Readers' Favorite Sounds of the Kitchen

Last week we asked What Are Your Favorite Sounds of the Kitchen?, and the answers came rumbling in.

This was my original list of ten melodic kitchen sounds:

The pop of a bottle of wine being opened

The crack of a hard boiled egg tapped on a counter

Sharpening a knife on a steel

The soft rip of a warm baguette being opened

The shatter of ice when liquid hits it

The noises of someone, anyone, making breakfast while I'm still in bed

The clank of a rolling pin against my mother's ringed fingers

The whir of our old electric juicer

The crunchy snap of an apple being bitten

The sizzle of meat hitting a hot grill

Read on for some of our readers' favorites...

The oven timer going off... whatever it is... it will be tasty and ready!
The whir of my kitchen aid standing mixer... always means there are home baked cookies being made.
The clanking of dishes... someone else is unloading the dishwasher!
-ddruar

The old-style ice cream freezer when the ice cream is almost frozen
The ping that signifies home canned jams and chow-chow have sealed
The sound dough makes when it's being kneaded by hand
The sound dough makes when it's depressed
The sound of the knife cutting into watermelon, squash (spaghetti and acorn), and pumpkins
-Jill

I thought that Coffee brewing should definitely be on the list.
There is something about hearing the noise in the morning that makes me smile, and wake up.
-Penny

The "puh, puh, puh" of polenta as it cooks and thickens.
-Maia

The coffee maker burbling first thing in the morning
Bacon sizzling
The whistle of the kettle on the stove
The cat meowing (read: begging) for milk as I make tea
-Gina

The sound of the ice maker revving up to go
The noise my family dog’s paws make on the tile floor, especially when she’s excited to eat
The last popcorn kernel finally popping
-Maggie

Coffeepot A - I always make the coffee, so hearing it means someone loved me enough to get up first and get it going.
Coffeepot B - We have the old percolator from the ranch. We pull it out when there's a crowd. Hearing it reminds me of being a kid on the ranch. I'm a city girl now.
-Snow Buggy

The cracking of the crispy top of crème brûlée
-Meridith

The pop of a wine cork
Meat sizzling on a pan/grill
Low level bubbling of something in the crock pot
The whoomp of my ancient oven/furnace coming to life when I light the pilot
The crunch of a pepper/salt/spice mill
The gurgling of the coffee pot
The slice sounds of knives through veggies
The intense popping of things frying in oil
Knives being sharpened
Food processor turning things into paste, especially the beginning where you know its really packing a punch
-Plaid Ninja

Coffee percolating!
-Sue

My 2 1/2 y.o. daughter asking, "Daddy, can I help?" when I'm cooking.
-s and the r

Onions sizzling in butter or oil.
Popcorn popping.
-kumquat

Coffee maker gurgling,
Rice pot clicking from "heat" to "warm,"
Slicing a watermelon,
Sizzle of meat on a hot skillet,
Snap of a soda can tab,
Timer signaling that the brownies are ready!
-HeatherAB

Comments (8)

lovely list.

my very favorite: the fwoomp of a cup of flour being added to creamed butter, sugar, and eggs when i'm making cookies.

the crackling of mussels when they hit a hot pan.

the sss....sss...sss of fat droplets into the ash of a slow smoker.

"The sound of the knife cutting into watermelon."

Mmmmm!! I think I'll go make that sound happen right now...

The hectic sizzle of wet leaves hitting a hot wok.

The sound of dough flopping onto a lightly floured work surface. :)

the sound of wine hitting a hot pan

The sound of someone else doing the dishes.

I like sizzles.

lovely stuff
I like sizzles too... and coffee, as a lot of people mentioned.

how bout the sound of water boiling? the whistle broke on my tea kettle, but I find I can tell when it's boiling anyway. I hear it go through all the stages from a simmer to a rolling boil. I wish I remembered the Chinese descriptions of all the stages of boiling; I just remember the one where bubbles appear on the surface of the water like the eyes of fish. I also wish I remembered at what stage you're supposed to add your different types of tea - it's cooler for greens, a little warmer for oolongs and a full boil for black tea, so I manage to brew a decent pot, I just wish I could recall all the poetry that went with it.

All these descriptions are making me imagine I smell things. Not taste, I guess, because it's the smell that hit you first and most of these sounds are from the preparation, not the eating.