Building the Outdoor Kitchen of Your Dreams: Here’s What You Should Know
One of the single best improvements you can ever make to your home is installing an outdoor kitchen in your backyard. It will take your outdoor lifestyle to a whole new level and even revolutionize your cooking as well. And, a well-designed, well-outfitted outdoor kitchen can add significant value to your home.
In this article, we’ll cover some of those long-standing questions or concerns you may have about outdoor cooking and dining as well as the structure and appliances that can make it happen. You’ll be amazed at the value that a great outdoor kitchen design can add to your property. Here’s your definitive guide for building the outdoor kitchen of your dreams: here’s what you should know so you get the best outdoor kitchen for your lifestyle.
What Do You Call An Outdoor Kitchen?
An outdoor kitchen is the space you designate outside for cooking and it’s the best way to improve your family’s outdoor lifestyle. But its function is also highly emotional. Part of what makes us human is our ability to cook and share meals with others. The outdoor world is so intrinsically connected with how we enjoy food, so it’s no surprise that we’re always looking to bring cooking outside every year as soon as the weather allows.
An outdoor kitchen is much more than just a simple charcoal grill in the corner of your patio. In fact, an outdoor kitchen can employ cutting edge technology to make some of the most incredible meals of a lifetime.
The outdoor kitchen can be as simple or as complex as your heart desires. It can provide snacks and beverages for keeping backyard activities afloat, outstanding feasts for special events or the simple delights of cooking a family meal outdoors on a gorgeous evening.
How Do You Plan An Outdoor Kitchen?
Planning the perfect outdoor kitchen for your backyard is never a quick and easy process and it’s worth taking the time to fine-tune your ideas so you’re happy with the result.
There are many elements that make your home, landscape, and outdoor lifestyle special. The outdoor kitchen is at the heart of outdoor living and the right design will transform how you and your family spend time at home.
Evaluation: The first step in planning your outdoor kitchen should be spending time considering how you and your family like to cook, as well as whether your outdoor kitchen will be primarily used for family meals or for entertaining. Take note of the emotional component of your outdoor space as you evaluate your landscape, including the color of the leaves in summer, the shade of the soil, the texture of the rocks, the lines of the structure of your home, the amount of sunlight available in various places, and of course the size of the space. These elements will help you fine-tune your materials choices as well as the orientation, location, and design of the cooking and dining spaces.
Future Plans: The length of time you spend at your home will have a great impact on the design of your outdoor kitchen. If you think there’s some point in the future where you might sell the house and move to another place, it’s worth considering installing appliances and amenities that will be attractive to potential buyers. If you have no plans for moving, a unique and highly personalized outdoor kitchen can do two things for you and your home in the long run. First, it will facilitate some of the best memories of cooking and spending time with family and friends. Second, it will be a space that’s yours in every sense of the word from idea to execution.
Research: Never go into a landscape design process without having a good idea of what’s being created by professional designers. Search for “outdoor kitchen design ideas” and create a collage of which concepts speak to you the most. Pay attention to the layout; the immediate feelings you have when you look at a picture; any appliances and features that catch your eye. Whether you design your outdoor kitchen yourself or work with a designer, you’ll want plenty of inspiration to use as a jumping off point.
Cuisine: Your family’s favorite foods are the ones that you’ll want to cook in your outdoor kitchen as much as possible. Whether you’re all about grilling, searing, sautéing, or baking, the appliances should reflect your preferences. This, in turn, will help to inform the design of your outdoor kitchen. For example, a magnificent tiled wood-fired pizza oven will not only produce delicious foods, but it will become a visual spectacle of your landscape in itself. But if your primary outdoor cooking experience centers around grilling, don’t spend money on cooking appliances you’ll rarely touch.
Seasonality: The outdoor kitchen likely will not be used as much throughout all seasons. You may spend every summer morning and evening enjoying the gentle sunlight as you eat with your family. However, the winter won’t be as generous. As your outdoor kitchen will be exposed to the harshest elements of your climate, it’s important to plan for the seasonal shut down every year. Make sure that gas and water shutoffs are fairly easy to access and that every appliance can be covered for protection. One option to extend your outdoor cooking season is to house the outdoor kitchen under a pavilion. The closed roof will help shelter the space from the elements, while the open walls will let the experience still feel like the great outdoors. For the ultimate in outdoor cooking and dining, add an outdoor fireplace to the pavilion.
Maintenance: Cooking is a process that creates lots of mess. Beyond just simple surface cleaning, deep cleaning will sometimes need to take place. Take some inspiration from restaurant kitchens and plan your outdoor kitchen so that each appliance can be easily moved for periodic cleaning and maintenance. Put as many appliances on locking caster wheels as you can and make sure to add some extra hose length so you don’t need to disconnect anything during the cleaning process. Choose wall units and pavers that are sealed and minimally textured, which will facilitate easy clean-up; and speaking of easy clean-up, consider using large-format pavers which minimize joint lines that tend to collect grime.
