KITCHEN (Welsh, kegin) the cooking-room, an apart ment used fur the preparation of food, and furnished with suitable accommodations and utensils for that purpose, of which the following are some of the principal.
A range of grating ; a smoke-jack in the chimney, to turn the spits for roasting; a large screen to stand before the fire, to keep off the cold air from the articles roasting, by which means the operation is considerably accelerated. An oven, :led also a copper boiler, should be constructed on one side of the fire-place. and on the other side, a large cast-iron plate, fixed horizontally, on. which to keep sauce and stew-pans continually boiling with a uniform degree of heat. Several preserving stoves should be fitted up, according to the num ber of the finnily ; and a table as large as the kitchen will admit of. it would be impossible to enumerate the whole of the articles for culinary purposes; but, besides the above, the kitchen should also be furnished with dressers, having drawers or cupboards under them, put up in every vacant part ; it should also have shelves fitted up round the sides, in order to set stew-pans, sauce-pans, &c. out of the way. Adjoining to the kitchen, ought to be a large coal-cellar, for the con venient supply of the fire. The water ought to be conducted
to the kitchen by means of pipes, to be drawn off by one or more cocks, as may be wanted. The screen should be made of wood, and lined with tin, and fitted up with shelves, so as to hold the dishes and plates to be made hot for dinner. The copper-boiler is sometimes made double, or divided, and Loth parts heated by the same fire ; each part should be furnished with a water-cock. The kitchen table should not he less than three inches thick. It' the windows do not affird a very good light, a sky-light should be placed over the table. with a moveable cap, so as to adroit any quantity of air at pleasure.
Modern science has introduced so many improvements in this part of a large establishment, that it would be impossible to describe them. For the perfection of the department com prehended under the simple word kitchen, we would recom mend our readers to inspect that of the nefbrin Club, or any similar cuisine. It is to be regretted that similar improve ments, as tar as may be deemed advisable, are not more generally introduced into establishments of a humbler description.