Yes...the electric circuit capacity is a biggie! Kitchens are wired to handle the various appliances, other rooms are not. Our official Temporary Kitchen was in the FR. In there we had the MW & Refrigerator along with the TV and every time we used the MW the TV dimmed. [Our closest water source was the bathrooms on the second floor!]

When we tried to use an electric burner/hot plate or Toaster Oven while the Ref or MW was on, we blew the circuit. So, our Toaster Oven wound up in the LR, our hot plate in the PR on a chair (no facilities in there since it was demo'd as well!). If we wanted to use a waffle iron we set it up in the DR.

We also had a roaster/slow cooker to make more elaborate meals occasionally (it was setup in the Foyer). At Easter we baked a ham in the slow cooker while we used the TO & other appliances for the rest of the meal.

Oh, and b/c of the lack of water on the first floor, we bought bottled water in the 2 (2.5?) gallon containers (the ones w/the spouts) that was used for cooking & drinking. (Dishwashing was upstairs.)

For more ideas, check the article in the Kitchens Forum FAQ linked below.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to Survive a Kitchen Remodel - The Temporary Kitchen

buehl's point is a good one my Mom tripped a couple of fuses operating the toaster oven and micro simultaneously. Best advice if you have a freezer is cook ahead - gives you plenty of variety and a pretty easy alternative to the temptation of going out.

Temporary kitchens are not that inspirational you may find you don't want the hassle of prepping let alone the clean-up of real cooking.

We cooked every night, including having a dinner party!

Are you replacing an old electric wall oven? We set up our temp. kitchen in the basement, and my GC wired a plug onto the wire for my old oven, so that I could use it at the 220v outlet for the dryer. That gave me an oven, and broiler. As it was summer, we used the BBQ a few times.

Apart from that, I bought a single electric burner (about $12) from Amazon, and used my rice cooker as a crockpot/pasta pot/generally second electric ring with only two temperatures.

I made pasta in the rice cooker, made sauce on the single ring. Cooked rice, stir-fried veggies and meat on the ring. Made fresh soup (make a lot and it lasts two meals).

We deliberately set out to make it fun, and challenged ourselves to be as creative as possible. The dinner party was only possible because we had the oven though! (I even made bread).

While it can be dispiriting, I think a lot depends on your attitude. Having decent, home-cooked food helped me handle the remodel so much better. And if it all got to frenetic upstairs, I went down to the basement and worked out what to cook next! And cook double portions so you can eat leftovers another night.

We kept a list, and I hope it gives you some inspiration:

Chicken a la King & rice
Cassoulet
Hamburgers and tabbouleh
Cassoulet, fried artichokes and salad and breadsticks
Egg fried rice with shrimp and ham
Strawberry shortcake
slow-cooked porkribs and tabbouleh
Pasta with fish sauce
Grilled pork tenderloin and corn and vidalia onions
Cauliflower in lemon sauce and brown rice
Smoked fish risotto
Grilled chicken, mashed potato and broccoli
Roast chicken, roast potatoes, peas and gravy
Chicken pot pies (two days) and salad
Salad with shrimp and ham
Beef stew and noodles (two days)
Pizzas
Tuna salad, tabbouleh and salad
slow-cooked pork ribs
Stir-fried shrimp and vegetables and egg fried rice
Pasta and marinara sauce
Steak, corn and string beans
soup, roast peppers, breadsticks and fried eggplant
Roast chicken legs, new potatoes, beans, eggplant and gravy
Chicken in red wine over noodles
strawberry rhubarb pie
Pizzas
Escarole and beans
Fried eggplant and courgettes; pasta with vongole; veal rolatini; strawberry shortcake
Salad with prosciutto
Smoked fish risotto
Poached eggs and ham; mushrooms and chips
Broccoli vichyssoise; tomato soup (twice)
Fried eggplant; courgettes and artichoke
Bison burgers, corn and salad
Baby back ribs, corn and salad
Stir fried pork and peppers; shrimp and vegetables; fried rice
Broccoli soup and salad

Keep your corkscrew handy, or a blender if you prefer maragaritas :)

The thing that my customers miss the most when their kitchen is in renovation is the sink. If you can hook up a sink down there, it will be a life saver.

Some folks wash dishes in the bathroom sink, and I even had one lady wash her dishes in a bathtub!!

