Having an outdoor cooking space in your yard is a great way to entertain the outdoors and a fantastic compromise between kitchen and campsite, allowing you to create some great smoked, grilled or brick-oven cuisine. An outdoor cooking space allows you to entertain in various seasons throughout the year and spend more time enjoying the outdoors. Your backyard is a treasure, it’s a place to relax and enjoy the sun and the elements until you’re ready to come back inside. Who doesn’t like grilling, there’s really nothing like the real thing, a grill-pan just won’t cut it. Here are some tips and tricks to set up an outdoor cooking space in your backyard.
The first thing you need to decide about your outdoor space is how deep you want your outdoor kitchen to be. Do you want a full kitchen with grill, oven, sink, fridge, counters, dishwasher? Storage space for tools, dishes and utensils? Or just want a nice outdoor grilling patio? The answer to your questions will likely tell you where in your yard you should place your outdoor kitchen, what types of additional construction/plumbing is required, and, in general, the costs of creating your outdoor space. One of the things to consider is how much access and/or back-and-forth you will need to make to your indoor kitchen with your outdoor space. If you are looking to put most of your ingredients and tools inside your home you will probably want to put your cooking area closer to the house, in which case you will probably remove the desire to put additional electricity, plumbing and drainage inside. your cooking area. For those who want to set up an independent cooking area in their backyard, you will have to run water lines, electricity lines and gas lines to your cooking area; this can be expensive and also requires some maintenance and upkeep before winter, especially in freezing areas, but the results are phenomenal.
Now that you have the general idea of the type of outdoor cooking space you want to set up, it’s time to start thinking about materials, spacing and design. Firstly, in materials, do not use combustible materials for your cooking space: wood and plywood are not acceptable materials to be used around hot and open flames; consider also what might happen if a piece of vagabond coal were thrown under these materials. Fire prevention should be your main concern when choosing materials. Marble, granite and plain old brick are fantastic building blocks for your outdoor cooking area, they are easy to maintain, look great and probably won’t need replacing in a decade coming or so. You may also want to look into getting a roof to protect your outdoor kitchen area, especially if your cooking space has range ovens, cabinetry, and other amenities further in the door, or if you are planning to use it over multiple seasons. When designing your space consider benches and spaces for you to work; many people forget about this and end up using their patio table as a food preparation space. Lighting is another big part of your outdoor cooking space and you’ll want to have enough light to take full advantage of your space.
Adding outdoor cooking space to your backyard doesn’t have to break the bank. Find out what you want, what you can afford and stick to a plan. If you’re creative you can create some really cool spaces and still not break the bank. It’s important to make sure you stay within your means but that doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your style.
Stephanie writes about landscaping and outdoor design. She reviews similar landscaping sites https://www.kanebros.com/, click here for more information. When she is not working she catches butterflies with her 2 daughters.
