What Cooking Gear Should Be In Your Outdoor Kitchen?
Planning a new outdoor cooking area comes with the burning question: what cooking gear should be in your outdoor kitchen? The one rule for outfitting an outdoor kitchen is to choose amenities that you will actually use, and getting the highest quality appliances and cooking gear you can afford. Here, we’ll explore outdoor kitchens that have just the basics, some wonderful add-ons, all the way to gourmet cooking spaces with an astonishing array of amenities.
If you stick to what you know you will use regularly and then add one or two additional elements that enhance your outdoor culinary and dining experience without going over budget.
The Basic Outdoor Kitchen
Isn’t a grill considered an outdoor kitchen? No. The difference between a grill and an outdoor kitchen is that a grill is just a grill. It can be stand-alone or built into a masonry island, but a kitchen will have a few more amenities - including a grill, but also other features that make the space more closely resemble the conveniences of your indoor kitchen.
If your patio kitchen will be used to prepare occasional meals for family and friends, you may not need to go beyond the basics.
The basics of an outdoor kitchen include a gas or charcoal grill (depending on your preference); a compact refrigerator that holds meats, veggies, cheeses, and condiments along with a few beverages; a countertop for prep which can double as bar seating and a built-in trash bin to avoid hornet-attracting open trash cans. Storage options are often limited to cooking utensils and eating utensils, along with a few cleaning supplies.
A basic outdoor kitchen can be very compact, fitting neatly into a corner of your patio.
Added Cooking Features
Adding a flat top griddle, smoker, kamado grill, and two-burner cooktop will let you prepare nearly every type of meal in style in the great outdoors. As well, ice makers, wine coolers, kegerators and dedicated beverage coolers could round out your ensemble of amenities that make an outdoor kitchen a great place to relax with friends and family.
Whether or not grilling is your main culinary passion, you could substitute a kamado grill for a conventional grill; or add it, to give you the ability to use different grilling styles and grill multiple types of food at once. These ceramic-bodied grills retain heat much better than metal grills, which results in a faster warm-up time and better flavors. The ceramic body is also weatherproof and the surface stays cooler than metal grills.
The Whole Enchilada
If cooking is your passion and you entertain frequently, consider a full outdoor kitchen with features that make the experience exceptional.
In addition to the elements listed above, nothing beats the convenience of a full outdoor kitchen. Surprisingly, a well-designed full outdoor kitchen is large, but with clever use of space it won’t take up the entire patio.
One of the main delights of cooking outdoors involves cooking over a wood fire. If you love tending the fire and want food with an authentic smoky flavor, choose a wood-fired pizza oven. A wood-fired outdoor pizza oven - a large structure with a fire box beneath an open oven lined in tile and brick to generate and retain high heat - could quickly overtake the grill as the center of your outdoor kitchen. Not only can you bake delicious pizzas in just minutes, you can also bake bread, cook roasts, and even roasted vegetables with a wonderful smoky flavor.
A gas-fueled outdoor pizza oven will work too: it’s more convenient (no stoking the fire) and cleaner, and the oven will heat up faster than using wood. You’ll miss out on the smoky flavor, but the convenience could be worth it.
Outside of cooking, a full outdoor kitchen will include all the amenities you expect in an indoor kitchen, but in a weatherproofed version. These can include a kitchen sink, bar sink, dishwasher, ice maker, wine refrigerator, liquor shelves, ventilation (an overhead fan if cooking under a pergola), warming drawer, plenty of storage, task lighting, trash/recycling/compost bins, and even a coffee and tea bar that includes an espresso machine or tea kettle - a delightful addition that makes your outdoor kitchen usable any time of day.