Designing Outdoor Cooking Areas – An outdoor kitchen can be the best part of your home if designed properly. Getting some fresh air while enjoying grilled food with close friends and family? Sounds like a perfect summer night! At Sauders Hardscape Supply, we believe that relationships are the key to great landscape and outdoor living design. Outdoor kitchens create the perfect space to strengthen those relationships and create memories that extend far beyond the kitchen itself.
On the practical side, it’s important to choose quality components for your outdoor kitchen. Make sure the items you include in your outdoor kitchen design will hold up to the test of time and allow you to enjoy events with friends and family for years to come. Let’s take a look at 9 things to consider when creating the ultimate living space in your backyard.
Designing Outdoor Cooking Areas
Let’s be honest: grills are the most important part of every outdoor kitchen. From steaks to grilled veggies to barbecue, a good outdoor kitchen grill can do it all. The two most important aspects to consider (besides the budget) are:
Custom Outdoor Kitchens
Size – It is important to consider how much space you have for your outdoor kitchen and design accordingly. Choosing a grill that is larger than necessary will increase the cost and may reduce available counter space or other valuables. For most people, a grill with 450-500 square inches of cooking space will do the job. Literally, you can cook 24 burgers at the same time on a 500 square inch grill.
Heat Source – There are several options when it comes to choosing a grill type based on the heat source. Major options include:
Gas – Gas grills are the most popular type of grill and include both LP (Propane) and natural gas options. The easiest way to choose between LP and natural gas is to simply use whatever your home/building is already connected to.
Charcoal – This is the old faithful of the backyard grill world. Charcoal grills are perfect for purists who love that classic, smoky grill flavor. Although they are often more expensive and time consuming than gas, they produce results that many people find irreplaceable.
Next Level Outdoor Cooking Station Ideas
Wood / Pellets – A wood fire is the oldest method of cooking known to man. These days, though, it’s easier than building a fire in a cave. With today’s wooden grills and grill designs, that delicious smoke flavor isn’t too hard to find. That being said, wood is probably the most time-efficient way to cook and is perfect for the serious outdoor kitchen enthusiast.
Electric – Electric grills are the most common type of outdoor cooking grill and are the most difficult to create that delicious grilled flavor with. Generally, they are only chosen in specific situations where open fire is an issue due to fire laws or other concerns. If you think your situation may require an electric grill, you may want to check with a professional before committing to a purchase.
Here at Sauders Hardscape Supply, we offer a large collection of grills from EP Henry, Fire Magic, Blaze, and Primo. To get a better idea of the size and style of grill you might want for your outdoor kitchen, browse our full selection of grills or download a brochure.
Having a refrigerator in your outdoor kitchen saves you from having to run back and forth to the house to get food and drinks… and no one wants to do that. Having all the ingredients close to the grill or oven saves the master chef time and means we all get to eat that quickly. Also, everyone has access to cold drinks while they wait, … always a good thing. And if you run out of space in the home refrigerator, you always have a backup in your outdoor kitchen. When choosing an outdoor refrigerator for your kitchen design, there are a few things to consider:
Popular Trends In Outdoor Kitchen Designs
Cooling technology – The main choice here is cold plate vs. Unlike most full-sized home refrigerators, outdoor models rely on a cold plate cooling system that takes a long time to cool down to temperature and cools unevenly from top to bottom. This works best if you’re just chilling drinks. A forced-air refrigerator is equally cold but costs a bit more – something to consider when calculating the cost of your outdoor kitchen design.
Weatherproofing – Refrigerators run on electricity. Electricity does not work well on water. It’s raining outside. The three certainly do not mean the end of outdoor refrigerators, however. It just means that you’ll want to buy a refrigerator that’s more climate-friendly than your indoor refrigerator. Look for an outdoor kitchen refrigerator with a climate rating from UL (Underwriters Laboratories) or a similar safety certification organization. Also, look for a refrigerator constructed of high-grade stainless steel or similar materials that prevent rust.
At Sauders Hardscape Supply, we carry many outdoor refrigerator designs, from companies such as Moto Magic and Blaze. You can download their product catalog here.
There are an almost endless variety of options when it comes to storage space for your outdoor kitchen. Outdoor kitchen manufacturers such as Blaze Grills and Fire Magic offer a variety of vertical and horizontal entry doors. This can be built directly into your outdoor kitchen at any location that will be very convenient. There are also a variety of different drawer/cabinet/entry door combos available. By combining these with small outdoor kitchen storage units like paper holders and dry storage, you can create a design that is perfect for your needs.
Build An Outdoor Grill Station That Closes! — Woodbrew
Remember to include a sink (or double sink) in your outdoor kitchen design. From washing fresh veggies from the garden to washing dirty dishes to simply providing access to clean water while cooking, you won’t regret adding a sink. Stainless steel is the most popular (and cost-effective) choice for an outdoor kitchen sink, as well as one that lasts a long time. Remember, though, that stainless steel works like glass in the sun, so depending on the layout of your outdoor kitchen it may be an issue. Other options for outdoor kitchen sinks include porcelain, concrete, or even plated copper. Choose the finish of your sink based on the look and feel of the rest of your outdoor kitchen design. We offer sink designs from Moto Magic, among others.
Although meat and vegetables made on the grill can often steal the show, it’s important not to forget the sides (I’m looking at you, mashed potatoes). A side burner gives you the flexibility to prepare all your meals in your outdoor kitchen. Most large grills designed for outdoor kitchens come with built-in burners. If not, it might be a good idea to plan one in your outdoor kitchen design. Fire Magic and Blaze both offer hot sides to match most of their grill designs.
There’s nothing worse than letting the first burger get cold while you’re finishing up the toppings and sides. The warming cabinet / warming drawer is a great investment for those who like to gather a large group of friends and family for a barbecue, allowing you to serve fresh and hot food even if it is prepared in large doses. Fire Magic is one of several brands that offer the best heating cabinets.
This is not fun to talk about, so we will keep it short. You must have a place to put garbage. Incorporate a slide-out trash cabinet into your outdoor kitchen design. It will continue to clean easily without being transparent.
Outdoor Kitchen Ideas And Inspiration
A pizza oven can be a unique piece to the outdoor kitchen design puzzle. We all know that nothing can beat fresh homemade pizza in a brick oven. Fresh mozzarella on top of a homemade bun and marinara sauce…and did anyone say fresh basil from the garden? We’re talking about the ultimate people-pleaser here. And remember, a backyard pizza oven can serve more than just pizza; calzones, bread, corn-on-the-cob… even steak is an option!
Although there are several types of pizza ovens, including gas- and coal-fired types, wood is still king. From the beaches of the Old World to the streets of Brooklyn, wood-fired pizza is the original gold standard. At Sauders Hardscape Supply, we have many styles of wood-fired pizza ovens from companies such as EP Henry and Techo-Bloc.
Designing an outdoor kitchen is a big project, but with the right tools, knowledge, and advice you are more than capable of getting the job done. If you need some specific ideas for your outdoor kitchen, we would be happy to help you with a free outdoor kitchen design consultation. We also have a network of over 200 local and foreign kitchen contractors; if you contact us, we would be happy to recommend one near you! Best of luck as you build your outdoor kitchen!
We can help with Do-it-Yourself items or provide professional installation design. It’s time to start dreaming!
Best Outdoor Kitchen Ideas
“Paver Pete” has written numerous articles and appeared as a leading hardscape expert on more than 25 national and local television and radio programs, including “Hometime,” “Home Team,” and “Man Cave.” Pete is one
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