The New Outdoor Kitchen

Welcome to the Pleasures of the Outdoor Kitchen

Whether you live in a climate where outdoor living is possible for most of the year, or, as I do, in a place where spring and summer merge into a bare three-month-long window, cooking and dining outside has enormous appeal. Although lean-to "summer kitchens" used to be built outdoors to keep the house cool, these days we all want to cook and live outside for the sheer pleasure of it.

Living outside- and living well- is the reason for this book. The great suburban migration of the mid-20th century produced outdoor kitchens furnished with modest barbecues and wooden picnic tables, but our standards and aspirations have grown into a desire for outdoor kitchens and dining areas that match our homes in quality, style, performance, and attractiveness.

Manufacturers have taken note. These days, the equipment available for outdoor living includes restaurant-level high-BTU gas grills; outdoor refrigerators; sinks of all styles and sizes; task and ambient lighting; stone, tile, and cast-cement counters the equal of their interior kitchen cousins; and ovens up to the job of cooking everything from bread and pizza to a whole pig. Amenities for outdoor social spaces include portable fireplaces and heaters, outdoor furniture that rivals interior models for comfort and visual appeal, garden structures from gazebos to antique barns, and even carpets and sound systems designed for backyard use.

Confronted by all these possibilities, what is a homeowner to do? Where should you begin? How can you start planning, or researching, or even considering a budget? This book will answer all of your questions. We'll show you lots of great dream material and specific details, but we'll also tell you how to get from dream to reality.

We'll also show you lots of equipment choices, as well as offering information on materials and styles for everything from patio and deck flooring to counters and trellises. We'll give you sources for everything in the book, and websites for designers and manufacturers. But most of all, especially in Chapter 1, we'll give you a map for the design process, showing you how to think through a complete plan.