Your Guide to Having an Outdoor Kitchen in New York
If you’ve cooked for guests in your home, you’ll know that it can be challenging to have all your guests inside while trying to cook and entertain at once. Everyone is spread out around the house, so it’s hard to greet and chat with people in different rooms while ensuring dinner doesn’t get burned. The alternative is to have everyone crammed into your kitchen, which isn’t ideal for entertaining either.
But imagine this—you’re outside, in a wide-open outdoor kitchen, with your friends and family around you, a brisket in the smoker, a bottle of wine uncorked, and ice cold beer in the kegerator—now wouldn’t that be cool? Everyone had a great meal and wonderful conversations. It’s a fantastic way to strengthen friendships and build cherished memories.
At Keystone Custom Decks, we’re known for our famous decks and patios—and we’re here to help you populate your deck with the things that make outdoor living fun, and that includes a quality outdoor kitchen! You deserve a proper outdoor cooking experience, and we are confident that we can design the custom outdoor dining experience of your dreams.
Ready? Let’s get cooking!
Why Outdoor Kitchens Are Cool
Let’s face it. Outdoor kitchens are cool. They offer a unique way to expand your living space, enhance the entertaining experience by allowing you to cook outdoors while socializing with guests, keep cooking smells outside, and generally provide a more relaxed atmosphere for dining while enjoying the fresh air. As a bonus, a professionally done outdoor kitchen increases the value of your home.
If you live in Upstate New York, especially in the Finger Lakes region, you know the summers there are ideal for dining outdoors. But sometimes, you just don’t want to go where everyone else is.
The solution? Enjoy outdoor dining in the privacy of your home and enhance that outside experience with an outdoor kitchen! It’s the perfect place to enjoy the fantastic food and drink the area offers, which we’ll touch on briefly.
The State of the New York Food Scene
The Finger Lakes and surrounding regions are synonymous with great living. Some of the great foods of the Empire State come from this area, from upscale dining to working-class favorites.
Enjoy the summer with an ice-cold craft beer and some comfort food, like White Hots and salt potatoes—and you can’t go wrong with iconic Buffalo Wings. End sweetly with a Naples grape pie or an ice cream sundae from Ithaca. Are you super hungry but unsure of what to eat? How about putting leftovers from the grill and some french fries to make a Rochester garbage plate?
You can also enjoy the beauty of the Empire State with some fine wines. The Finger Lakes are a fertile agricultural area, making the region famous for its farm-to-table eateries. Take advantage of this freshness by cooking delicious meals right in your backyard! The Catskills are the home of American fly fishing, but it doesn’t mean you can’t fish for delightful fish such as trout, perch, salmon, and bass from Seneca, Keuka, Skaneateles, and Canandaigua Lakes.
No matter your preference, you’re in the right place to enjoy life and eat well!
Bringing That Scene Into Your Outdoor Garden
To be that guy who knows how to host in style and provide a good time, your outdoor kitchen needs some serious hardware. Here’s what we recommend for the ultimate gathering space:
Grilling Station:
The grill is the iconic symbol of the American outdoor lifestyle. Putting grill marks on your food makes it taste better, and grilling outdoors is as American as apple pie.
Pizza Oven:
Pizza parties are a joy. An outdoor pizza oven can bake Neopolitan pizzas in about 90 seconds, perfect for small gatherings and a great way for your family to enjoy a cool summer evening on the deck.
Refrigerator:
Don’t stress yourself out by running back and forth to the kitchen to get cold drinks and food to cook—just because you’re hosting doesn’t mean you don’t get to mingle a bit! Put everything you need in a refrigerator under your outdoor kitchen counter, save time and effort cooking for your guests, and use that time to enjoy the company and the outdoors.
Smoker:
Running a smoker for your guests is like shining the Bat Signal into the skies over Gotham City—your guests will smell it before they even arrive at your house! Inviting your guests over to dine on smoked meats is one way of showing your guests that they are important— the slow, methodical process of smoking requires care and attention. Pulling that brisket out of the smoker in your outdoor kitchen doesn’t just say, “I drink regional craft beer and know about the Maillard reaction,” it also says, “I love you guys, and I spent my day preparing this for you.”
Kegerator:
Speaking of craft beer, how about a kegerator to dispense some of Finger Lake’s finest cold brews? All you need to do is pick up a keg from your retailer and plug it in, and you’ll have fresh, cold, bubbly beer available at the pull of a tap right on your deck.
A kegerator also helps reduce your carbon footprint since you’re not buying bottles or beers (which, while they get recycled, require some energy to recycle). And if you’re one of those guys who brew beer, you can keg it immediately, maximizing freshness!
Wine fridge:
You can’t think of the Finger Lakes without thinking of the area’s famous wines. With a wine fridge, you can keep your outdoor kitchen stocked with the finest wineries the Empire State offers, chilled and ready to uncork. Show your guests what hanging out with the ultimate host is like by accessorizing with these wine-enthusiast must-haves.
Outdoor bar counters and seating:
While an outdoor dining table is ideal for a small gathering, the counter seating experience is just fun for a large gathering. It’s a designated area for guests to gather, chat, and mingle, no matter where you place it. Around your counter, you can serve and mix drinks, encourage guests to interact and participate in preparing food and beverages, and serve them conveniently.
You can even place your counters on the perimeter of your deck, allowing for more seating and an outdoor view—perfect for enjoying the scenery while chatting. An outdoor bar seating arrangement is a great way to create lasting memories for guests and an elevated ambiance that encourages them to spend more time together.
Ain’t No Party Like a Finger Lakes Party
Your outdoor kitchen’s not just for people to sit around, eat, and drink unless your guests like staring contests. In addition to the dining tables and counters we discussed earlier, the deck and its surroundings are designed to be an extension of your evening’s entertainment. Here are some recommendations for making your outdoor dining experience an evening to remember:
- Outdoor furniture: After that enjoyable meal (or staring contest), continue that conversation on some outdoor furniture designed to feel just as comfortable as your living room furniture. From practical chairs to sofas, luxurious chaises, and daybeds, you’ve got pretty much everything you can find in a living room. Imagine sitting with family and friends, enjoying the sun setting over the beautiful Finger Lakes.
- Hot Tubs: A hot tub or spa might be the ideal place to sit after a meal. While jumping into the pool after a meal isn’t as dangerous as it might seem, sitting in hot water can be beneficial, as it can aid digestion.
- Fireplaces and Firepits: An inviting, blazing fireplace or firepit is another pleasant spot to gather for conversation after dinner. And if you happen to have a hot tub, it’s also a perfect accessory for guests transitioning from the tub to another spot while continuing to chat.
- Projector and Screen: Are you having your friends over to watch football with dinner? Or are there kids you’d like to keep entertained while the grown-ups talk about boring things? You don’t have to go indoors for that. Set up a projector and a portable screen and connect it to your TV, streaming service, or gaming console!
As you can see, the outdoor kitchen is just the beginning. It’s a way to bring together the people you love and care about, have a good time, and build great memories.
Piecing Together Your Dream Outdoor Kitchen with Keystone Custom Decks
We hope that this blog has inspired you to build an outdoor kitchen. At Keystone Custom Decks, you deserve a deck made with high-quality materials, superior craftsmanship, and custom designs. We back up our work with our limited lifetime warranty.
Come to our showroom in beautiful Keuka Park, where you can learn more about our people, design processes, and financing opportunities.
Contact us today to start your outdoor dining experience!