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How To Choose A Pot Rack For Your Kitchen
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By Flor Buenaventura
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Do you want to free up some kitchen cabinet space and have yourpots and pans hanging from a pot rack within easy reach? And doyou want to have your cookbooks, cooking oils, and your basiland thyme herbs displayed neatly on a wall mounted pot rack aswell?
Then the stylishly decorative and practical hanging or wallmounted pot rack might just be the storage space solution andenergy saving kitchen device for you.
Possible origins of pot racks
The idea of hanging cookery pots in the kitchen may haveoriginated from the 17th century practice of using anarrangement of links and hooks or trammels to suspend, raise orlower cooking pots in a fireplace to control cookingtemperatures.
Up to the 15th century, most wealthy European homes had spaciouskitchens with several adjacent anterooms, including whole roomsjust for storing pots and pans and other utensils. However, itwould not be surprising if poorer families with less spaciouskitchens used pot racks, either in the form of tripods standingon the kitchen dirt floor or hooks hanging from the ceiling orwall, to store their pots and pans and other utensils.
How to choose a pot rack for your kitchen
1. The first question to ask is "Where do I want to put my potrack?". If you are going to put it on top of a kitchen island,for example, then you will probably need a pot rack hanging fromthe ceiling. If you are going to put it against the kitchenwall, then you may need to have the wall-mounted shelf typevariety with a grid.
2. If you are going for a hanging pot rack you have to know howtall your ceiling is. Most pot racks are designed to fit 8 or9-foot ceilings for easy access to cooks of average height.However, households with shorter cooks or taller ceilings neednot despair. Most pot rack stores, whether online or down theroad, carry a wide range of chains or extension hooks to solvethe situation.
3. The next question is: "Do you want to match your pot rack toyour kitchen's decor?" For example, if you are going to hangyour pot rack in a modern kitchen above a built-in kitchenisland with stainless steel countertops, cooktops, ovens anddishwashers, then a stainless steel pot rack might be best foryou.
However, if you are you are going to hang your pot rack incountry cottage style kitchen next to oak timber cabinets andcoffee black kitchen appliances, then a black hammered steel potrack might be a good match.
4. And equally important is "How do you want the pot rack tolook?" If you want a more modern look, then the clean lines ofglistening stainless steel may be your best bet. If you aregoing for the antique look, then the decorative swirls of brassycopper may do the job.
5. What type of material do you want your pot rack to be madeof? Do you want the country elegance of oak or natural cherry?The practicality and durability of painted or powder coatedhammered steel? Or the sleekness and strength of stainless steel?
6. What size and shape do you want your pot rack to be -rectangular, round, oval or square? This may be dictated by thenumber of pots, pans and other cooking utensils that you want tofit in as well as the kitchen space that you have available.
7. Do you need additional light? If the pot rack is above acooking and food preparation area, then you may need pot racksthat come with downlights to illluminate as well as add ambienceto your working space.
8. And last but not least, how much do you want to spend foryour pot rack? A quick comparative shopping on the internet willreveal that sales abound and that:
- For a budget of $50 you can get a lovely powder-coatedwall-mounted pot rack in bookshelf style to put your pots andpans as well as your favorite plant and recipe book side by side.
- A budget of $150 can get you a hanging stainless steel ovalkitchen pot rack with grid.
- For $359.97 you can get a modern styled Oneida lighted potrack with center grid and two downlights.
- And if you have $2000 to spare you can get a pot rack used byprofessional chefs in high tech stainless steel and with tworack levels that provide more storage and hanging space.
But if you are someone who does not own a lot of pots, loves thehunt and a good bargain and have $4.95, you can go to Ebay andget a pre-loved black wrought iron pot rack that attaches to thewall and holds 5 pots. That's a start.
About The Author
Flor Buenaventura is a writer with an interest in cooking andthe kitchen. To see a fantastic collection of resources relatedto the kitchen, please visit her Pot Racks and KitchenIslandswebsites.
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