5 Tips for the Best Outdoor Kitchen for Entertaining

What’s the best recipe for a great outdoor kitchen for entertaining?

Of course, the grill is the main ingredient in an outdoor kitchen — but it doesn’t begin and end there. Designing an outdoor kitchen starts with complementing a home’s architectural aesthetic and environmental considerations, includes functionality and ends with years of enjoyment.

Location. Location. Location.

Locating the outdoor kitchen with proximity to the indoor kitchen not only ensures easier food prep for your family chef but generally the more frequent use of your outdoor kitchen.

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The Importance of Zones.

For the serious cooking enthusiast, the perfect outdoor kitchen for entertaining does consider the perfect placement of that beast of a grill you’ve had your eyes on, but it’s more than just installing the latest and greatest appliances. Just like the outdoor kitchen’s indoor counterpart, consider functional zones – cold, hot, wet, and dry incorporated into a framed structure finished to be an extension of your home.

Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet

Refrigerators, freezers, and other cold storage spaces, plus the adjacent countertop areas are best placed next to wet zones, sinks and other wet areas, so meats and platters can be rinsed and prepped. Cooking areas like grills, cooktops, pizza ovens (hot zones) require dry adjacent prep counters and storage zones to hold tools, platters, and cooked foods. The successful outdoor kitchen design starts with a plan for these zones so they work in concert as well as provide enough countertop space to support the kitchen workflow and serving needs.

Outdoor Kitchen Size.

M2 Design Group

In smaller outdoor kitchens, cold and wet zones may be eliminated but adequate dry zones are still needed for prep work and storage. Incorporate ambiance into your design by including a fireplace and positioning your outdoor kitchen outward. When placing a smaller outdoor kitchen on an interior wall you lessen its importance and the opportunity to use materials to draw attention to the home’s natural surroundings. Think about using materials that complement and blend into the landscape to allow an uninterrupted appreciation for beautiful views and glorious sunsets.

Consider the Configuration.

In design configurations where zones are separated by a walkway, the aisle should be at least 48 inches wide (for a single cook) and 54 inches wide (for two cooks) to maneuver safely and comfortably.

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Make a Statement with Materials

Go for contrast and think new materials for outdoor kitchens with more traditional kitchen layouts, such as concrete surfaces to add a modern element to traditional stone surfacing.

Brown Jordan Outdoor Kitchens

Over the years outdoor kitchens have transitioned from functional work units to those focused on blending into the home’s architecture. With the advent of Dekton outdoor kitchens have adopted a personality of their own. ASA-D2, is a collaboration between Cosentino and Brown Jordan Outdoor Kitchens, a contemporary modular, stand-alone outdoor kitchen. Dekton is a fabulous material designed to withstand exposure to the elements. This freestanding structure gives users plenty of access to cabinets and storage on both sides of the unit, in four finishes as well as many cabinet options.

Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet

Homeowners with a desire for a sleek, warm addition to their outdoor kitchens take heart. The Arcadia Series of outdoor kitchen cabinetry offers a modern outdoor kitchen design in oiled ipe wood or powder coated finishes. With over 200 powder-coated, customizable colors your imagination is your only limitation.

Give new life to your summer backyard barbecues with these sexy outdoor kitchen cabinets turning your backyard into the hottest spot in the neighborhood.

The correct location and configuration of your outdoor kitchen can greatly expand the functionality of any home bringing you years of enjoyment and ease in entertaining. Selecting the right design and materials for your outdoor kitchen sets the mood, makes your space memorable to every visitor and creates the perfect backdrop for your beast of a grill.