Need to pick your brains for an outdoor kitchen.

So, I have a plan to build an outdoor kitchen. I intend to put up a timber framed roof over an area covering the current back porch and the adjacent section of the backyard. It will have doubled the paved space after I lay pavers. See picture below for current back porch. The cement slab will be covered in terra cotta tiles and edged in majolica tiles. There will be areas for cooking and preserving including: my warming/smoking/steaming cabinet, a 6' wide double chamber cob oven, a BBQ, a smokehouse, and several rocket burners. I have plans also to put in a bar and counters as well as a butcher block. I have estimated the cost at around $2K if I do all the work myself and buy raw materials instead of prefab.

What are some ways to raise a bent on your own without heavy equipment?

Should I raise posts first and joint them in such a manner so that the rest of the parts fit from the top?

For a windbreak I was considering an earthen wall behind the cooking area to block the prevailing wind coming from the west. What would be a good way to protect it from our frequent rains? Is the roof of the outdoor kitchen enough or should I cover it with something like stucco? I wanted to add accent tiles to it on the inside, how should they be attached?

The roofing material is a bit of a pickle. My grandma wants translucent courogated pannels like what are often used in California to let in diffuse light. I can't seem to find any like that in my area. There is only clear and opaque. Should I just alternate the two?

Stove pipes will perforate the roof in two spots. Since it is an uninsulated structure with simple pannel roofing, do I need to use insulated stove pipes?  

Cool idea! I would suggest with that much heating going to make sure there's ample air movement possible in hot cooking months. But, I haven't seen the design. As for putting up the structure,  I usually brace the bottom of the support beam either with a metal bracket or it being in the ground/cement. I perfer to also have a person just hold it for extra support too. I then quickly instal stabilizers across the installed beams before anything knocks into it. I then continue with the rest of the structure building piece by piece,  since I need to lift it. The one thing I learned the hard way is you have to factor in the adjacent structure because you can't reach certain things if it is blocked by another immobile structure.

As for corrugated plastic roofing, you can order it in the U.S. I'm not sure exactly what type your after,  but when I was working on a green house I found some stuff online. I hope that helps!

Sorry to derail, but I don't see a pic, only a thick line at the bottom.

Amit Enventres wrote:Cool idea! I would suggest with that much heating going to make sure there's ample air movement possible in hot cooking months. But, I haven't seen the design. As for putting up the structure,  I usually brace the bottom of the support beam either with a metal bracket or it being in the ground/cement. I perfer to also have a person just hold it for extra support too. I then quickly instal stabilizers across the installed beams before anything knocks into it. I then continue with the rest of the structure building piece by piece,  since I need to lift it. The one thing I learned the hard way is you have to factor in the adjacent structure because you can't reach certain things if it is blocked by another immobile structure.

As for corrugated plastic roofing, you can order it in the U.S. I'm not sure exactly what type your after,  but when I was working on a green house I found some stuff online. I hope that helps!

All very good information. Thanks ^_^

Timothy Markus wrote:Sorry to derail, but I don't see a pic, only a thick line at the bottom.

Thanks for letting me know, I fixed it.

What is a Bent?
Why not use shade cloth instead of an earthen wall, fix the shade cloth so it can be rolled up on nice days.
If there is a chance hands can touch the stove pipe, it will need insulating.
If you go through the roof and dont want rain coming down the fixture through the roof will need insulation as well.
Your comment about the roofing is confusing
translucent ; permitting light to pass through but diffusing it so that persons, objects, etc., on the opposite side are not clearly visible:
Frosted window glass is translucent but not transparent.

Unless you think passengers in planes will check out your cooking, I am not sure why he has a preference. it may be to cut back on the heat of the sun.
I often have polycarbone sheets and steel sheets set either 1 plus 1 or 1 clear and 2 steel.
A full polycarbonate roof would be hot and may have too much light.

John C Daley wrote:What is a Bent?

In timber framing terminology a bent is a section of framing assembled on the ground and raised.

Why not use shade cloth instead of an earthen wall, fix the shade cloth so it can be rolled up on nice days.

The point is to stop wind not sun, and being adjacent to 5 sources of flame, it has to be fireproof.

If there is a chance hands can touch the stove pipe, it will need insulating.
If you go through the roof and dont want rain coming down the fixture through the roof will need insulation as well.

Did you mean flashing? I already know about that part.

Your comment about the roofing is confusing
translucent ; permitting light to pass through but diffusing it so that persons, objects, etc., on the opposite side are not clearly visible:
Frosted window glass is translucent but not transparent.

I know what translucent means. There is a roofing material, usually fiberglass, that is translucent. That is what I'm looking for. It may no longer be in production, hence my difficulty in locating some.

Unless you think passengers in planes will check out your cooking, I am not sure why he has a preference. it may be to cut back on the heat of the sun.

You answered your own question here.

I often have polycarbone sheets and steel sheets set either 1 plus 1 or 1 clear and 2 steel.
A full polycarbonate roof would be hot and may have too much light.

Indeed, which is why I need the translucent green fiberglass panels they use in California.

Depending upon the height and weight of the bent (the thickness of the timbers would determine how heavy that sucker would get), for a project of this scale, I would think that you would be able to raise your bents with just 3 or 4 other friends.  You'll build your bents on the ground, and then when you're ready to raise them, have a BBQ and invite a handful of friends.

While the brisket is cooking away on the Big Green Egg, you get your buddies to help you hoist it up, using ropes and 2 x 6's to brace it once you get them up into place.  Nobody gets a sandwich or a beer until your bents are upright and safely secured in place.  It would only take 15 minutes or so.  

Now, pass the potato salad.

Send me an invite.  I'm tremendously interested in both the timber frame as well as the brisket.  But mostly the brisket.  But the timber frame does hold my interest.  And the beer.  I'm sorry . . . what were we talking about?

I use 90% shadecloth to reduce the wind coming through my outside kitchen.
It is about 3 feet from any burnersFibreglass disappeared from the market in Australia because the surface breaks down and you get lots of loose fibres.
It may be the same case where you are.
Maybe you can find Polycarbonate.

John C Daley wrote:I use 90% shadecloth to reduce the wind coming through my outside kitchen.
It is about 3 feet from any burnersFibreglass disappeared from the market in Australia because the surface breaks down and you get lots of loose fibres.
It may be the same case where you are.
Maybe you can find Polycarbonate.

Polycarbonate looks like is gonna be what we use.

I discussed the shade cloth idea with my household, that is a no because the area is to entertain guests and it has to look pretty. So cob wall it is. We have also changed to a vegetarian diet so there won't be a smokehouse. Just the bread oven, burners, and grill, and I had to rework the design a bit, but it will now be a somewhat smaller space. I do plan to add a juice bar with outlets for running an ice shaver, blender, and juicer.

Pictures of the design as it currently stands: