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The outdoor kitchen, or summer kitchen, has been a part of Mediterranean living for a thousand years. Summer heat and the allure of outdoor living have been driving chefs and families to cook in wood-fired ovens and grills, prepare food outside of the kitchen and eat and entertain friends in a cool, shady and perhaps breezy spot. Like many places in North America, the Mediterranean summers are hot, and getting out of the house is the right thing to do.

Farmhouses outdoor kitchens from Provence to Tuscany feature pizza ovens, grills,
sinks and work surfaces set in garden, courtyards and covered terraces. Today, with
the availability of a new generation of outdoor-ready kitchen appliances, including
stainless steel grills, sinks, refrigerators, warming drawers, space heaters and even
kitchen cabinets, the outdoor kitchen is becoming more popular in the states.

Still, with all this innovation, don't forget the three anchors of a traditional outdoor
kitchen: the pizza oven, a wood coal grill and a true wood-burning fireplace. Mix
the old with the new, and you will build the best outdoor kitchen found anywhere in
the world.

Getting Started -- Don't Go Too Far

Our experience is that you are going to love having an outdoor kitchen so much,
that you will end up using it exclusively during the summer, and frequently in the
spring and autumn. Heck, we used our outdoor kitchen in Italy this year for
Thanksgiving, Christmas, Boxing Day and New Years Eve dinners, despite the fact
that it was getting below freezing over night. That is why our first rule is to make
sure that you do not put your outdoor kitchen too far from your house. No matter
how efficient you try to be, and the size of serving trays you employ, there are
always trips back and forth. Don't make it a trek.

Allow for Ample Counter Space

Like your indoor kitchen, make sure that you have sufficient counter spaces for
preparation and serving. We find that we always end up doing a reasonable amount
of food prep outside, near the pizza oven and grill, and it is never fun having to
juggle pans and cutting boards to find an open spot to work.

Also, invest some time in ensuring that you have an efficient work triangle (or
however you foresee actually using your equipment) -- just as you would for your
indoor kitchen. It's no fun having to walk around an island to get from your oven to
the refrigerator, just as it isn't fun having to walk from one end of the outdoor
kitchen to another to carry a freshly made pizza to the pizza oven.

Finally, choose a counter material that is easy to clean and holds up to the elements.
While it can be very expensive, slab granite is a great option. It cleans up fast, and
does not have any grout joints to worry about. Think about how difficult it is to keep
your indoor kitchen counters looking clean, and then imagine combing food,
morning dew, and outdoor dirt and dust.

Prepare for Guests

Just at the indoor kitchen is a magnet for guests at any party, your outdoor kitchen
in general, and our pizza oven in specific, are going to become the focal point for
your entire property. On a summer evening, everyone will be attracted to the fire
and smells coming from your pizza oven. Someone once explained to me that fire
excites our basic instinct for eating -- and you will find you pizza oven rivaling even
the best view for the center of attention.

In the winter and cool evenings, your pizza oven and outdoor fireplace provide
warmth and a feeling of well being. I have heard the pizza oven described to be the
cool wealth equivalent of a swimming pool.

What all of this means is that you have to plan on having lots of guests in your
outdoor kitchen. Plan for where you want them when you are cooking, where they
can sit and watch, where they make their own pizza, and where they can just hang
out and enjoy the space. If you think it is difficult getting a pizza peel with a fresh,
sticky pizza from one side of your outdoor kitchen to the pizza oven when you are
alone -- think about doing it through a crowd.

Building Your Infrastructure

There are a number of ways of creating the "bones" or "cabinets" for your outdoor
kitchen, including concrete blocks, metal frame and concrete board and outdoor
kitchen cabinets. We have seen all three done successfully, and which you pick
should depend on how sophisticated your cabinet and counter layout is, what your
shelf and storage needs are, budget and the experience of your builder.

Back to the Basics

We think that the pizza oven is the heart and soul of any outdoor kitchen. While we
all enjoy the convenience and consistent performance that you get from a modern
stainless steel propane grill, nothing can compare with experience and food you get
with wood-fire oven cooking. We know people who have never lit their (expensive)
grills again after they installed their brick oven, so make sure you install a large
enough pizza oven so that your wood-fired cooking does not become a bottleneck.

Also, consider installing an old-fashion masonry grill for cooking with real wood
coals. Your brick oven is an unlimited source of the world's best charcoal -- the
coals that build up in your pizza oven. Wood coal grilling is so great, there are even
a number of high-end BBQ companies selling "real" wood charcoal as a luxury item.
While I personally would not spend the money to buy boutique charcoal, I have a
great time using my own -- you can taste the difference.

Finally, consider installing an Outdoor Fireplace. Refractory fireplaces do a great job
of storing and reflecting the heat from a true wood fire. Unlike inserts that never
seem to heat up, and let most of your heat go up the chimney, these wonderful
outdoor fireplaces hold their heat for hours.

James Bairey, a former Silicon Valley marketing executive, is CEO of href="http://www.fornobravo.com">Forno Bravo,
LLC, a supplier of Italian Wood-Fired Pizza
Ovens and Brick Pizza Ovens and Italian Pizza Ingredients for home
owners, restaurants, pizzerias and bakeries. He recently returned to his home
and vineyard in the California wine country after two years in Florence, Italy.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/