Whether you’re entertaining friends or making a mouthwatering meal for your family, cooking is a hands-on activity. Inside your home’s climate-controlled kitchen, it’s easy to stay cool while you prep, saute, broil, and bake. But how do you cool off in an open kitchen outdoors? These pro tips will have you grilling to your heart’s content without breaking a sweat.
How Do You Create a Naturally Cool Open Outdoor Kitchen?
One of the most important parts of enjoying a cool outdoor kitchen involves placement. If you’re still in the planning stages for your dream patio, choose a backyard location with a natural breeze and the perfect amount of sun — plenty of shade but great vistas, too.
Depending on your home’s layout and design, the ideal spot for an open outdoor kitchen is usually near the indoor kitchen. This gives you natural shade, more flexibility, and the convenience of being close to your complete pantry.
Exterior design experts recommend carefully observing airflow patterns while planning your outdoor kitchen. Test which direction the wind blows at various times of day. Not only does this ensure a pleasant breeze when you’re cooking or grilling, but it also drives any smoke away from your guests.
Last but not least, keep in mind the heat profile of building materials when selecting flooring. Granite, natural stone, and ceramic tiles tend to stay cool. Wood flooring and brick surfaces look beautiful, but they absorb more heat and can feel hotter overall.
What Are the Best Ways To Cool Off an Open Outdoor Kitchen?
If you already have a gorgeous open-air kitchen that you love, changing the location to get better airflow isn’t a realistic option. That doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do about excessive heat. Customize the following suggestions to your family’s needs.
1. Overhead Fans
Overhead fans are surprisingly effective at cooling kitchen areas and improving airflow. An added benefit? Using a high-speed fan can keep mosquitos away while you’re cooking.
You can install wet-rated fans on fully covered outdoor kitchens or shade structures like pergolas. One fan is usually enough for the entire kitchen, with a 36-inch fan cooling up to 75 square feet. Larger 44-inch fans can cool 150 to 225 square feet comfortably.
There are many styles available for outdoor fans, including vintage designs that fit Italian kitchens, minimalist creations for contemporary luxury, and metal fans for a touch of 1930s tropical chic.
2. Ventilation Hoods
An outdoor range hood is one of the best ways to cool down al fresco kitchens — especially for the grillmaster or cook standing next to cooking appliances. Vent hoods work by drawing in the hot air over a grill or stove and expelling it elsewhere. This promotes better airflow and keeps you cooler as you grill foods to perfection.
Top-tier range hoods can also absorb smoke, grease, oil droplets, and fumes from grills, rotisseries, and fryers. To stay as cool as possible, choose a commercial-grade outdoor kitchen vent hood with a high cubic feet per minute rating.
A good rule of thumb is to divide a grill’s BTUs by 100 to determine the right CFM volume. A liquid propane grill that puts out 60,000 BTUs per hour would need a range hood with 600 CFM capacity.
3. Pergolas
Shade structures like covered pergolas quickly cool outdoor kitchen styles by blocking the sun's rays during the hottest hours. A louvred pergola takes ventilation to the next level by letting you open or close roof slats depending on the time of day when you’re cooking.
4. Shade Trees and Landscaping
Shade trees are a classic for cooling off outdoors. Oaks, sycamores, Podocarpus evergreens, Australian willows, and other lush trees embrace what al fresco is all about. Another way to add greenery and shade is by covering pergolas with climbing vines.
5. Misting Systems
Luxury misting systems are growing in popularity as a way to cool off outdoor kitchens, dining rooms, and relaxation spaces. Outdoor misters feel refreshing to the skin, enhance the natural beauty of landscaping, and remove heat from the air as water droplets evaporate. The main downside of this option is that it doesn’t work well in humid climates like Florida, Missouri, or Texas.
How Do You Ventilate an Open Kitchen?
Uncovered al fresco kitchens have plenty of natural ventilation, with the open air carrying away grill vapors and smoke. Things are different when you have a covered structure like a pergola or veranda. To ensure proper ventilation with a covered open-air kitchen, you need to use a vent hood above your grill, stove, or both.
Range Hoods for Outdoor Open Kitchens
Choosing the right vent hood for your outdoor kitchen depends on several factors:
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Outdoor kitchen layout
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Available mounting configuration
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Ductwork preferences
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Design aesthetic
Range hood liners for outdoor ventilation generally use high-performance stainless steel for its combination of beauty, moisture resistance, and design versatility. The outer cabinet allows for complete customization, with materials such as copper, brass, and powder-coated metal. With a custom range hood, you can craft a cohesive design for your outdoor kitchen, including mid-century modern, farmhouse, Mediterranean, and industrial accents.
Wall Mount Range Hoods
You can use a wall-mount range hood for spaces with at least one wall, such as:
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U-shaped layouts
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G-shaped layouts
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California rooms and lanais
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Covered patios and extended patios
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Deck grill stations and bars
Wall-mount range hoods are especially good at providing an Old-World feel for outdoor kitchens.
Island-Mounted Vent Hoods (360-Degree Range Hoods)
A 360-degree range hood suspends vertically from above. This configuration adapts to any outdoor open kitchen layout as long as it has an overhead structure:
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Pergola
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Pavilion
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Shade structures
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Florida rooms
Island-mounted vent hoods offer standard and ductless styles. Ducts generally increase the CFM capabilities and the heat removal of range hoods, but ductless vents require less work for installation.
Discover Eye-Catching Ways To Cool Off an Open Outdoor Kitchen
Enjoying a cool outdoor kitchen doesn’t mean installing equipment that takes away from the beauty of the space. Instead, the ideal solutions make your home’s exterior look even more breathtaking. Learn how to cool off your open outdoor kitchen with luxurious range hoods and ventilation systems. Request a quote and order your custom range hood from World CopperSmith today.