Cooking outdoors is one of my favorite ways to relax. Grilled food comes with rich, enhanced flavors that just hit the spot. A little bit of caramelized sweetness and smokey undertones make a great meal. Having an outdoor kitchen allows you to cook and grill with ease, all while enjoying the fresh air in your backyard. Check out a couple of my essentials for creating the perfect outdoor kitchen and upgrading your outdoor cooking experience.
The Right Grill
Whether it’s propane for a clean burn or charcoal for that authentic flavor, you need a grill that has the surface space to accommodate big meals for big parties. After all, outdoor cooking is best as a group meal. Plus, a spacious grill allows us to explore delicious delicacies like sweet corn, shishito peppers and a marinated grilled pork tenderloin. Your grill choice influences your outdoor cooking possibilities. I love a Weber gas grill for a smokey and charred-crisp BBQ, and I recently purchased a flat top insert that’s ideal for making smashburgers.
Outdoor Refrigerator
An outdoor refrigerator is on my wish list. I don’t know about you, but I’m very forgetful, which means I’m constantly going back and forth between the outdoors and indoors for the items I need. An outdoor fridge allows you to keep any cooled items (from my marinating concoctions to beverages,) close at hand while you fire up the grill. An outdoor fridge and plenty of storage for my cooking essentials will keep you from dashing in and out of the house while grilling outside.
Mood Lighting
I believe my surroundings and atmosphere affect the way I cook. Dim, dirty, and grim cooking spaces spark minimal inspiration and motivation and form many obstacles. An ambient space showers me with inspiration, allowing me to cook with ease, motivation, and creativity. Go beyond the string lights with landscape lighting, these amazing solar lanterns and more. Mood lighting illuminates outdoor cooking spaces and makes our culinary creations all the more enjoyable.
The Pergola
Pergolas provide shade and protection from the elements so that you can cook and dine outdoors regardless of the weather. Aluminum pergolas offer many benefits that allow you to get the best of indoor and outdoor living. They provide some coverage while filtering light and breezes through. Most of all, a well-built pergola lends aesthetic appeal and better defines your space—it’s the difference between having an outdoor kitchen and simply cooking outside. Grilling under a pergola feels cozy and quaint, just like we’re back indoors in our favorite space, the kitchen.
An Outdoor Pizza Oven
One of my favorite things to cook outdoors is pizza and I’m obsessed with my outdoor pizza oven. We have the Ooni Koda 16 pizza oven and it is the BEST way to make professional quality pizza at home.
An outdoor kitchen upgrades your cookouts and BBQs, expanding cooking possibilities and experiences. The better equipped and more enjoyable our workspace, the better our final, tasty result will be. With these essentials for creating the perfect outdoor kitchen, you can relish the many joys of outdoor cooked food and switch up your menu with grilled delights.
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