Does anyone have an outdoor kitchen?

Husband is dreaming about our new place and  wants to create an outdoor kitchen, so the house stays small and cooking doesn't heat up the house. We would still have a very small kitchen indoors for bad weather.

The more I think about it, the more I'm warming up to it. I think a larger space for processing garden produce, canning, processing chickens, maybe even processing deer? Maybe use it for a potting station at times too. My original inspiration was Joel Salatin's processing pavilion. Which is not, of course, a kitchen, but gives the basics of an idea.

So I'm curious if anyone's done anything like this? How does it work? How would it work for you (if you haven't done it)? What processes does it improve?

Hi Becky,

We have a good sized indoor kitchen. Nevertheless, we have a kitchen set up on our back deck with a sink, a BbQ grill, and a 3 burner lp cooktop.  It has a fiberglass roof.  I hope to get it screened in for spring.  Yes, its primary function is for canning.   It is pretty basic.  Most of the counter tops are simple 2x4s.  We tried some old Formica countertops, but they fell apart quickly.  

The purpose of the roof is more to keep ice off the deck than it is to provide protection from the rain. But it is useful protection from a sudden downpour while canning. I think it measures about 12’ x16’, but I could be wrong.

I do, we do all our cooking outside. It gets too hot to cook inside. I like it because we don’t stink up the house with whatever we’re making.

I have one as part of the Grand Plan. It's going to be on the side of the house, with a roof, a low wall and lots of mozzie mesh so there is plenty of light and air flow. One end will be kitchen, the other end with lots of stone shelving for propagating plants and maybe growing some pots of herbs. There will also be a clothes drying rack on a pulley so I can dry outside but under cover so the laundry never gets rained on but also doesn't get destroyed by the summer sun.

I've been collecting some nice bits of stone to use as shelving, and also a lovely old dresser with some amazing pink stone that I intend to stand a little gas-stove on. It has a plate rack and shelves underneath for storage. Then I'll move the haybox there too.

At the moment the haybox is outside the front door, and during hot weather it also gets used to stand the slow cooker or instant pot on when I'm rendering lard or making bone broth. It's far too hot her in the summer to cook indoors! During the winter, I love the smell of cooking though and don't care if the whole house smells of stews or soups or pretty much anything intended to be eaten.