Kenneth

Luckily, my fridge was on a different circuit than my microwave, kettle, toaster, crock-pot, and hotplate. For the latter 5 appliances, it was pick one at a time. But I cooked almost every meal during the 10 weeks we camped in the basement. It was only twice as long as I thought it should have taken, but I didn't have to resort to any 5-Minute Chocolate Cakes, although I was buying wine by the box.

Thanks to all, some great advice here.

buehl, Thanks so much for the link - I had been looking for something like that! My favorite suggestion was the one about picking up all the menus from carryout places ahead of time, LOL! It was helpful to hear your experience with the electricity, as it gives me some idea of what to expect. That one appliance per room strategy (though clever!) must have gotten old by the end!

caryscott, I'm going to *try* to cook and freeze ahead - we'll see how that goes - right now I'm busy trying to clean up the space in anticipation of starting in the next two weeks. If this cold weather lasts much longer, however, we'll have a lot more time to cook and freeze. We are actually considering delaying until after the cold weather - the subject of another thread!

sara, Wow, I am impressed! A dinner party?! Thanks a million for the great meal suggestions - some terrific ideas there. Cooking pasta in a rice cooker is a great suggestion, too!

bluekitobsessed, LOL, thanks. I had to laugh at the similar suggestion in the list provided in buehl's link. I get the feeling that that corkscrew is the true key to all of this for many people!

Kenneth, Thanks - I think our big laundry sink will be great for this - and the bonus is that it's in the same space where we will be doing the cooking.

cooksnews, I see I was right about that corkscrew! This would be a good opportunity for me to finally learn how to use a crockpot - it's something I could use afterwards. I can see that I really need to figure out the circuits down there. I appreciate the reminder that I'll probably end up having to use one appliance at a time.

Once we finish cleaning up the laundry room (crammed full with boxes) it should be a good temporary kitchen. There is a large and deep laundry sink with running water, room for the full sized fridge (the former owner had her second fridge there and ours will stay afterward, built in shelves (normally for laundry) for storing pantry items, a linoleum floor, and even a long counter for appliances. We are going to be out of the kitchen for at least four or five months (or more), so I would even look into the possibility of hooking up the old electric oven - is this practical if they are wall ovens, though?

And - I don't know if anyone knows anything about these, but I saw a portable propane (I think) fueled double burner recently. It was being used at a hotel restaurant for making omelettes to order and looked very sturdy and hot enough to boil water. Are these considered safe for home use?

Thanks!

Do you think an Advantium microwave/convection oven can be used temporarily on a counter before it's installed?

So far as setting up the wall oven: I bought ($30) a basic box from Ikea and mounted it in that. My GC said I could have saved myself the money, and just stood it on a pallet. I did it, because I intended to keep the oven down there, just in case!

(I have to admit the dinner party was only possible thanks to the help of my dear sister-in-law. We laughed a lot - and thanks to that essential corkscrew, we got through it!)

My temp kitchen is in my family room, my only sink access is
in an adjacent bathroom. So if you have a laundry room with sink to
use you will be in great shape. Luckily we have not had a power problem so
far while using micro, toaster, refrig while tv is going etc.
Best of luck!
vic

I am facing the same problem in about 8 weeks. I plan to put a microwave, toaster oven, coffee pot and electric frying pan in my DR. Refrig will be close by. I will use a laundry basket to haul dirty pans to the sink in laundry room in basement,and we will be using paper plates. Bottled water with spout is a great idea too. I also plan to start freezing stews and soups and try to survive with some frozen entrees. Hubby is easy to please!

The appliances we used most frequently in our temp kitchen were the refrigerator, microwave oven, coffee pot, toaster oven, Crock-Pot, and George Foreman table-top grill. I bought a single electric burner and only used it once in the five months we were in the temp kitchen. We divided our electric appliances between our temp kitchen and our garage in order not to overload the circuits, and we were careful not to use two heat-producing appliances at the same time on the same circuit. We had a full-size sink in our garage, and that was a life saver.

We had all of our kitchen stuff packed in open boxes in our guest room. We moved into our temp kitchen with just the appliances noted above, some dishes, and some silverware. When we needed other items, we plucked them out of the boxes in the guest room and then placed them on bookcase shelving in the temp kitchen. After a couple of weeks, the bookcase shelving held 90% of the items we would need for the remainder of the remodel.

Moosewood 5-Minute Chocolate Cake? I love that recipe.