Kosher Kitchens

Designing for Your Lifestyle

Kosher kitchens have some very specific requirements, that over the years, we have learned how to integrate into our designs, enabling us to create a wonderfully functional kosher kitchen. Designing a kitchen based on certain dietary considerations can be a huge plus for a client. When it comes to Judaism these dietary laws, known as kashrut, define which foods are permitted in the home and how these foods must be stored and prepared. For example, kashrut adherents keep meat and dairy separate so a kosher kitchen must be equipped and organised well to accommodate this.

What does a well-designed kosher kitchen look like?

Most kitchens have a sink, a refrigerator, and an oven installed in a triangle, allowing for storage, prep, cooking and cleaning. In a kosher kitchen, you’ll need two overlapping triangles for meat and dairy. That means double sinks and double ovens, and many prefer double dishwashers and refrigerators as well.

Kosher kitchens need more pre-planning than the average kitchen and since there won’t just be double appliances, but also cutlery, plates, serving bowls, pots, pans and glassware. A large amount of storage units will be essential. For worktops, you’ll need a hard surface. Quartz resin or granite countertops are easy to maintain and non-porous. Since the separation of meat and dairy also applies to preparing food, any cracks can lead to contamination. Ideally, separate worktops or designated work areas should be accounted for.

Stainless steel sinks are another amenity found in the kosher kitchen. Stainless steel is a material that can be kashered and cleaned in several ways. You will need two sinks in your kosher kitchen, one for meat and one for dairy. Separate sinks for washing dishes and preparing food are recommended. If the two sinks are adjoining, there should be an effective separation between them so that no water or food splashes from one sink to the other. TWKC keeps this in mind when planning the sinks and allows for two prep areas.

Kosher kitchen washing equipment

The ideal set-up in the kosher kitchen is to have two dishwashers. While we understand not all kitchen spaces will allow this, dishwasher drawers in small kitchens are an excellent option. Since the plumbing is separate you can stack dairy, meat or parve drawers without drain issues. It’s also a green option, smaller loads use less water.

If space permits, plan for two fridges and two ovens, one for dairy and one for meat. We have found a pot filler tap placed next to the hob can be an essential convenience too.

At The White Kitchen Company, we know creative design effort is always appreciated. While keeping kosher may be associated with Judaism it’s important to know that different clients observe things differently or sometimes not at all, so a kosher kitchen based on individual preferences means that any of these features can be mixed and matched for a one-of-a-kind dream kosher kitchen.

Take a look at this example in Golders Green.