Pesach Kitchen | Imamother

amother

Fuchsia

Sun, Mar 11 2018, 7:07 am

I am curious to know how many of you, have already or planning to have a Pesach Kitchen
and how are you managing without, with a big family and small children?

last year I told my DH that by this year its a must to have one, as b"h our family grows and its almost impossible without,

but as pesach is around the corner it looks like we wont have it this year either.

I know my parents and myself grew up without, but a lot changed since then

ra_mom

Sun, Mar 11 2018, 7:11 am

For me, I realized it wasn't the pesach kitchen I needed. But pesach storage in proper cupboards that's easily accessible at any time, on the same floor as the kitchen, is more important. It's the changing of the guards that's hard for me. Not the kashering. I actually prefer cooking in my regular kitchen which is bigger than any pesach kitchen I'd build.

ladYdI

Sun, Mar 11 2018, 7:14 am

I don’t have one so I kasher and turn over about a week before. This year hopefully motz shabbos. We do have a basement where I put the toaster and hot plate and box of Chometz, and the days close to Pesach we eat what I cook and buy Pesach foods I don’t use on Pesach. Like ready frozen stuff, French fries, Ketchup, pickles etc all kosher lepesach. I find if you turn over few days earlier makes the world of a difference. So you’ll eat Pesach foods few extra days!

amother

Mustard

Sun, Mar 11 2018, 7:16 am

I don’t have a Pesach kitchen even though most of my friends and family have some form of one. My house is small and I don’t want to give up the space for something I’ll use once a year. I’m not a major “freezer gal” the rest of the year. I feel like I get away with cooking much simpler on Pesach anyway. Instead of a Pesach kitchen I leave my oven on over yt. I don’t feel it’s a necessity.

MiracleMama

Sun, Mar 11 2018, 7:16 am

I have a pesach kitchen for the first time this year. I wont make so much ahead -- I really like fresh food. But even just a few things that freeze really well will be a big help to have out of the way early. Plus not having to turn over the kitchen is tremendous.

Raisin

Sun, Mar 11 2018, 7:24 am

I manage fine without one. I have a lot of guests so I turn over about a week before and we have an area elsewhere in the house that we use for chamets. I wouldn't want to be cooking in a poky corner of the basement in any case.

Rubber Ducky

Sun, Mar 11 2018, 7:57 am

In my design business, I would say that Pesach kitchens are becoming more common, even in smaller homes.

I do not have a Pesach kitchen myself. I prefer to cook everything fresh, and the idea of lugging all the food up and down from the basement is not that appealing. But I designed my kitchen to be easy to kasher in sections — this year I plan to kasher the fleishik and pareve areas the Sunday before Pesach and the milchik side much later, like Thursday. I have a large closet (with a padlock on it!) in the breakfast room next to the kitchen that holds all my Pesach stuff.

ra_mom

Sun, Mar 11 2018, 7:59 am

Rubber Ducky wrote:

This is what I find necessary. Then I don't have to empty my cabinets, just take out pots from the closet nearby, cook, wash, and put back in the closet where it stays all year.

amother

Magenta

Sun, Mar 11 2018, 9:24 am

We had only one kitchen for many years. Even though we lived in a tiny apartment we had one cupboard in the kitchen that was only for pesach use. Pots etc that didn't for into that cupboard went into a bedroom closet. You do what you have to do and make it work. We moved recently and converted a 2-fam into a one fam so we will have a pesach kitchen for the first time. It's a relief not to have to kasher the kitchen but in the scheme of things it isn't necessarily a life changer.

Bnei Berak 10

Sun, Mar 11 2018, 11:05 am

Pesach kitchen. WOW. Magic words for me. THE most desirable thing I've been dreaming of for the last 25 years. I'm confident HaShem hears my prayers and my lamenting of not having one.

amother

Denim

Sun, Mar 11 2018, 11:17 am

I never heard of a Pesach kitchen growing up. We had a cabinet in the basement with everything Pesach. We cleaned the house gradually, and used an out of the way cleaned room to stockpile non-perishable Pesachdik food purchases. We had a spare freezer in the basement and cleaned it earlier and stocked meat/chicken/frozen things.

Three or four days before Pesach, depending on how it fell, we kashered the kitchen at night after the workday. We shoved everything from a few upper cabinets into any space in the lower ones, sealed them off, and cleaned those few upper ones, bringing up the Pesach things from the basement. Then we shopped for everything perishable. For two days, we cooked (after work if necessary), with all the baked goods first to keep them full-on parve. Pesach came, and we were ready. Any fancy things that took time, we left for a middle Shabbos or the end days, so it wasn't too overwhelming.

We were fine.

Bnei Berak 10

Sun, Mar 11 2018, 11:40 am

My well-off friend said years ago she wasn't sorry she didn't make a pesach kitchen and for years, she didn't have one. But things change. With married children and 11 grandchildren plus tons of guests as well as age demands increase. Now she has one Smile

Pesach kitchen could be an asset once you sell your house.

Bnei Berak 10

Sun, Mar 11 2018, 12:13 pm

Ruchel wrote:

Your husband is accusing most frum people over history not to have kept kosher.

Hmm. Where do you see accusations? Scratching Head

amother

Fuchsia

Sun, Mar 11 2018, 12:32 pm

Rubber Ducky wrote:

I just wonder, is it more common in new houses?

Rubber Ducky

Sun, Mar 11 2018, 12:45 pm

amother wrote:

I just wonder, is it more common in new houses?

Of the 3 Pesach kitchens I've designed in the past year, 2 are in homes built in the '40s or '50s, and one is in a home less than 10 years old. All for families with 6 or more kids.

amother

Fuchsia

Sun, Mar 11 2018, 12:51 pm

Rubber Ducky wrote:

Of the 3 Pesach kitchens I've designed in the past year, 2 are in homes built in the '40s or '50s, and one is in a home less than 10 years old. All for families with 6 or more kids.

I think a lot of new houses they build now, especially in upstate have already a Pesach kitchen build in

doodlesmom

Sun, Mar 11 2018, 1:12 pm

Pesach kitchens are great if you have space in your house for a decent sized one close to your main eating areas.
Otherwise they are good to start cooking earlier but on Yom tov itself I would still kasher my regular kitchen for the space and convenience.
If I would have extra space in an inconvenient area I might just make a mini chometz kitchen to use the last two weeks and kasher my regular kitchen earlier.

Rubber Ducky

Sun, Mar 11 2018, 6:04 pm

amother wrote:

I think a lot of new houses they build now, especially in upstate have already a Pesach kitchen build in

Interesting. Not something I've observed in Baltimore.