There’s nothing better than coming home from a long day at work, opening your sliding patio door to your back deck, and cooking a chef-worthy meal right on your own deck top outdoor kitchen. With a full featured outdoor kitchen, all you need to do is walk out on your deck with a full grocery bag and you’ll have absolutely no reason to leave your back deck until you’re ready to retire for the evening.
In recent years there has been a surge in outdoor kitchen popularity among homeowners across America. Everyone knows that your kitchen is the natural gathering place of your home. Now, imagine having this same place to congregate except surrounded by the beauty of the great outdoors. Evening sunsets enjoyed from a bar height chair at your outdoor kitchen counter, conversations among the delicious aromas coming off the grill, and late evening dinner parties enjoyed by the glow of ambient lighting are all reasons more homeowners are requesting outdoor kitchen builds for their backyard remodels and new builds.
When you think of an outdoor kitchen, you may think of your typical stone and mortar build. Along with that thought one word also comes to mind – weight. Whenever adding a heavy item to a deck top, such as a hot tub, a visit from a structural engineer is always recommended to learn if your deck can support the added weight. With new advances in outdoor kitchen styles, materials, and designs, reinforcing your deck before your build - or limiting your build scope due to weight concerns - is a thing of the past.
Is it Possible to Place an Outdoor Kitchen on a Deck?
Yes, with the advancements in the materials outdoor kitchens are built from, it is now possible to build a large, full featured outdoor kitchen on your deck without any additional reinforcement. This is a revolution for homeowners with limited backyard space and those who wish to forgo the expense of adding a patio or poured concrete pad in their yard for the base of their outdoor kitchen.
Adding an outdoor kitchen to your deck is actually remarkably easier than placing an outdoor kitchen on a paver patio or block patio with your deck providing a flat, level surface as a solid base for your outdoor kitchen.
Best Type of Decks to Support an Outdoor Kitchen
While your deck top can be made of any material to support your outdoor kitchen, it is highly recommended your deck be built from a composite material for a few reasons. The biggest reason is composite decking has a much higher combustibility rating than wood. When dealing with grills or a pot full of hot oil for chicken wings on your outdoor side burner, the last thing you want is a fire on top of your deck.
The other reason we recommend composite decking is for easy clean up. We can PROMISE you that you’ll have grease or oil spills as a result of grilling and cooking in your outdoor kitchen. If you’ve ever spilled grease on natural wood, you’ll know that it makes an unsightly stain that stays for ages. Cooking frequently on your deck top outdoor kitchen can create a big mess over time. With composite decking, cleanup is much easier and the synthetic fibers are better at repelling these nasty liquids.
If you’re having your outdoor kitchen built on your natural wood deck, we recommend applying a premium stain repellant to your deck before installation. Rubber cooking mats in front of your main cooking zones can also help you avoid permanent food stains on your deck.
The Best Build Materials for Your Deck Top Kitchen
While there is no best material for every situation to build an outdoor kitchen from, there are important considerations with each build material that can help you make a sound decision before you start. Depending on your choice, some of these options may require a contractor get involved while others can be shipped direct and installed by a DIY weekend warrior.
Aluminum Deck Top Outdoor Kitchens
Aluminum is a new material in the outdoor kitchen space and offers the best in durability (nearly twice that of stainless steel) while also being nearly half the weight of stainless steel. Not only is aluminum the lightest and most durable option for outdoor kitchens, it is also a modern and luxurious option that matches the aesthetics of your indoor kitchen. Urban Bonfire™ by Oasis Outdoor Living is a leader in custom aluminum outdoor kitchens with an innovative internal rail system that allows your outdoor kitchen to grow as your culinary skills advance. Urban Bonfire™ aluminum cabinetry is twice as thick as its stainless-steel counterpart while still coming in lighter on the scales.
Urban Bonfire™ by Oasis Outdoor Living features a distinctive framework designed into each modular cabinet which allows for 100% reconfiguration as your cooking style advances and as new needs arise. Want to transform your three-shelf cabinet to a single drawer with dual pull-out trash bin? No problem for Urban Bonfire™ by Oasis Outdoor Living. Unlike stone or concrete kitchens, this system can be easily reconfigured or added to without getting a contractor involved. A true advantage for the outdoor chef who demands perfection.
Another reason aluminum is a great choice for a deck top outdoor kitchen is its extreme resistance to corrosion. This marine grade material is great for dealing with harsh winters or costal locations where they will be subject to a corrosive environment.
Stainless Steel Outdoor Kitchens for Your Deck
If you live in a non-costal environment, then a stainless-steel outdoor kitchen is also an excellent option to put on top of a backyard or rooftop deck. Our OasisSteel™ Stainless Steel outdoor kitchens are powder coated to prevent corrosion and are completely modular. This means you can set up your rooftop outdoor kitchen in any configuration you like. Straight, L-Shaped, U-Shaped, and Galley-style outdoor kitchens are all possible when you choose a stainless-steel outdoor kitchen.
Our stainless-steel outdoor kitchens are easy to assemble for the DIY weekend warrior or you can hire your local handyman to put it together for you in just a few hours. Since these types of outdoor kitchens are modular, each cabinet is light enough and compact enough easily moved to their final location on your deck. The final advantage to a stainless-steel kitchen, just as an aluminum, is the weight factor. This allows for much larger kitchen configuration on top of your deck. Considering a Kamado Big Joe can weight upwards of 350lbs, this weight savings comes into play quickly with a fully-equipped outdoor kitchen.
Frame and Stone Veneer Outdoor Kitchens
If you want the look of stone, say, to match the exterior of your home, then a frame and veneer outdoor kitchen is a great way to get the look you want without the weight of a traditional masonry build on your deck. There are many manufacturers of these frame structures with some being built from metal tubing, masonry boards, composite materials, and even crafty homeowners choosing to build their own frames.
