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Readers' Favorite Sounds of the Kitchen

2008_06_05-wine-egg-rolling.jpgLast 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:


  1. The pop of a bottle of wine being opened

  2. The crack of a hard boiled egg tapped on a counter

  3. Sharpening a knife on a steel

  4. The soft rip of a warm baguette being opened

  5. The shatter of ice when liquid hits it

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

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

  8. The whir of our old electric juicer

  9. The crunchy snap of an apple being bitten

  10. 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

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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.

posted by vanessa.vichitvadakan on August 8th 2008 at 8:29am
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the crackling of mussels when they hit a hot pan.

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

posted by art on August 8th 2008 at 8:43am
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"The sound of the knife cutting into watermelon."

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

posted by kibitzknitz on August 8th 2008 at 10:23am
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The hectic sizzle of wet leaves hitting a hot wok.

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

posted by spaceagemouse on August 8th 2008 at 10:23am
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the sound of wine hitting a hot pan

posted by jumpyfroggy on August 8th 2008 at 6:11pm
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The sound of someone else doing the dishes.

posted by peacelily on August 9th 2008 at 3:25pm
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I like sizzles.

posted by buda on August 10th 2008 at 2:05pm
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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.

posted by whytephoenix on August 11th 2008 at 7:11am
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