Editor’s Note: Jaden Hair, creator of the Steamy Kitchen culinary blog, has partnered with Thermador to contribute blog posts on an ongoing basis. Hair, based out of Tampa, Fla., will be replacing a handful of her appliances with Thermador.

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The day has finally come! I’ve been so patiently waiting for the day that I could pick out the Thermador appliances for my own kitchen in the new house.

We’re going to gut the entire kitchen and basically start from scratch. It’s a good-sized kitchen – though as any avid cook would say, “but it could be a little bigger!”

Oh, and bonus! Last month at Thermador’s unveiling of the Thermador 48” Pro Grand Steam Range I got to meet Susan Serra, a Certified Kitchen Designer based in New York. Well, we’re partnering together to showcase the remodel of my kitchen with Thermador appliances. If you haven’t seen her site, go now! So many great ideas for kitchen design.

So here’s the kitchen. Please excuse the mess, we’re still organizing and decorating! The kitchen is 180″ wide by 150″ deep.  In the front, there’s a long bar countertop, which I’d like to remove — I’ve never been a fan of barstools (so uncomfortable for my back!)

The home has gorgeous pitched ceilings, but the way the kitchen is currently, it really doesn’t show off the high ceilings. So, I’d like to remove that light-thing and thick columns that the upper cabinets are hanging from. I’m sure Susan will have some brilliant ideas.

See the pantry in the back corner? It’s built into the corner, and if we remove it, the kitchen will be so much bigger. Plus, I have an additional pantry in the hallway. The previous owners had converted the old laundry room into a walk-in
pantry.

Yikes! What a mess! *hides head in shame*

We’ll remove all the shelving in this pantry and install new cabinets, too.

The kitchen doesn’t have gas. Boo! However, we have a massive propane tank hidden underground (the propane guy comes once a year to refill). I debated whether or not to run the propane line into the house so that I could have a gas stovetop. Doing so would add to the cost of the remodel and the fine folks at Thermador recommended that instead of doing that, to get the Thermador Induction Cooktop with SensorDome instead.

Cooking with induction is energy efficient (heats 50% faster than gas) and safer (the cooktop stays cool to the touch). Plus, the SensorDome pop-ups and measures the temperature of the cookware to keep temperature consistent during
cooking.

However, I have a love affair with fire, as it relates to cooking, at least! Seeing the flame, feeling the flame, hearing the flame turn on — I thought there was no comparison. I was going back-and-forth with this decision and just decided to test out induction in the kitchen for one week with a portable induction burner that I placed in the kitchen.

Wow, was it fast! It brought up a pot of water for pasta in over half the time it took my current electric cooktop. I love the safety features of induction, with kids running around the house and kitchen, I have peace of mind. Plus, we have
a Big Green Egg charcoal grill/smoker on the fishing dock and a massive gas grill outside in the patio that’s hooked up to the propane tank, so whenever I get a little antsy for fire-cooking, I can always cook outside.

So, the induction cooktop is on order!

I can’t wait to hear what Susan thinks about having the cooktop in the middle of the kitchen, similar to picture 149 on the gallery page  with chairs (not stools!) around the table. How we design the kitchen will determine the ventilation style.

I’ve also decided on the Thermador French Door Bottom Freezer unit — a quick poll on Twitter told me that most people loved the w-i-d-e space for baking sheets to fit on the shelves.

As for the dishwasher, it was my husband’s choice, since he does the dishes. Scott chose the Sapphire model. I cook, he cleans. I love our division of labor.

Well, that’s it for now, I’m just so thrilled to be starting this process of kitchen renovation!