Al fresco: creating an outdoor kitchen
The outdoor or ‘summer' kitchen has been a part of Mediterranean living for a thousand years so why not take a leaf out of their book and add one to your home - if you live in the UK, you may have to wait a few months...)
Many outdoor kitchens feature pizza ovens, outdoor fireplaces, grills, sinks and work surfaces set in garden, courtyards and covered terraces.
If you are considering building a summer kitchen in your garden, make sure you plan carefully first. Do not put the kitchen too far from the house, as no matter how efficient you try to be, there will always trips back and forth.
Proper orientation is key when planning an outdoor kitchen. A house absorbs heat during the day and radiates it back to its surroundings in the late afternoon and early evening, the prime time for outdoor dining.
If you're positioning the kitchen against the house, or even near it, it's best to do so along a north-facing wall and not one facing the sunnier and hotter south or west. In all cases, place the seating so that you and your guests are not blinded by the setting sun.
You may also need to shelter the space from the elements. Trees make good windbreaks, and also offer shade during the summer.
The kind of cooking you want to do determines appliance choices. If you want to go beyond burgers and steaks into making your own pizza and cooking breakfasts, you will need counter space for preparation work and a grill or, in the case of pizza, an oven. Like your indoor kitchen, make sure that you have sufficient counter spaces for preparation and serving.
Choose a counter material that is easy to clean, won't rust, requires little or no paint, and holds up to the elements. While it can be very expensive, slab granite is a good option. It is easy to clean and does not have any grout joints to worry about. Think about how difficult it is to keep your indoor kitchen counters looking clean, then imagine combing food, morning dew, and outdoor dirt and dust.
There are a number of ways of creating the cabinets for your outdoor kitchen, including concrete blocks, metal frame and concrete board and outdoor kitchen cabinets. You could even consider installing an old-fashion grill for cooking with real wood coals or an outdoor fireplace, which holds its heat for hours.
Your outdoor kitchen may require a building permit, so consult your local council before you start.
The specifics of an outdoor kitchen can vary greatly, but assuming that it will have a sink, it will require an underground cold-water supply from the house to the counter area. The supply line needs to be installed so that it can be drained in the winter.
The sink drain will probably need to be connected to the house's drain system, and as for electrical power, if you are planning to have outlets mounted above the counter, that means hiring an electrician to run buried electrical cable.
A refrigerator and an icemaker will call for additional electrical work. And having an oven, grill or grill that's fired by natural gas, not propane, will mean hiring a plumber to install a buried gasline.
The Grand Hall Freedom complete outdoor kitchen barbecue unit in stainless steel contains a gas barbecue with additional kitchen units with an outdoor grill and sink, plus storage and corner units with work surfaces to prepare food on. The unit is £1,475.00 from www.coolessential.com.
If you're going to button up your outdoor kitchen in the autumn and winter months, make plans to store its furnishings and to cover the sink, taps and grill to protect them from the cold, wet weather.