Lifestyle: Cooking in your outdoor kitchen and eating the food in your outdoor dining space means embracing life to the fullest. Always keep in mind how many people you will regularly host outdoors and design the space accordingly. Don’t worry about the occasional huge party. Design your space for everyday use, for the way that you like to cook and spend time outdoors, and you’ll be more likely to make the space a part of your daily life.
A Natural Connection: Every outdoor kitchen should include some level of plant life, such as culinary herbs; or, if your cooking space is located under a pavilion or pergola, you can even add some tomato plants, grapevines, or hops.
Personality: Set your outdoor kitchen apart with personal touches that have to do with your family origins, interests, and tastes. These could be simple tile accents or river stones you collected embedded in the masonry. They could be decorations and artifacts that draw interest. You could even paint a mural on the back wall. This is your chance to get creative and create a conversation piece that just happens to facilitate some amazing meals.
Working with Professionals
Speaking to outdoor kitchen design professionals will go a long way in helping you design and build the perfect outdoor kitchen. Get a number of quotes based on the design you have come up with if you just need someone to build your vision. And work with a full design/build landscape company who can take your outdoor kitchen from a napkin doodle to a finished product, if you don’t have a clear vision for your space. Working with the right professionals can make the process much smoother. Yes, you can certainly DIY an outdoor kitchen but keep in mind that the process is often very complex: doing masonry right; safely installing gas lines and electricity; and even deciding on the perfect location for the outdoor kitchen can make or break the final outcome.
What Should I Put In My Outdoor Kitchen?
The various features of your outdoor kitchen are dependent on these factors: how much space you have, what kind of cooking you want to do, and what your budget is. Of course, some appliances are much larger, more technical, and more expensive than others. Let’s cover some of the favorite appliances of an outdoor kitchen. Again, keep in mind your cooking preferences. It’s better to spend your budget on higher-end versions of what you will use regularly, than to clutter the space with appliances that are rarely used.
First, here’s what every outdoor kitchen needs:
A grill: The essence of cooking meals is how you apply heat to your various foods. A proper cooking surface starts with the most common appliance in an outdoor kitchen: the grill. Some outdoor kitchen grills use charcoal or wood, or you can opt for the much cleaner propane or natural gas.
A cooling unit: You don’t want to have to rely on plastic coolers for keeping your food and drinks outside. You definitely don’t want to have to run back into the house every time you need something else. A cooling unit such as a compact outdoor refrigerator cabinet is an essential piece of any outdoor kitchen for storing condiments, cooking ingredients, and beverages.
A waste bin: An outdoor kitchen without the right place to put waste is one that will quickly attract pests like yellow jackets (a big trash can is also unsightly). A perfect waste bin should be out of sight, but easy to find. It’s also a great idea to separate different types of waste if you have the space: compost, recycling, and landfill.
Counter space: Preparing food is incredibly difficult without enough counter space to prep ingredients and arrange plates. This space should be completely separate from your outdoor dining table or bar preparation area. Just like your indoor kitchen, your counter space should be located directly next to the sink for easy cleaning.
A basin sink: A complete outdoor kitchen needs a source of running water for washing hands, filling up a glass, rinsing off a dish, filling up a pot, and more. You can include separate taps but at the very least, consider a generously proportioned outdoor sink that will fit some of your largest cooking equipment and be accessible so everyone’s hands stay clean and glasses stay full.
A dishwashing machine: It may seem like an extravagance, but an outdoor-rated dishwasher can be one of the best investments you make if you’re planning on using your outdoor kitchen frequently. You don’t want to be stuck serving your meals on paper or plastic plates forever, or lugging heavy loads of dirty dishes back inside for cleaning and clean dishes back outside for storage.
A bar preparation area: Outdoor dining isn’t much of an experience without some refreshing drinks. Dedicate a small part of your outdoor kitchen to a bar preparation area complete with a decorative hanging storage shelf with various bottles and glasses.
Storage cabinets: There are all sorts of things that you’ll need in your outdoor kitchen to make successful meals happen without relying on running back and forth to the indoor kitchen. Ample storage is going to keep the space uncluttered and clean. Storage cabinets should be planned into the design of the outdoor kitchen instead of a mere afterthought. Never underestimate how much storage you’ll need! For a beautiful and durable option, consider adding wooden outdoor kitchen cabinets to bring warmth and lasting elegance, or opt for sleek aluminum outdoor kitchen cabinets for a modern, sturdy touch, or choose PVC outdoor kitchen cabinets for a weather-resistant, low-maintenance solution that stands the test of time.
