The rise of the outdoor kitchen
Forget four ovens – when it comes to gastronomic oneupmanship, take it outside, says Jessica Doyle
If you want to make a statement with your home, the kitchen is the place to do it. It’s become something of a rite of passage for politicians to use this room to get their personal message across when there’s an election or a leadership contest on the cards. James Brokenshire, the Communities Secretary, may have cooked up a storm last week by revealing that he has no fewer than four ovens in his; but there’s a new trend in kitchen one-upmanship. If you want to indulge in the ultimate culinary status symbol, you’ll need to take it outside.
The UK has not, traditionally, been a country conducive to much alfresco cooking activity, save the odd weekend barbecue. Partly due to last summer’s extended heatwave, however, as well as advances in all-weather materials, attitudes are changing, and more of us are investing in our outside spaces with the hope of spending more time actually living in them, rather than just looking at them.
John Lewis has reported a sharp rise in garden spending over the past 12 months, which it believes is fuelled by a rising trend for hi-tech outdoor kitchens, with more people installing high-spec barbecues that are more impressive than their interior ovens (its Heston Blumenthal range is up 47 per cent year on year, and pizza ovens are selling like hot cakes). No longer are we simply flipping burgers in our gardens – now you can throw together a quick stir-fry, cook a casserole or even bake bread, should you so wish.
Sales in the company’s outdoor living department have more than doubled over the past four years, as entertaining becomes an alfresco affair, according to John Lewis buyer Vicky Angell. “Gardens are increasingly used as an outdoor lounge and kitchen,” she says. “People are really investing in their garden furniture and putting thought into their garden living space. They also expect more from their barbecues and won’t settle for coals that won’t light, or overcooked meat. Some of our barbecues can now cater for 50-plus people in all weathers, cook to exact temperature and come with a rotisserie and pizza stone.”
At Clerkenwell Design Week in London this week, the design company Kitchen Architecture launched an even more arresting option: a free-standing outdoor kitchen system by the Swedish company Röshults. According to Kitchen Architecture’s Mike Lennon: “It’s a natural progression for us; it’s a sociable space and very
well designed, in a similar modern style to our indoor kitchens.” And demand is already there: “We’ve had a lot of inquiries, without having done much promotion.”
The simple, modular design of the kitchen, which comes in durable stainless steel, allows it to be customised to fit the outside space: buyers can effectively design their own kitchen by combining the 50cm-wide modules, ending up with an island that can measure anything from one metre to four metres across. In the same way as an indoor island, and unlike a conventional barbecue, it’s also designed as a gathering space: guests can sit on bar stools at one side while the cook tends to the food on the other.
Options for the modules include a wok burner, a grill and a teppanyaki plate, connected to either mains or bottled gas, as well as a sink and solid teak chopping blocks. An outdoor fridge can also be integrated if required. Covers are made to order to fit each customer’s configuration, so it will still look smart in the garden over winter – and, unlike a built-in grill or cast-concrete kitchen island, the whole thing can be picked up and transported if you move house.
Where the Röshults range is slick, clean-lined and contemporary, the alternative from Danish brand Morsø is altogether more rustic in style. Designed to shelter the brand’s cast-iron Forno oven, which can be used to cook anything from stews and steaks to pizza and bread, the Morsø
Hut comes with an oven and wood store, prepping areas, and a bar on each side with matching stools. The wooden roof offers protection from summer drizzle and, as the oven radiates heat, the hut can still be used when the weather turns cooler.
For those not quite in the market for a full outdoor kitchen, or with a smaller outside space, there are more flexible options in the form of the latest garden ovens. The Roccbox is a tabletop, stone-floored oven, fired by wood or gas, which heats up to a blistering 500C and can cook a pizza in 60 seconds. It can be moved into a shed when not in use, or even taken on a picnic. Its maker, Gozney, has also just launched a new modular oven that promises to deliver restaurant-quality cooking in the garden, and is big enough to cook several dishes at once. Costing from £1,899, it’s less of an investment than a full kitchen but would add a similar sense of theatre to an alfresco party.
Whether or not we’re in for another scorching summer this year, as our indoor living spaces become smaller, the vogue for taking cooking and entertaining outside can only be a good thing. And it’s certainly one way of upping your kitchen kudos.
We’re installing highspec barbecues that are more impressive than interior ovens