As you and your family spend more time outdoors, you’ll realize how truly valuable those moments are. Staying comfortable in the backyard means keeping everyone refreshed and nourished. Between providing beverages and simple snacks or whipping up a fantastic feast for your friends, the outdoor kitchen will transform your backyard into a welcoming gathering space. So, what are the benefits to adding an outdoor kitchen to your Lehigh County, PA landscape design?
Natural Gathering Place
Kitchens are a natural gathering place for anyone who’s hungry and wants to be part of the action. Many outdoor kitchens are designed with seats built into a bar to maintain an exciting social environment. Plus, seats directly across from where everything is made will make things much easier for serving food and drinks and cleaning up.
Beverage Cooler
At some point, everyone enjoying your backyard will get thirsty. Keep your drinks cool in a dedicated beverage cooler, whether it’s a crisp white wine, a sweet lemonade, or an iced coffee. There’s nothing like a stocked fridge to keep the fun going throughout the day and evening - without multiple trips into the house. A beverage cooler will become one of the most important parts of your outdoor kitchen.
Grills and Griddles: the Ideal Combination
Grills are an integral part of the outdoor experience. While the charcoal or propane grills are omnipresent in American backyards, they can’t cook everything. A flat-top griddle is a wonderful tool for creating some favorite foods, such as pancakes, grilled cheese, and toasting hamburger buns. For versatility when making breakfast, lunch, and dinner a little more exciting in your outdoor living, these are great tools to have.
Dependable Shelter
The best outdoor kitchens have some kind of shelter to keep the appliances safe and guests comfortable. A pavilion is the perfect shelter for an outdoor kitchen because of its closed roof and open walls. This design will protect the spaces inside the pavilion from precipitation and baking sun, while open walls help to maintain air flow and the outdoor feeling. Add a ceiling fan to help promote airflow as kitchen activities heat the space up.
Mood Lighting
Outdoor kitchens are often the crown jewels of backyards and should be the center of attention. An outdoor kitchen needs proper lighting to showcase the beauty of the structure as well as provide task lighting and a safe environment, especially when cooking is in full swing. Install task lighting above the preparation and cooking areas to brightly illuminate tasks such as cutting vegetables, grilling, and cleaning. The rest of the pavilion can be illuminated with more subtle accent lighting that sets the mood . For example, you could install warm overhead lights such as string lights in your seating area for a relaxing experience.
Related: A Landscape Designer Suggests These Clever Ways to Utilize Outdoor Lighting in Wescosville, PA Area
Wood-Fired Pizza Oven
Perhaps one of the most exciting backyard cooking features is an outdoor wood-fired pizza oven. This incredible masonry feature will send friends and family clamoring to come to your backyard and enjoy some hot and delicious pizza right from your outdoor kitchen. While there are countertop models, a masonry pizza oven will get much hotter and retain heat longer, and this can also serve double duty in warming up the space on a chilly day. Such an oven would quickly become a centerpiece of your outdoor lifestyle, both in practical use in cooking and visual attraction. Wood-fired pizza ovens are actually useful for many different techniques and types of cooking. Better yet, it’s possible to combine your wood-fired pizza oven with an outdoor fireplace to keep everyone warm and fed.
