor cooking huts | Movable or temporary; limited space and water |
A kitchen is divided into zones, each for one kind of work: receiving, storage (dry store, cold store), preparation, cooking, serving and washing-up, plus a waste area. In a commercial kitchen, the zones are arranged so that food moves in one direction: from the delivery door, through storage and preparation, to cooking and serving. Raw food and dirty dishes should never cross the path of cooked food, which prevents cross-contamination.
Common layouts are the one-wall (everything along one wall), galley (two parallel counters), L-shaped, U-shaped and island kitchens.
In a home kitchen most work moves between three points: the sink, the stove and the food store (a fridge, or a cupboard where there is no fridge). The imaginary lines between them form the work triangle. Designers' rules of thumb are:
The orientation of a kitchen is the direction it faces and where it stands in relation to the house, the sun and the wind.
Task: In the Uwimana family's kitchen, the sink is 1.5 m from the gas stove, the stove is 2.0 m from the food cupboard, and the cupboard is 3.1 m from the sink. Is this an efficient triangle? Suggest an improvement.
Solution:
Total = 1.5 + 2.0 + 3.1 = 6.6 m, which is within 4 to 8 m. But one side, cupboard to sink, is 3.1 m, which is longer than the 2.7 m maximum, so the cook walks too far each time she carries vegetables to be washed. Moving the food cupboard 0.5 m closer to the sink makes that side 2.6 m (within the limit); if the other two sides stay about the same, the total becomes about 6.1 m, which is efficient.
Tip
Memory hook: "Store, Sink, Stove": the three corners of the work triangle, in the order a cook usually uses them.
Exam technique: for layout questions, check every side against 1.2 to 2.7 m and the total against 4 to 8 m. One side out of range is enough to make the layout inefficient.
List four functions of a kitchen.
Solution: Any four of: receiving and storing food; preparing food; cooking; serving; cleaning and washing up; managing waste.
What type of kitchen is found in a boarding school? Give one feature.
Solution: Institutional. It cooks large quantities of the same planned meals at fixed times.
Why should kitchen walls be smooth and light-coloured?
Solution: Dirt shows up clearly and is easy to wash off, and a light colour makes the room brighter.
A triangle has sides of 1.0 m, 1.4 m and 1.5 m. Is it within the rules? Explain.
Solution: No. The total is 3.9 m, just under the 4 m minimum, and one side (1.0 m) is shorter than 1.2 m, so the work points are too crowded for comfortable, safe work.
Summary
Sources and credits
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
