Need advice on outdoor kitchen location

Mayberry · July 2013

We are building a new house that will be two floors, plus a finished basement/man cave. I'm having a hard time deciding where to put my Egg and build my outdoor kitchen area. The kitchen is on the main floor, with a deck and screened in porch off of it. Downstairs, outside the basement, there will be a covered area underneath both the screened porch and deck, a total of 14' x 30', all on a concrete patio. My first thought is to put the Egg down there and build a full stone outdoor kitchen for it under the deck. But, the thought of going up and down stairs constantly when I'm grilling, or especially for overnight cooks, doesn't sound appealing. I figured some of you have had this same dilemma and I'd love your advice on good choices/bad choices. Before it's mentioned, I'm already considering a second Egg (small) and keeping one upstairs and one downstairs because of this. But, building the new house has killed my savings,so that's a while down the road. Any suggestions?

Mayberry · July 2013

Left something out: If it's on the deck, it's on the main floor, off the kitchen, where I'm close to sauces pans, tongs, etc. also close to where most meals will be eaten.

Grillmagic · July 2013

Go for off the kitchen where it's easiest to cook from, the last thing your going to want is have it be a pain to get to your egg. I say put it in your kitchen with a good vent! LOL!!!

caliking · July 2013

I vote for the deck. You want the eggs closer to the kitchen and eating areas. When you get the other eggs, you can populate the downstairs area for the times when you need eats for games on tv, etc.

GaryLange · July 2013

Build it below the deck so wen the wife gets mad at you you can put on a great cook and send all the smells up to her and she will forgive you.LOL,LOL,LOL

JeffM · July 2013

Convenience , convenience, convenience....of the kitchen because you'll me making a hundred trips.

BobsBGE · July 2013

I had a small concrete pad outside my basement door and built a cover over it for my egg. I have to go up and down stairs a lot and it's kind of a pain but I really had no other choice. The one advantage is I keep a lot of my extras down in the basement (pizza peels, woks, charcoal, lighters, extra grates, etc) which makes it a little easier. I also bought a CyberQ wifi so I would know what was going on for longer cooks without walking down a flight of stairs. I prep everything in the kitchen and then walk it downstairs. Each cook is a good leg workout though.

KennyLee · July 2013

I would definitely go with the deck because it's closer to the kitchen/eating area. I guess the only question would be how extravagant the setup is going to be and making sure the deck can hold up with no issues under the added weight of whatever you're planning to build.

The only way I'd do it down below is if you were also going to have a second fridge and some storage to keep your sauces, oils, rubs, etc., and where you can refrigerate your marinating grub prior to putting it on the Egg so you wouldn't have to make nearly as many trips up and down during a cook. Then it might be worthwhile.

henapple · July 2013

I'll go the other way. Maybe hold off on the fancy outdoor kitchen and stock your basement with a fridge, commercial sink, cabinets, bowls, etc...

Everything I need is in my cave... One trip in the house when I'm finished.

Ragtop99 · July 2013

Besides being central to the kitchen, if you are building a nice deck to hangout on, you'll want an egg on it. When the guests are over and you're grilling, you don't want to be off by yourself. Additionally the smoke from the egg will drift up onto the deck.

YEMTrey · July 2013

I vote for putting it downstairs on the patio directly outside the mancave. The Egg will be on a concrete surface, and you'll have some cover so you can Egg in the rain. I would add a fridge down there and go that route.
If you're like me, you'll spend more time in the mancave than you will in the kitchen and this will end up being a shorter walk as well.

Either way you decide, congrats on the new house.

Adamd · July 2013

get 2 eggs. Put one down and one on the deck off the kitchen!! Problem solved!

AmericanFlannel · July 2013

I put mine on the deck, but I hope to move it under the deck once I have a patio. The patio will be right off my man cave, I only have a small sink there but I do have a full sized fridge down there to hold the meat etc. So my vote is do it below on the patio and let me know how you like it!

jeroldharter · July 2013

On the deck.

Ideally, you could extend roofing over the egg area from the screen porch or from the house so that you have some shade and are protected from rain/snow, and some overhead lighting. If room/budget allows, a ceiling fan would be nice.

Since you are building new, consider something like diamond plate for decking under the egg rather than conventional decking. I have two huge plastic storage bins outside that hold all of my accessories - completely weatherproof and lockable. Don't forget to extend electrical power for odds and ends.

Under a screen porch is depressing. The smoke would be unpleasant above.

Cookinbob · July 2013

I vote for the deck for convenience

Hi54putty · July 2013

I wish mine was closer to my kitchen.

henapple · July 2013

There's something about having your own stuff...

DMurf · July 2013

Elevator platform to move the out door kitchen between the two?!

Botch · July 2013

If I ever build a house from scratch, my first priority is to have anything, decks, patios, kitchens, tennis courts, polo fields (hey, I'm dreaming here!

) on the north or east side of the house. My patio/deck is on the west and is unusable much of the time.

How's yours oriented?

Mayberry · July 2013

I just got around to checking the replies to this. Thank you all for the opinions. Looks like most say to put it on the deck. Over he weekend, I did thinkit another option. I have a cypress table on caster wheels I built for the Egg, and also have a recessed cutout in my garage. So, while I would much prefer he Egg being on te deckin the backyard, keeping it stored in the garage, out of the elements, is very appealing. My table will stay cleaner, last longer, and my Egg will gather no moisture. I've always stored my Egg in the garage, but see most leave theirs outside. Isn't there a lot of moisture that gathers inside the Egg that way? Btw, I'm in GA, where the relative humidity stays close to 100%. So, on deck, in the backyard, and pleasant, or in the garage, protected and clean?

boatbum · July 2013

Think about what kind of cooking you will be doing with your Egg.

For me, I have an outdoor kitchen that is right outside a door from the inside kitchen, under a roof as part of the patio. I chose to put the Egg at the other end of the pool from the outdoor kitchen.

The reason is the smoke from the Egg. Did not want it anywhere near the door to the house. Most of the time I am doing long cooks. I can roll a cart over if I need space to set things. Otherwise I am not really standing at the Egg cooking. I chose to not fight smoke around the house.

jeroldharter · July 2013

Given that you are building and have options, put a roof over it and let the egg sit there. So much less work and it is nice to cook in the shade. Especially in Georgia.

Ragtop99 · July 2013

Mayberry said:

...Isn't there a lot of moisture that gathers inside the Egg that way? Btw, I'm in GA, where the relative humidity stays close to 100%. So, on deck, in the backyard, and pleasant, or in the garage, protected and clean?

I have not had any problem in DC, and our summers are hot & humid. My egg sits out uncovered year round. I use it a couple times a week.

Scottborasjr · July 2013

I wish that my "mancave" had a walkout basement, unfortunately my basement is underground. My deck is off the kitchen and not very large. My house isn't really setup for entertaining more then 8-12 people outside of the family. I bought a big screen hdtv to be in the mancave 7 years ago when we moved in, and I don't even think I've turned it on in over a year. Hopefully when my one year old masters stairs I will be able to reclaim my sanctuary.

I put a medium on my deck which has become my main egg, my large and small reside in the garage and are rolled out into the driveway for larger cooks. I would setup the main outdoor kitchen on the deck and add a additional egg when funds permit to the lower level. If you can setup a secondary kitchen/bar area with refrigeration and prep area in the basement before adding the cooking material even better.

Best of luck and congratulations on the new place.

Need advice on outdoor kitchen location

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