The Great Outdoors
The trend toward cocooning has taken to the great outdoors,
with high-end consumers looking toward outdoor kitchens as the
newest frontier in cooking and entertaining and as the new status
symbol.
By Janice Anne Costa
When it comes to kitchen design, the newest thing under the sunis
actually under the sun, as today’s kitchens take to the great
outdoors. Upscale consumers, increasingly spending time in the
home, have found outdoor entertaining to be a wonderful way to
enjoy time with their family and friends in an idyllic setting
conducive to good times, good food and good friends.
The outdoor flavors, the experience of enjoying food hot off the
grill, the fresh air environmentall of these create a unique
experience that consumers not only desire, but are increasingly
willing to invest handsomely in. And, while a simple BBQ may once
have sufficed, today’s outdoor cooking centers now come with
everything and the kitchen sink.
From multi-function, high-powered grills with warming drawers
and weather-proof cabinets and countertops to outdoor
refrigeration and wine units, patio heaters, sinks,
dishwashers and more, today’s outdoor kitchen contains nearly all
the amenities of its indoor counterparts and therefore provides
great opportunities for kitchen designers looking to expand into
uncharted yet wonderfully familiar territory.
The Outdoor Experience
Who wants the
outdoor cooking experience? The answer is simple: pretty much
everyone. While outdoor kitchens were once exclusively the purview
of those lucky enough to be living in climates that remain warm
year round, patio heaters, rolling carts, modular cooking islands,
weather-proof materials and other innovations have made the outdoor
kitchen more appealing to even those who live in cold weather
climates. After all, if you can enjoy the taste of summer year
round, why not?
As Mary Jo Camp, CKD, CBD, CID, of the CA-based McPhails
Appliance explains it, “One of the great icons of modern life is
the backyard cookout. The backyard really is the new frontier of
the home, and the outdoor kitchen is a natural extension of the
indoor kitchen.”
“Outdoor kitchens are about the experience,” stresses Brian
Eskew, director of marketing for DCS, in Huntington Beach, CA.
“Being outdoors, having a glass of wine, cooking steaksit’s a great
way to relax and entertain, because it makes people feel good.”
And, he adds, with BBQ technology becoming so advanced, “It’s easy
to do, so even indoor cooking enthusiasts are now inclined to use
these [systems] there’s no messy charcoal, it’s fast, easy and
fun.”
Likewise, Larry Lamkins, CKD, CBD, director of marketing and
director of product support for DACOR, in Pasadena, CA, believes
the whole outdoor experience is key to this market segment’s
growing popularity. He states, “The feel of outdoor entertaining
and the overall ambiance is significantly different from indoors.
Some of the best lighting is created by God. It’s an environment
that’s very different. Indoors just isn’t as comfortable or fun or
uplifting. People really respond to [being outdoors] on an
emotional level.”
Camp believes that the growing focus on the home, which has led
to greater interest in gardening, gourmet cooking and entertaining,
is a major contributing factor to the trend toward taking the
kitchen concept outside.
Larry Ferguson, director of sales and marketing for the
Richmond, IN-based Marvel Industries, concurs: “This is really just
a continuation of the cocooning trend. The events that have taken
place in our country [have led] many more people to prefer
entertaining at home. People seem to be going out less and less,
and spending more time with their families and friends at
home.”
But it’s not just about the desire to entertain or spend time
with family, according to Lamkins. As he explains it, “the grill
flavor of food and the [outdoor] baking or rotisserie cooking of
food has different flavors [than those you get from cooking
indoors]. And, there are unique recipes that can be done outdoors
that are a bit more challenging to do inside, like smoking or
cooking with flavor chips.”
Dale Persons, v.p./Public Affairs of the Greenwood, MS-based
Viking Range Corp. agrees: “We’re seeing a lot of people cooking
outdoors, even in inclement weather. The flavors are different
smoking, grilling and the BTUs are higher. Plus, you don’t have to
worry about clean up.”
The growing number of cooking shows on television today is also
driving this trend, according to Tom Meyer, president of Vermont
Islands, in Putney, VT.
Meyer also believes the outdoor kitchen is a natural extension
of the way people live today. As he notes, “Today, if you have a
party in your house, everybody is hanging around the kitchen
anyway. Taking the kitchen outside makes it more of a casual
atmosphere and it’s well suited for today’s lifestyle.”
“For example,” he continues, “rather than having a nice grill
going, and having to have your back to the crowd while screaming to
your wife to get more marinade sauce, [an outdoor kitchen set up]
makes the user more accessible. It also facilitates people chipping
in and cooking together.”
Of course, the outdoor kitchen, just like its indoor
counterpart, is also popular because it makes a style statement.
“The beautiful trophy kitchen has become the norm, so now [upscale
consumers] are looking for the next step, and that’s the outdoor
kitchen,” Persons believes.
But, while the outdoor kitchen is certainly a great way to
impress the Joneses, Ferguson asserts that this is not just a trend
for the super high end. As he states, “I talk to people who may not
have the most elaborate outdoor set up, but with the larger grills,
they’re spending more and more time in their outdoor patio or
deck.
“Refrigeration gives convenient access to cold beverages and if
you’re entertaining, you want to be able to keep cold items cold
until it’s time to serve them, and meats cool until it’s time to
put them on the grill,” he adds.
