Questions about my (Current) Dream Outdoor Kitchen

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destry pirch

Newbie
Original poster
Feb 15, 2016
1
10
I've been knocking around ideas for an outdoor kitchen for a few years now. Time and budget allows me one decently-sized project each summer, and their are still a few summers between me and this project, so this is more of a mental exercise than a plan so far. Of course, the patio it would sit on/attach to will come sooner, and I built last year's project (a deck) with this plan in mind.

My self-imposed guidelines:

The overall patio/kitchen footprint is about 15'x20'.

The corner will be a Forno Bravo Pompeii oven.

The long branch of the L will have a smoker.

The smoker will be offset, refractory, and large enough to occasionally cook a small hog.

Somewhere, I need charcoal/wood grilling capabilities.

Gas cooking would be nice to have as well.

This is what I came up with so far:


The stairs for my existing deck would land on the left edge of this patio, 4 feet from the deck. The house is 4 feet from the lower edge in this view. This keeps the heat far enough from combustibles and gives at least 3' walkway out either side.

Cross-section of the smoker part:


I made CMUs in Sketchup, and built it like Legos. Allowing for a layer of 1.5" insulation and 2.5" firebrick, the firebox dimensions would come out to 36x24x18. The smokebox is 48x32x29.5. Air intake: 8x32, minus door/vent considerations, and the flue/damper area between fire and food is about 5x27. I used the barbecue calculator site I saw linked on here to come up with ballpark numbers, starting with the cookbox size and working backwards. In the cookbox, there would be refractory plate about 8" off the floor, and 2 or more grates above that. With all but one grate removed, I could cook any animal that can fit in a 48x32x16 box (give or take an inch or two of height, not sure exactly where the grates will be).

My thought was to make the firebox a modified Santa Maria grill insert to allow for charcoal grilling. Basically, a brick firebox, open on top, so I could drop in something like this:


Or cover the opening with a steel plate for smoking mode and a plancha.

Then my chef friend told me about Norcal Ovenworks, and this little guy:

http://www.norcalovenworks.com/Wood-Charcoal-Gas-Hybrid-Grill-p/hybrid-2.htm

Now I think I should plan to put one of those in the short L of the kitchen and either:

A) Close off the top of my firebox entirely

B) open up the end of the firebox to be one of these things I saw on Man Fire Food, but with a way to close it down for smoking mode.


Like I mentioned above, this is still a thought problem a few years from any reality, but I would be interested in feedback or tips. One thing I haven't figured out is how to engineer a damper between the firebox and cooking area.
 
All I can say is WOW!

That's going to be an awesome outdoor kitchen!

Sounds like you have put a lot of time in designing this.

I see it's your first post, so why not swing over to Roll call & introduce yourself.

Al
 
It has finally happened: the ComQter Smoker!

Something about an outdoor kitchen appeals to me, like it's a mix of indoors and outdoors. Sort of like a dream.
 
That looks really awesome!  My only recommendation would be to line everything with firebrick.   It won't absorb moisture and will heat up quicker.   Looking forward to seeing this go up!   
 
Looks like a great project!  

I am currently building the one below at my place.  Fogazzo wood-fired oven in the corner.  NorCal Ovenworks Argentine Grill, and European-style cold smoker on the right.  It will be covered by a pavilion, and also include fridge, sink, and propane-fueled flat-tip griddle.  Maybe one day I'll share the build, it's taking forever...

I'll offer my opinion/advice on the NorCal hybrid gas/charcoal/wood grill you shared.  Save $ and just get a charcoal/wood kit insert.  I haven't used it yet, but already have the Argentine grill kit from them (aka heritage backyard now, as well as NorCal Ovenworks)  

 
Tarheel Adam - That is AWESOME!!  What software did you use to design your outdoor kitchen?

Do you have any pictures of yours and can you offer any advice as to which you have learned?

Thanks
 
Thanks.  I chose Fogazzo http://www.fogazzo.com  as the company to purchase my wood-fired oven because the owner personally helped me out with the design of my outdoor kitchen.  I think he used autocad or google sketchup.  It has morphed into an even bigger project.  Here's a teaser:


Wood-fired oven is up and running great.  Still need to complete smoker, griddle, and argentine grill on the right side, and sink/fridge on left.  All to be covered in stone veneer.  Fully wired for TV/audio/internet.  

The only advice I can give is in hindsight of the order in which I constructed everything.  I wish I had built the pavilion first so that I could have built the kitchen structure around the posts, instead of losing interior floor space by having the posts set back.  My smoker is a european style cold smoker.  It's going to have 2 fireboxes, one fed via pipe inside the structure and another below the smoking chamber (so that I can increase temps).  As for the oven itself, I thought about constructing a dome myself out of firebricks like Forno Bravo, but a kit is so much easier.  I almost went with the Forno Bravo Casa series.  Good luck.  
 
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