Cooking outdoors is not for everyone. But if you feel the call, and want to entertain guests, friends, and family in the open air, then an outdoor kitchen is definitely for you.
These cooking islands or BBQ islands can be approached in several different ways. Needless to say, if you don’t know what you’re doing, you could end up making costly mistakes that could set you back in your outdoor kitchen dream and put a significant dent in your finances.
Since we know you’re all about doing things the right way, we want to steer you towards the path of tried-and-true results. After all, this is not the time to boldly go where no one has gone before. When you consider costly and time-consuming financial decisions, choosing the advice of experts is the way to go.
Here are five ways to build an outdoor kitchen the right way!
#1 Consider Your Budget
This could seem obvious, but it has led many enterprising kitchen builders into a dead end, or at the very least significant debt. Why? Because pre-planning is an inescapable part of any project that requires building or renovations. You have to make a budget that you can stick to and plan the next steps accordingly.
After all, space, materials, sett up, cooking implements and utensils, building costs, etc. don’t usually come cheap. There are many options available for all kinds of budgets, but you won’t know what’s what if you don’t blueprint your situation beforehand.
You should have a maximum budget that you cannot exceed, and an ideal budget (that you can realistically stick to) you would prefer to go with. If you’ve done your homework correctly, and have the advice of a good contractor, your final budget will be somewhere between the two, but hopefully closer to the ideal.
If not, you could face setbacks, delays, or end up with a half-finished project sitting on your backyard as a constant reminder of your poor preparation.
#2 Plan Your Infrastructure Carefully
You want to be efficient, especially when it comes to utilities. Your outdoor kitchen is going to require plumbing, gas, and perhaps even electricity. The harder you make it for these services to reach your kitchen’s locations, the easier it will be for the project to fail.
But, if you do things right, then you’ll make use of the existing infrastructure in your house to position your island efficiently, thus saving you costly holdups — and headaches! It will also help you save up on budget if you’re efficient, so this connects to #1.
#3 Choose the Right Materials
You’re going to be cooking a lot, so ideally you’re going to need to both put the proper security measures in place, and fire-friendly building materials. Again, this is the sort of a no-brainer that you’d think anyone would think of in advance, but many outdoor kitchens have gone up in flames because of poor preparation.
You may need to consult with an expert outdoor kitchen designer when the time comes, but it’s 99.9% possible that they’ll bring up:
- Building with materials like brick or stone.
- Setting up a grill insulator.
- Provide good ventilation to remove smoke, fumes, and dust.
Remember safety first!
#4 Choose Appliances Well
You ideally know how you want your space to look once everything’s said and done. And, if you’ve done your job well, it will be balanced towards having just enough appliances, instead of too many or too few.
But, at one point in the whole process, you may start getting a little anxious or greedy with appliances. After all, why not install a smoker in that bit of leftover space? Or maybe that clay oven… but wait! If you’ve been meticulous about pre-planning, then these things already probably have their space in your outdoor kitchen. If not, and if they don’t exceed your budget, you may want to include them in the original plans before you start building.
If you’re already well underway, it’s better to try avoiding these impromptu renovations, because it’s very likely that you’ll come at them in an improvised, rushed way. And that could lead to them looking bad, or out of place, or causing you to go over budget.
5# Choose Function Over Form
Yes, there’s nothing wrong with your outdoor kitchen looking pretty, though you should absolutely strike a balance between design pizzaz and function. But, if you’re going to value one over the other, function trumps everything when it comes to cooking. Remember: your kitchen may get compliments, but it’s your cooking you want all eyes on when all is said and done.
You should always strive to have a comfortable, functional space for cooking.
Where to Go Now?
If you want the best tips to build the perfect outdoor kitchen, you should absolutely check out this link and move on to making your dream a reality!
