Outdoor Kitchens Guide

The term “summer kitchen” means exactly the same thing as the term “outdoor kitchen”. Summer kitchen is primarily used in placed that have more of a seasonal variation. In other words, you can only use the outdoor kitchen during the summer, so it is called, well, a summer kitchen. Makes perfect sense!

There are some things to think about if you live in one of those areas where this term is used, and these are things that people in warmer climates may not have to think about as they go about developing and implementing their outdoor kitchen plans. I am talking about the more extreme weather variations faced by those who live in cold climates. Imagine your built in grill buried under ice and snow for a few months. What would it be like when everything had thawed in the spring? A quality grill would be just fine, and that is one of the many reasons why I stress quality in all the topic on this website. If you are in a cold climate, you really need to think about the quality of each and every component of your summer kitchen.

Just like extreme weather will have a negative effect on the components in summer kitchens, the very base of the kitchen itself, the summer kitchen cabinets, will really be put to the test. If you have read through some of this site, you know I do not ever recommend using wood as a base material for your outdoor cabinets. It goes without saying that this is most true in the cold climates we are talking about here. In my opinion, some type of masonry cabinetry must be used in these situations. I recommend it in all situations, but in extremely cold regions there really is no choice unless you want to be rebuilding your outdoor kitchen cabinets every spring.

If your summer kitchen is in a cold zone, it brings in an entirely new set of concerns for everything, and that includes plumbing and electric. In warm climates you may be fine running water lines above ground as long as it is in keeping with the local building codes. But once you get into an area where there is a real winter, you just cannot get away with that unless you are prepared to do some serious winterizing before the first freeze. In all likelihood, running water lines above ground is against code in areas that deal with hard freezes, so that means you will be burying yours. Just be sure to bury them deep enough that they are safely below the freeze line and you should be fine.

A quality summer kitchen can be built in cold weather areas in such a way as to last as long as anywhere else these outdoor entertaining areas are found. You just have to make sure you look at summer kitchen designs that use materials that can withstand the extremes in weather, follow local building codes for structure, electrical, and plumbing, and develop your plans through the normal process I recommend and you will be just fine. The result will be a summer kitchen that will stand the test of time and be something you and your family can enjoy for many years to come.