A ventilation hood: If your outdoor kitchen is going to be located underneath the roof of a pavilion or a porch, then there needs to be a ventilation hood over all the heated units. This will disperse excess smoke and gas, keeping your outdoor kitchen at the basic level of safety and comfort.
Next, let’s cover some of the specialty appliances and features that creative homeowners have been putting in their outdoor kitchens:
A flat top griddle: The grill can accomplish quite a lot in an outdoor setting, but it can’t do everything. For making the fluffiest pancakes, crispy hash browns, and more, a flat top griddle is an incredible feature to have. After all, what’s better than breakfast outdoors on a gorgeous summer morning before the heat kicks in? A griddle will disperse heat more evenly than a grill, ensuring that the more delicate foods are possible in your outdoor dining as well.
A power burner: Another specialized cooking unit is the power burner, which provides an intense focus of heat in the bottom of a cast iron pan or wok. The high heat will cook vegetables much faster, keeping them crispy, colorful, and delicious. For all sorts of Asian foods, this amenity is a must.
A pizza oven: A convection oven in your indoor kitchen can accomplish quite a bit, but there’s little need for two of those in your household. An outdoor pizza oven can be an amazing addition to the outdoor kitchen, providing delicious and bubbly pizzas, fresh breads, casseroles, braised meats, and more. It’ll be a great visual addition that will spark plenty of conversations, too. Outdoor pizza ovens range from wood-fired masonry structures to small stainless tabletop versions. A masonry pizza oven could even be part of an outdoor fireplace.
A beer, soda, and wine tap and cooler: Keeping the delicious drinks flowing is essential for the best summer memories. Instead of cluttering your refrigerator or countertop with bottles, you can curate the drinks you want to come pouring out of these taps, making all of your events with friends and family that much easier and creating a lot less waste. This feature will keep drinks at the right temperature throughout the summer. If you aren’t looking at installing a tap system, a wine cooler can store every bottle and keep it tasting perfect.
An ice maker: Ice is an essential component of so many beverages and relying on a few ice cube trays or filling buckets with ice when hosting a large get-together isn’t necessarily the best option. Install an ice maker in your outdoor kitchen, one with multiple settings. As an extra treat, a frozen slush maker will provide frozen drinks for young and old!
A Kamado grill is an egg-shaped grill that can double as a smoker. This grill is often a feature in high-end outdoor kitchens, not only for its practicality but its looks.
What Are The Shapes For Outdoor Kitchens?
With the right shape, an outdoor kitchen can be beautiful and useful; and even a playful space where you can explore and expand your culinary horizons while friends and family gather around.
The first decision about the shape is entirely dependent on the amount of space available. With a large available space, there are lots of possibilities for which shape to choose. With a smaller space, there are fewer shapes that will work.
The Single Counter: For the smallest spaces, this linear outdoor kitchen design makes excellent use of a blank wall or a boundary in an outdoor living space. It also really opens up the space and makes things collaborative while keeping the space simple. This design could be limited to a grill and countertop, potentially with a sink and under-counter fridge.
The ‘L’: Many indoor kitchens have used this design to maximize space inside the home and it will work just as well in an outdoor setting. It’s smart to put the majority of your seats and storage on the longer side of the ‘L’ and the counter space and appliances on the shorter side. This will make your kitchen more compact and give you the most amount of seats possible. It also works in small spaces, since the dining end of the L could replace a traditional dining table.
The ‘U’: Consider this design an expansion of the ‘L’ with an added side. If in the middle of an outdoor living space, this can open up the kitchen and improve social interactions. If tucked in a corner, it can be a secluded place for you to work your magic.
The Island Bar: The best outdoor kitchen design for making things feel open and expansive is the Island Bar, with an outdoor bar island that does double duty for food prep and dining. This allows for plenty of flowing movement in and out of the cooking space, increasing interactivity. This layout requires a lot of space and could be ideal for chefs and entertainers.
Do You Need Planning Permission For An Outdoor Kitchen (In The US)?
Getting permits is one of the steps in landscape design that very few people enjoy doing, especially when it’s a feature in your own backyard. The regulations in your municipality, however, are there for safety reasons and not to annoy you or stymie your creativity.
One of the most important regulations that will precede your project’s planning permission is the proximity to your home. Others may be whether the outdoor kitchen is near the perimeter of your property or the structure is too high. Others relate to safety using natural gas. There may be other regulations in your specific municipality, so be sure to consult the local government’s planning office and make sure that your landscaping professional is doing the same.
How Close To The House Can You Build An Outdoor Kitchen?
Outdoor kitchens can be located wherever you want, with a few considerations.
