Building an outdoor kitchen offers a chance to build connections and celebrate good times with friends and family. What better way to take advantage of these opportunities than by designing and implementing a backyard kitchen for your home? Whether you choose a custom outdoor kitchen or a prefab outdoor kitchen, the opportunities to create the best outdoor kitchen for your needs are endless!
Elements for consideration include an outdoor kitchen island, a grill area, an outdoor pizza oven, outdoor kitchen cabinets, an outdoor sink, various outdoor kitchen appliances, outdoor kitchen counters, outdoor kitchen lighting, and more. Let’s break down the features you can integrate to design and build an outdoor kitchen.
Design & Plan Your Outdoor Kitchen
How to design an outdoor kitchen is up to you! You may want to know how to build an outdoor kitchen on a budget, or maybe the sky is the limit. Regardless, you will need to make some decisions before you proceed. The biggest factor is where to place your outdoor kitchen within your landscape. Consider some of the following as you create your design:
- What features do you want to include? How much room will each of these take up?
- Will sun exposure be a factor? If so, you will want to make sure you have adequate shelter for your equipment and guests.
- Are there other hardscape factors that will interfere with or support your kitchen? For instance, if you have a pool or existing patio, this could influence your decision regarding where to place the outdoor kitchen.
- How many people do you plan to entertain while utilizing the kitchen? You want room for the whole family and your guests!
- Where are your utilities? You may need water, gas, wood, or electrical access for your outdoor kitchen, depending on which appliances and elements you choose to include. Perhaps you can locate your kitchen near existing utilities, or think about how you can run new access.
If these decisions are overwhelming you or you have questions, our friendly experts can help you make optimal design choices.
Build an Outdoor Kitchen Island
An outdoor kitchen island is the centerpiece of your outdoor oasis. An outdoor island can serve as a work area, provide outdoor counter space, offer storage, and even be home to your backyard bar. You can even integrate certain appliances, like grills and pizza ovens, into your outdoor kitchen island.
How to build your outdoor kitchen island will depend on if you want to customize it to your unique standards or utilize a outdoor kitchen island kit. You can build your own island using modular panels (like Unilock’s U-Cara), veneer, or wall block to your design specifications. These components are also available in kits that have everything you need to complete your project.
How to Build an Outdoor Grill Area
Your new grill can work with your outdoor kitchen island, or you can put in an independent outdoor grill station. If a new grill isn’t in your plans, you can use your current one as a centerpiece and for building an outdoor kitchen around your existing grill.
Once you’ve decided how to integrate your outdoor kitchen grill, you’ll have some other choices to make. For one, you’ll consider different fuel types: gas, propane, wood or wood pellets, charcoal, electricity, or even a combination.
If you choose not to build a BBQ island, you might consider some other features to make your grilling more convenient and all of your tools close at hand. An outdoor grill cabinet, for example, can go underneath or beside your grill for storage. Grill accessories can make your outdoor kitchen grill even more impressive and stretch your cooking capabilities. Some add-ons might include:
- A griddle for a smooth cooking surface, allowing for smaller items and sautes to be cooked on the grill.
- A side burner allows you to cook in a saucepan or other vessel while you grill. Corn on the cob anyone?
- A chicken or turkey holder makes rotisserie poultry a breeze in your outdoor kitchen.
- You can even cook pizza on your grill with a specialized pizza stone.
Integrate an Outdoor Pizza Oven
Speaking of outdoor pizza, why not add a pizza oven to your outdoor kitchen build? The best outdoor pizza oven for your needs will vary depending on some of the same factors you looked at when choosing your grill.
A wood-burning pizza oven is classic and traditional, but a gas pizza oven, or wood pellet pizza oven might be a superior choice for your current utilities or taste preferences.
Like your grill, you can add your pizza oven into your existing hardscape, build a custom pizza oven using wall stone and a drop-in pizza oven, or consider a pizza oven kit.
The space your pizza oven takes up in your kitchen design will depend on the supporting masonry, whether or not you want to include space to store fuel, and also what size cooking surface you wish to incorporate. Though home pizza ovens are generally smaller than commercial ones, there are various surface sizes for different needs. If you have a large family or love to entertain a crowd, an oven that can handle multiple pizzas at once may be a better choice for you. However, you aren’t limited to pizzas. These high-temperature ovens can handle all sorts of baking, including bread and cookies to round out your meals!
Outdoor Kitchen Cabinets
Instead of running back and forth to your home kitchen, why not include outdoor kitchen cabinets in your design scheme? Your outdoor kitchen storage can include space for food, dishes, and cooking utensils. Weatherproof outdoor kitchen cabinets keep your items safe while still looking great, like stainless outdoor cabinets that match your grill. Many models can even be locked.
Clean Up With an Outdoor Sink
Don’t forget to include clean up capabilities in your outdoor kitchen build! An outdoor kitchen sink will add to the ease of cleaning after you cook. An outdoor kitchen sink station might be a separate entity in your design, or you can easily incorporate a patio sink into your existing or planned outdoor kitchen island.
Other Outdoor Kitchen Appliances to Consider
Grills and ovens aren’t the only accessories you need for the ultimate outdoor kitchen. Outdoor kitchen appliances that mimic a traditional indoor kitchen will boost your entertaining mastery, not to mention they’re convenient. Some add-ons that will make an impact in your build include:
- An outdoor icemaker: keep the drinks at your outdoor bar island cold and refreshing.
- An outdoor refrigerator: make prep simple with all your ingredients close at hand and kept a a safe temperature.
- An outdoor kegerator: serve the best beer on the block!
- Warming drawers: ensure that your meals stay warm while you wrap up your cooking tasks.
- A blender: for summertime beverages
Outdoor Kitchen Counters
No kitchen is complete without prep and serving space, and that’s where your outdoor kitchen counters will come into play. In outdoor kitchens, countertops are often made of masonry caps, stainless steel, large-format natural stone like bluestone, concrete or tile rated for countertop application.
Your counter allows you space to prepare and serve food, store appliances, and even display decor or treasured conversation pieces. Not only are outdoor kitchen countertops functional, they truly make the style and design of your kitchen come to life. You can even choose a look that you love, and build the rest of your kitchen around your counters!
Choose Your Outdoor Kitchen Lighting
A well-lit area is essential for cooking and entertaining, so don’t forget to plan for outdoor kitchen lighting. Just like in a traditional kitchen, you can incorporate lighting in many ways. Outdoor under counter lighting or under cabinet lighting can illuminate your kitchen floor and storage space. Outdoor countertop lighting can keep your work area bright. If you incorporate walls into your design, you can also use wall mounted outdoor kitchen light fixtures. Your outdoor kitchen lighting design doesn’t have to just rely on practicality, your build can incorporate outdoor kitchen accent lighting or classy pendant lighting to bolster your design theme.
A utilitarian, yet visually pleasing outdoor kitchen is in reach when you combine all of these design elements to meet your needs and preferences. When you are ready to get started with your outdoor kitchen build, come visit our Long Island masonry yard—we have the materials you need, from stone to appliances to kits, to make your outdoor kitchen vision a reality.