Make These Choices Before You Start PUrchasing materials
When planning your outdoor kitchen, there are a variety of factors that need to be kept in mind. A major one, before anything else, is deciding why you're doing this.
Is your current home meant to be a permanent home for you and your family?
Are you going to take pieces of your kitchen with you if you move, so everything has to be mobile?
Are you the type of person who enjoys having the capability to rearrange furniture a few times a year?
Or are you doing this to improve the market value of your home?
Each of these will have a deeply personal answer tied to how you look at your home.
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For ones that aren’t as definitive, let's break down your choices from most to least complicated.
Start by considering how many people do you want to make room for? What do you plan on doing in this space? If this is an outdoor kitchen, are you doing it just so you can cook outside and have options during the year? Or is it so you can entertain outside? Do you tend to have a lot of people over, or do you prefer smaller, more intimate gatherings? Some options you might consider are a bistro table for two, a small island to hold 4 to 6 people: a large dining table, or an entire outdoor living room.
What about plumbing? Plumbing is definitely convenient, but it is costly. If you choose to add plumbing weather for washing up dishes, quickly getting water for recipes, or keeping yourself hydrated, each of these will present different options of what that might look like. However, all of them will require a licensed plumber or contractor.
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You'll also have to winterize the pipes yearly to prevent them from bursting and destroying your yard and appliances. You'll almost certainly want somebody to check on them regularly to ensure everything is functioning properly. (Fortunately, Appliance Rescue Service does offer maintenance checks! It really is necessary, though, given how easy it is for something to get blown into places where it shouldn't be.)
You'll also need to ensure that any materials or appliances you choose are UV-resistant, scratch-resistant, and stain-resistant.
UV-resistant materials mean that they're not going to degrade over time, thanks to continuous or heavy exposure to the Texas sun.
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Scratch-resistant is important not only because of keeping what you purchase looking nice but also because scratches provide areas where food and bacteria can get stuck and thrive.
Stain-resistant is much the same. If you invest in building yourself an outdoor kitchen, you want it to continue looking nice.
Some examples of materials that would work would be exterior quartz, porcelain, and weatherproof tiling.
No matter which decision you come to about your reasons for building an outdoor kitchen, modular cabinetry is a boon. You can choose exactly what you want in what configuration you want. With a few tips and tricks from a builder, it looks like it's built-in. And if you move or want to redo your backyard, you can easily pick it up and move it around.
Finally, you need to decide on what type of appliances do you want?
Do you want to stop at a grill, or do you just think that you have to?
You can put in a grill.
You could add a smoker and not only use it for cooking but also to cure your own meats.
You can add in a pizza oven and offer homemade stone-fired pizzas.
Or you could put in beer taps and have your favorites always available.
You can easily add an outdoor refrigerator for easy food storage ahead of meals and to expand your storage space inside
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. You can even put an induction stove outside, which is wonderfully safe when dealing with children. (The burners only heat up when in contact with the pot.)
All of these, of course, will be based on what you want to get out of an outdoor kitchen. Which means taking a look at how you cook.
We love cooking outside at Appliance Rescue Service. Working on a grill adds an entirely different flavor to your food. And although we love and have advocated for indoor grilling options, those don't add the charred smokey flavor. That's us, though. What about you? Tell us which you prefer over on our Facebook page. As always, we love to hear from you.
If you're concerned about the outdoor kitchen you already have, maybe the appliances aren't working quite right; we can help. You can set up an appointment with us that fits your schedule by contacting us via phone ((214) 599-0055) or our website. We'll send over our technicians at the time you've chosen to figure out what's going on and how to get everything running smoothly again. Appliance rescue service, our goal is always to work with you.