The most convenient is adjacent to the home, but it’s not necessary to place it there because an outdoor kitchen is meant to replace the need for in-and-out traffic to the home. The key thing to remember is that any heat-producing appliances like the grill should be placed at least 10’ from the home’s siding or roof overhangs.
What’s the Timeline for an Average Outdoor Kitchen?
Once you’ve gotten the various aspects of your outdoor kitchen planned, it’s time to pull the trigger and get the project started. Plan on two months for planning and four months for construction; so the sooner you get the ball rolling, the sooner you’ll get on your contractor’s busy calendar. If you start in early spring you may not get to enjoy your outdoor kitchen this summer, but fall is also a great time for al fresco cooking and dining! Find reputable outdoor kitchen contractors near you to ensure your project is in expert hands and meets your vision and timeline
What Are The Disadvantages Of An Outdoor Kitchen?
After you plan and build your outdoor kitchen, it’s easy to see the space through rose-colored glasses. Your outdoor kitchen is bound to facilitate some of the best times outdoors with your family, but it may present some challenges as well. Let’s cover some of the problems that an outdoor kitchen can present.
Property protection: Anything that’s outside the interior of your home has the potential to be vandalized or stolen and that includes the various equipment in your outdoor kitchen. You can bet that the likelihood of someone nabbing your 600 pound flat top griddle in the middle of the night is quite low. The smaller things, on the other hand, may be more vulnerable. If you don’t have a security system in place that covers your entire landscape, be sure to keep your drawers and refrigerators locked.
Usable space: Just like a swimming pool, an outdoor kitchen will take up significant space which can make it challenging to plan other large features in your outdoor living space in the future. If you want to put a pool or another large feature in your backyard in the future, it would be prudent to have that in the back of your mind during the design of the outdoor kitchen.
Exposure to the elements: Every aspect of your outdoor kitchen needs to survive the worst of the winter. The alternative is lugging heavy appliances in and out of the garage every year. Although many appliances are designed to be weatherproof, there are still yearly maintenance tasks that need to be done to protect utility lines and mechanical components.
Navigating bureaucracy: Every outdoor project where ground is broken is subject to the local municipal codes. The majority of these codes are there for the safety of your family and others, but some will control the size and height of the structure as well.
Although there are some disadvantages to be had with an outdoor kitchen, don’t ignore all the incredible advantages of such a landscape feature. Instead of letting these potential issues sway your decision to build one or not, let them simply be the extra knowledge you need to get things done the right way. This will preserve your outdoor lifestyle as well as the value of your property.
What’s The Best Outdoor Kitchen?
Placing an outdoor kitchen inside a pavilion will provide the greatest outdoor dining experience there is. The best style of outdoor kitchen is always one that allows you and your family to spend as much time outside together as possible. Even if the weather agrees with you most of the time, a sudden burst of rain can send everyone running for the back door of the house. This can even be a major struggle when there aren’t a bunch of plates on the table. A pavilion can provide the adequate shelter that your outdoor dining needs and help extend the season of your outdoor dining, especially if the design includes an outdoor fireplace.
Practically any sort of outdoor kitchen design can fit well under the closed roof of a pavilion. The open walls will also keep the outdoor feeling alive. The ceiling of the pavilion enables some simpler lighting design. You can even put your cooking units inside the pavilion as long as there is a ventilation hood.
How Do I Build An Outdoor Kitchen On A Budget?
Adding an outdoor kitchen to your backyard doesn’t mean that you need to take out a second mortgage on your home. In fact, there are many ways you can design and build an outdoor kitchen on a budget. Before you get started, check out some of these ideas you can incorporate into yours:
Standalone appliances: A common expense of an outdoor kitchen is building specialized appliances from scratch, especially the grill. Buying a grill that’s built to an existing model could end up saving thousands of dollars.
Reclaim and recycle: Don’t imagine using reclaimed or recycled materials as “trashy.” In fact, reclaimed wood or masonry materials can add a charming and rustic touch to an outdoor kitchen. There are plenty of items that people are ready to take to the dump, and many of them can become amazingly beautiful kitchen features with a little creativity and elbow grease.
Is It Worth It To Build An Outdoor Kitchen?
Yes! The more time you spend with your friends and family crafting delicious meals and drinks in your backyard will help you see what kind of worth an outdoor kitchen is. This single feature will quickly become important to your family.
Of all the times you wanted to go to a restaurant patio to have some lunch or drinks, you can quench that thirst by simply inviting a friend over instead. Cooking at home is always much cheaper than eating out and an outdoor kitchen is a surefire way to make it a more enjoyable task.
A well-designed, well-outfitted outdoor kitchen will be a huge benefit to your outdoor lifestyle. If you ever sell your home, it will add substantial value. And in the meantime, you’ll get maximum enjoyment of your backyard.