subject: Fresco Kitchen Design: What You Need To Know [print this page] A Hibatchi on your deck is not representative of an outdoor kitchen just like a microwave and a coffee maker do not constitute an indoor one. A thoroughly furnished outdoor kitchen can have a sink, refrigerator, and maybe a brick oven for baking. As expected, the grill remains the main piece of the cooking space, however it may well have developed to encompass side burners or a warming tray, too. As with any indoor kitchen, an individual can build an outdoor kitchen to cater to any budget and cooking trend.
Before you break out the architectural drawings and buy the grill, there are some very fundamental questions to think about: where will you place your kitchen, and how much protection does it require? Building a kitchen atop an existing terrace would be smart, assuming the spot is somewhere close to your indoor kitchen. Then, you are positioned to tap into existing plumbing and electric lines rather than incurring the unreasonable costs of running additional pipes and wires.
The amount of protection your kitchen needs is contingent on your local weather more than everything else. A porch in Savannah should simply require a pergola to filter a bit of the sunshine and allow the breeze through, while a patio in Washington state may require sliding panels to guard against sudden showers. If you reside in a place with long winters, you may want to reconsider your preference for outdoor plumbing.
Your kitchen layout should imitate your indoor kitchen layout, looking at the normal work triangle in addition to any occupant movement between doors, stairways and the eating area. Occasionally your municipal building or fire rules will apply, principally regarding the distance between open flames and combustible surfaces.
Speaking of surfaces, those cabinets and counter tops ought to to be made with material that weathers well. Poured and shaped concrete is normally quite forgiving, as is slate, stainless steel, and brick. In arid regions, teak and cedar could be used in cabinetry since they are rot and insect resistant.
Your grill and refrigerator ought to be the main components of any kitchen, therefore investing in solid products will make sense. Your grill needs to be at least as spacious as your oven, although the refrigerator only must be able to contain one meal's worth of food and drink.
Lighting can be an important element of your outdoor kitchen, because you are not going to consistently be able to depend on sunlight. Your lights must be okay-ed for exterior use, and the fewer swinging lamps, the better. LED track lights will prove appropriate to task lighting in all the key activity zones, and floor affixed lights will supply ambient lighting along with safety lighting for foot traffic back and forth from the kitchen.
As soon as your outdoor kitchen comes together, you will soon begin to value the relaxation of cooking and supping al fresco. You won't experience cooking odors or unwanted heat in the home, you could be able to take pleasure in the fresh air as you prepare your meal, and if you plan your kitchen properly, you should be able to clean that kitchen after dinner with a garden hose.
