Sometimes things work out well . . . My outdoor kitchen area

During the bathroom remodel as I bored of working on it in what seemed like all of my free time I decided to build an outdoor kitchen area.  My brother-in-law Mike and I had talked about it since last summer when we were always cleaning and processing our fish on coolers in the driveway.

At the time he was working out at the end of the world on Shemya Island which is on the far western end of the Aleutian Islands.  His work schedule had him working for three months at a time on the island with two or three weeks time off.  He has worked out the schedule so he could be home for the beginning and end of the fishing season.

I needed a break from the bathroom work and headed to Lowe’s to grab some lumber.  Mike had bought a new stainless steel electric smoker over the winter and I wanted to make a place where we could smoke our fish out of the weather as many times it was always raining while we would tend the smoker for 6 to 8 hours.

Things I wanted to include were the smoker, a grill, my refrigerator, and an area to keep all of the processing gear which includes a vacuum sealer, the various size bags, and the brine ingredients.

I started the work so I would hopefully have everything done outside before he came home for his next off cycle.  I needed a new grill as I wear one out about every two seasons and then rebuild all of the parts but it was time for something different.  I wanted a stainless one so it was a mad dash search in Craig’s list for a grill.  After several attempts to contact the person before they sold their item one was found from a couple who were downsizing their home.  The kids were gone and it was time to go from a house to a smaller condo.  The grill they had bought at the end of last season was going to be too large for the new place so they were selling several household items to lessen the move.

It was such a great deal . . . the grill, two filled propane bottles, a nice set of grilling utensils, and a cover.  Found this all for just over a hundred dollars for a $ 700 value. 

Here is a picture of the area under the covered part of the side deck before the work begins . . .

Another shot of the covered deck area before I extended the roof on both ends where the kitchen area will be.

I built the cabinets to be open for storage and made spaces for the electric stainless steel smoker and grill as well as a refrigerator I usually keep at my office but had not when I started the new job.  We painted it a silver color to somewhat match the stainless and it turned out nice. 

The Grill Area was made for the grill with a natural gas hose connection which allows the grill to come out 10 feet if needed to be pulled out for cleaning.

This is the tile work on the counter top for processing fish and preparing food.  The tile was on clearance costing about .83 cents apiece for the 16” square tile.  I was able to cut it for the patterns to work out and only wasted a small amount to have everything work out like I wanted.  I used the same ‘leaf’ wood trim for the edges of everything and left room for the trash can on one side of the grill and wood storage for the smoker on the other.

Here is a picture of the Gazebo area & Fire pit before adding the gas logs.  We used the ready made ‘fire logs’ which required keeping a cover over the pit in case any ash blew from the logs breaking down.

I ran a natural gas line around the base of the rear of the house with branches going to the grill and the fire pit.  Here is a picture after installing natural gas logs where I have a shut off valve under the tile tabletop.  I plan next spring to install a automatic lighter so I do not have to use the log lighter.

There you have it . . . all work this winter, spring and summer on various projects with nice results.  Having the fire pit extends the time window that the area is usable.  On the wet cooler nights that we have had this summer makes a nice place to get away for a brief bit to watch the mountains, the eagles flying around the house, and the escape from the noises of the city.

Now that it is all finished I did hear words from my wife I never thought I would hear . . . “I do not want to do another remodel project in the future”.

Reminds me of those famous words by Roger Murtaugh in the 1987 Lethal Weapon movie . . . “I too old for this shit!”

That’s how I’m feeling about now.

Ice