The downside of these types of outdoor kitchens for your deck is the prebuilt variety are not very customizable which means you’ll be limited in your grill and appliance selections. You’ll also most likely need to add expensive insulated jackets to your gas appliances to meet local codes and keep the material the frame is constructed of safe from combustion, a definite concern on a wooden or composite deck.
Keep in mind, building or finishing a frame and veneer outdoor kitchen is not a very DIY-friendly, simple weekend project. Working with veneers calls for a lot of angled cuts, measuring, gluing, and most of all, patience. It’s a tedious job and very labor intensive and one that would recommend hiring a professional for.
Stone (cast concrete) Deck Top Outdoor Kitchens – Possible, But Wait…
In recent years, masonry panel outdoor kitchens have increased in popularity with homeowners wishing for a stone kitchen look, without having to deal with traditional stacked stone and mortar. Some are advertised as “DIY”, although we don’t recommend a homeowner tackle assembly without the help of a professional or a few friends to help with the heavy lifting. A six-foot concrete masonry panel can easily reach over 1 inch thick depending on the style and weigh well over one hundred pounds.
With your average outdoor kitchen being constructed of a bare minimum of 4 of these concrete panels, along with a heavy concrete countertop, this style of kitchen can reach a total weight that will require additional reinforcement of your deck and an examination by a structural engineer before proceeding. Add to all of that the weight an egg-style smoker, grill, appliances, and more, well… you get the idea.
Masonry panel style builds are an excellent choice for a custom outdoor kitchen build, however, you can get much more complex in your layout and appliance choices if choosing a lighter weight construction material when building your outdoor kitchen on top of a deck.
Deck Top Outdoor Kitchen Utilities
Perhaps one of the biggest advantages of a deck top outdoor kitchen is the easy access to utilities such as water, propane, electricity, and gas. Unlike building an outdoor kitchen on your patio, utilities do not have to be trenched and buried before your build. This also gives you greater flexibility after your build is completed to expand on to your entertaining space.
Want to add a cozy seating area next to your deck top outdoor kitchen complete with patio-top gas heaters to extend your season? No problem. Simply have your lines run below your deck and recessed connection boxes installed and you have easy-connect gas heaters with an unlimited supply of power. Adding the same feature to an outdoor kitchen away from your house would mean digging, site work, and huge expense.
With the close proximity to your home and the easy access from underneath, there is no reason not to add all the bells and whistles to your deck top outdoor kitchen to keep you outside and cooking while entertaining your guests.
Outdoor Grill & Appliance Stainless Steel Grade Considerations
Like anything that resides in the outdoors, your grill and outdoor appliances will be subject to extreme weather conditions. Constant UV rays, rain, ice, and snow can test your outdoor kitchen to its limits. When choosing a grade of outdoor appliances, more specifically the grade of stainless steel they’re comprised of, there are a few important things you should know.
With over 150 different types of stainless steel, you might find your head spinning while researching a built-in grill that will last. To narrow that down a bit, the majority of grills come in 430, 443, or 304 grade stainless-steel, with 316 grade stainless steel being the new guy to the party. Let’s review each.
430 Grade Stainless Steel – Run away! 430 stainless steel is a common ferritic steel and contains higher levels of actual steel, making it magnetic. Cheap grill are often comprised of very thin 430 stainless-steel and are usually what causes the big-box grill brands to rust out after just a few seasons. In other words, stay away from 430 grade stainless steel.
443 Grade Stainless Steel – Getting better. 443 stainless steel is comprised of Titanium and Chromium, along with low levels of carbon. This combination causes it to be very corrosion resistant when compared to 430 stainless steel. 443 also does very well under high heat, making it less prone to warping.
304 Grade Stainless Steel – The king of the grill. More manufacturers chose 304 grade stainless steel for their grills due to its durability and beautiful aesthetics. This tried-and-true stainless steel is made from at least 18% chromium and 8% nickel, and a mere 0.8% carbon. One easy test at your local grill store is to bring a magnet along – 304 grade stainless steel is non-magnetic. Most homeowners will find 304 grade stainless steel adequate for their outdoor kitchen build if proper care is taken.
316 Grade Stainless Steel – The new (rich) kid on the block. 316 grade stainless steel is also known as “Marine Grade Stainless Steel”. The main difference between its little brother, 304-grade, is that 316 contains a chemical you’ve probably never heard of called molybdenum. The addition of this chemical makes a big difference in costal outdoor kitchen builds with protection against salt corrosion vastly higher than 304 grade stainless-steel. While this grade is becoming more popular among outdoor kitchen grill and appliance manufacturers, only high-end grill companies such as Kalamazoo are offering appliances manufactured in 316 grade stainless steel. If you’re building a high-end deck top outdoor kitchen in a costal climate, you should highly consider 316 grade stainless steel.
Whichever grade of stainless steel you choose for your outdoor kitchen, remember this material isn’t called stainNOT, it’s called stainLESS. All stainless steel will eventually corrode without proper care, covering, cleaning, and general maintenance.
Let Oasis Outdoor Living Help You Build Your Dream Deck Top Outdoor Kitchen Today!
Having the convenience of an outdoor kitchen on your deck is the best way to take advantage of summer weather, create memories with friends and family, and hone your culinary skills. With the many advancements in materials and technology now available to homeowners, there’s never been a better time to start your custom deck top outdoor kitchen build. For a Free Estimate, visit our Outdoor Kitchen Online Estimate Builder to begin choosing your kitchen materials, layout, grill, and appliances.