Certainly there are plenty of extras that can be added on from
woks to warming drawers, dishwashers to patio heaters but the level
of complexity is really up to the consumer.
As Meyer notes, “We make kitchens from $3,500 to $60,000. This
includes bars, grills, seating areas, warming drawers,
refrigeration, sinks, etc. It is really a rapidly growing market
and [not just for the super affluent].”
Components
So, what makes up the average
outdoor kitchen? Dealers and manufacturers agree that it can be as
simple or complex as the homeowner wants.
According to Camp, “Outdoor kitchens can be as complete as an
indoor space, with a ventilation hood, countertops, refrigerator,
cooktop, cabinet storage, sink, dishwasher and all the [trimmings].
Or, it can simply be a beautiful space to hold a grill that does it
all.” She notes that there are two types of grills that can be
specified freestanding (grills that are attached to carts, and that
can be moved from one location to another) and built in (grills
that consist of the BBQ only, with no cart). A grilling island must
be specified, while modular islands can be custom or standard
sizes.
“The current trend,” Camp continues, “is toward the fully
equipped outdoor kitchen.” That might include a wok, warming
drawer, side burners and fully featured grill, as well as storage
drawers, a smoker and griddle, bar refrigeration, sink, dishwasher,
patio heater, serving cart, sink, cabinets, and more.”
Meyer explains that his company offers “a line of modular
components, just like you would with an interior kitchen. We were
an interior kitchen company and have specifically designed these
pieces to take outside. We supply complete CAD drawings of the
systems for designers and retailers. It gives the user options
instead of going with a fixed base or an island where you can’t add
to it because you’re limited by the size.”
Ferguson says, “Our involvement is from the refrigeration end,
and we’ve seen the trend of refrigeration and other appliances
going outdoors, from dishwashers to bar stations. It started with
the grill, and the next thing you know, people using the grill
outdoors frequently decided they needed refrigeration, too. Then it
[snowballed] to include sinks, dishwashers, [storage for dry food]
and more [of the amenities you’d find in an indoor kitchen.]”
At DCS, Eskew says his company is increasingly seeing the
complete outdoor kitchen, with BBQ, side burners, built-in
refrigeration, beer tappers, outdoor warming drawer, access drawers
for tools and condiments, storage and patio heaters. He notes,
“We’ve done a lot of work to develop an outdoor cart so it serves
many of the functions of an island, with side shelves, storage
drawers, etc., so it really is a mobile outdoor kitchen.”
Eskew adds that, “Even in the Midwest and Northeast, the BBQ
market still has numerous cooking enthusiasts, so they buy units
with a cart that they can roll into the garage during the off
season.”
Camp notes the the most popular materials for outdoor kitchens
are those that are durable: stainless steel, tile, stucco, brick,
stone, concrete, and certain species of wood such as mahogany and
teak “woods that would remind you of boats.” She adds, “If you’re
in a protected or covered area, you can use other materials as
well.”
Design Opportunity
Camp sees the outdoor
kitchen as a natural for kitchen and bath designers looking to grow
their businesses. “The opportunities for design are plentiful,” she
says, noting that “the materials are the same kind you’d use in the
kitchen and bath in most cases. You’d use the same sources, the
same construction people, mostly the same design principles, the
same trade peopleyou’ve got an established client alreadywhen you
think about it, it’s really a no brainer.”
Camp also notes that designing an outdoor kitchen needs to take
into consideration the same kind of lifestyle issues a designer
would look at when designing an indoor space. She states, “You have
to look at layout, use of materials, ambiance, and compatibility
with the home and surrounding garden.”
Lamkins sees the outdoor realm as “a great growth area the niche
that can afford the high-end kitchen tends to be
entertainment-orientedI see this evolving enormously.”
Down the Road
Both dealers and
manufacturers agree that today’s outdoor kitchen is only just the
beginning. Notes Lamkins, “The outdoor kitchen of the future is
going to be a full, well-rounded kitchen that will have all of the
same appliance groupings that you would find in an interior
kitchen. Dishwashers, refrigerators, small appliance capabilities,
ventilation systems I see it being a mirror image of the interior
kitchen. In fact, anything you see in the indoor kitchen, you’re
going to see in the outdoor kitchen.”
He adds, “It’s no longer [going to be just] a seasonal kitchen I
see it as a year-round alternative kitchen, and that’s the way our
company is pursuing it. With the advent of these highly evolved
kitchen systems that can actually bake, broil, etc., it’s not just
a grill anymore. That, coupled with warming ovens, outdoor
ventilation and dishwashers make it a perfect environment [for
cooking and entertaining].”
Persons sees the outdoor kitchen as an area that is already
gaining interest with women as well as men, and he expects this to
continue over time. “In the old days, the indoors was the woman’s
domain, and the outdoors was the man’s. But the evolution of the
outdoor kitchen is changing all that.”
Eskew agrees: “Unlike indoor appliances where the woman [is
generally the one] doing the research and making the [decisions],
with a BBQ, the man may be the one getting all the information and
bringing it back to the woman, and then they make the buying
decision jointly.”
Lamkins believes, “The evolution is definitely on its way.
Remote programming is a very interesting long-range concept.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could get up in the morning and
spread out your hamburgers on the grill because it’s cold out, and
then sometime during the day you call and the grill turns on and
starts cooking, so you can come home to the smell of burgers hot
off the grill?” KBDN