Get Your Grill On
Discover the joy of darn-near-year-round outdoor kitchens
It’s a time-honored tradition in Minnesota: Whether it’s a sunny 75 degrees or raw and rainy, we fire up the grill on Memorial Day. Our alfresco season may not be long, but we make the most of every unfrozen minute, often determinedly grilling when any sensible chef would be inside simmering a hearty stew. ¶ Now that gas fire pits and infrared lamps keep our outside kitchens comfy more days per year, more of us are discovering the joys of darn-near-year-round outdoor cooking. “Everyone in Minnesota would love an outdoor kitchen—as long as they like to cook and eat,” says JoLynn Johnson, president of Crystal Kitchen Center in Crystal. ¶ Adding a kitchen area can be spendy—or not so much. A 6-foot island, including a 36-inch commercial grill, storage, and electrical plug-in, can be had for roughly $10,000, says Michael Anderson, president of Minnesota Seasons, a Woodbury company that specializes in outdoor kitchens. The Fuego “Modular” kitchen, a stylish one-piece prefab that includes sink, fridge, grill, warming drawers, and workspace sells for around $15,000. Of course, for a custom outdoor kitchen with all the amenities, plus granite countertops and custom cabinetry, the sky’s the limit. ¶ An outdoor kitchen is a natural in a yard that can accommodate a patio or pool. Case in point: the McNultys’ large, bowl-like backyard. The Chanhassen homeowners knew their yard had potential. As recent grandparents, they knew they wanted amenities that would entertain kids for years to come and called in Edina design/build firm M.A. Peterson to make it happen. Landscape designer Jeff Gaffney worked with the bowl shape of the space to transform the yard into an oasis that surrounds the homeowners with the curves of a custom pool and patio. For the grandkids, there’s a lawn area for playing badminton and bocce ball, and the pool features jumping rocks rather than a diving board. For adults, a tanning ledge in the pool and stainless-steel hot tub are additional attractions, while a sound-buffering landscape and continuous waterfall screen traffic noise from a nearby county road. In the center of the action is the kitchen, with its natural gas grill, granite bar for seating and serving, and custom cabinetry with plenty of storage.
A young Medina family, building a new home on a pristine 10-acre lot, had a similar dream. When Sarah and Brian hired SALA architect Paul Buum to design their dream home, his mandate was clear: “The whole project was to be geared toward a connection to the outdoors,” he says. Oh, yes, and Brian, a grill-loving, native Californian and culinary student at Le Cordon Bleu in Mendota Heights, wanted a year-round grilling area.
Photo by Dana Wheelock
Eventually, that developed into the concept of an exterior kitchen,” says Buum. He wrapped an enormous, L-shaped screened porch around the rear of the home, with views of the surrounding woods and pasture. The kitchen is on the southeast side of the house, tucked out of the wind—perfect for wintertime cooking. The gas grill, beneath the porch roof, is protected from rain and snow. The vented hood and fans prevent any smoke from accumulating. Brian, intent on reinstituting a California Thanksgiving tradition, made sure his Solaire grill would accommodate an 18-pound turkey. It also has a rotisserie and interchangeable infrared burners, allowing him to expand his grilling repertoire.
Certainly part of the attraction of outdoor kitchens and accompanying amenities—porches, dining areas, swimming pools, spas, and fire pits—is the resort-like ambiance they generate. It feels like you’re getting away—even if it’s just French doors that separate your getaway from workaday life in the kitchen.
That’s what motivated a homeowner in the Lake of the Isles-area to add outdoor spaces to her home when her three-car garage had to be rebuilt. “We needed to incorporate the space above [the garage] to connect and flow from the house,” she says. At the same time, she wanted a calm, private retreat that would give her a place to take a mini-vacation.
Jeff Lindgren, lead designer for Streeter Renovation & Design in Wayzata, designed a space that gives her all that and more. The kitchen at one end of the New York bluestone patio gets a touch of European cottage from the timber pergola of natural cedar and fir. Retractable awnings above the 42-inch grill and granite serving area provide shade on hot summer days, as well as a sense of a separate room. At the other end of the patio above the garage is a lovely three-season porch with its own wood-burning fireplace.
These outdoor rooms easily transition from private retreat to perfect party venue. “It’s a wonderful area for entertaining large groups,” says the homeowner. “I had my boy’s varsity football dinners in the space before home games, and it was perfect for a large group.”
Decisions, decisions
As you plan your outdoor kitchen, consider:
Placement. “You probably want it relatively close to the [inside] kitchen,” says JoLynn Johnson, president of Crystal Kitchen Center. “If I had to walk down steps in order to use an outdoor kitchen, it wouldn’t get used.”
Flow. Consider traffic patterns and usability. If you want the cooking and dining in close proximity so you’re not carrying food all the way across the patio, plan the spaces accordingly.
Protection. Consider shade, and shelter from rain and (gulp) snow. You may not need a roof, but you may want a trellis or canvas over the grilling area, says Johnson. If you do have a roof, then you need a hood to vent cooking steam, smoke, and odors.
Grill. You can buy a gas grill for $100—or a Viking for $8,000. So think through your cooking and entertaining style. Do you care about having to switch propane tanks? Or do you want natural gas? Do you want side burners so you can heat up the beans while you’re putting meat on the grill? “I’ve had people roll their eyes at the idea of a warming drawer,” says Johnson. “But how often are you trying to keep something warm while you cook?”
Sink/refrigerator. Both are great for summer use, but they have to be disconnected and winterized.
Lighting. When you’re grilling at night, you need to see what you’re doing. And you’ll probably want fun accent lighting for the patio or porch. And, while we’re talking ambiance, don’t forget about music. You’ll need speakers.
Additional heat sources. Consider a gas fire pit. It extends your outdoor season, and gas makes it effortless. “Once you have one, you’ll use it all the time,” promises Michael Anderson of Minnesota Seasons.
Storage. Built in spaces to store barware and dinnerware. And a place for trash. If you have a refrigerator, get one with a lock to keep out neighborhood pillagers—both human and animal. Raccoons are amazingly agile and
Chris Lee is editor of Midwest Home.
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