An outdoor kitchen sounds like a big project until you break it down into what it actually is: a collection of individual components installed into an island structure. You're not buying an "outdoor kitchen" off a shelf — you're selecting a grill, choosing storage, adding refrigeration, picking a burner, and deciding which finishing touches make sense for how you cook and entertain. The island is just the frame that holds it all together.
This guide walks through every component category in a typical outdoor kitchen, explains what each one does, and helps you figure out which ones belong in your build and which ones you can skip.
The Grill: Your Starting Point
Everything in an outdoor kitchen gets planned around the grill. Its size determines the island width, its cutout dimensions set the countertop opening, and its gas type dictates your fuel delivery plan. Built-in grills range from 26 inches to 42 inches wide, with 32 inches being the most common choice for a first outdoor kitchen. We carry built-in grills from Summerset, Fire Magic, TrueFlame, American Made Grills, WildFire, and AOG — all constructed from #304 stainless steel.
Pick your grill first, get the cutout specs from the product page, and build outward from there. We have a separate built-in grill buying guide that covers size, burner configuration, fuel type, and features in detail.
Side Burners and Power Burners
A side burner adds a cooking surface next to your grill for tasks that don't belong on a grate — boiling water for corn, simmering sauces, heating soups, frying, or cooking anything in a pot or pan. Standard side burners produce 12,000 to 15,000 BTU and work well for everyday tasks. Power burners crank that up to 40,000 to 60,000 BTU, which means you can bring large pots of water to a rolling boil quickly, deep-fry a turkey in under an hour, or run a wok at the kind of heat that produces real stir-fry results.
If you only cook proteins on the grill and handle everything else inside, you can skip the side burner. But if you want to do full meals outdoors — protein, sides, sauces, and all — a burner is close to essential. It's the difference between a grill station and an actual kitchen.
Storage Doors and Drawers
Storage doors and drawers are the organizational backbone of an outdoor kitchen. Without them, you're walking inside every time you need tongs, a thermometer, aluminum foil, seasoning, or a clean towel. With them, everything lives at your station, protected from weather and ready to grab.
Access doors (single and double) provide cabinet-style storage behind hinged panels. They're ideal for larger items: propane tanks, charcoal bags, cleaning supplies, and bulk storage. Single doors fit narrow island sections; double doors span wider openings. Most include internal shelving.
Drawers (single, double, and triple) provide pull-out storage on heavy-duty slides. Drawers are faster to access and easier to organize than doors — utensils, thermometers, seasonings, wraps, and gloves all stay visible and reachable. Triple-drawer stacks are especially practical because they create three separate organized zones in a single cutout.
Combo units pair a door and drawer (or drawers) in one unit. These are efficient for tight spaces and cover both storage types without needing two separate cutouts.
Our recommendation: at minimum, one double-drawer unit near the grill for tools and supplies, and one access door for bulk storage. If your island has room, add more — outdoor kitchen owners consistently say they wish they'd included more storage, not less.
Outdoor Refrigeration
An outdoor-rated refrigerator eliminates the constant back-and-forth to the indoor kitchen for drinks, condiments, and ingredients. This sounds like a luxury until you spend an afternoon grilling for guests and realize you've gone inside eleven times. Cold storage at your station changes the experience fundamentally.
The key word is outdoor-rated. A standard indoor refrigerator placed outside will struggle with ambient temperatures, burn out its compressor, and create food safety risks from inconsistent cooling. Outdoor-rated units use weatherproof compressors, upgraded insulation, and front-venting airflow systems that allow fully enclosed installation in an island. We carry outdoor refrigerators from Summerset, TrueFlame, and WildFire in compact (4.0 cu. ft.), mid-size (5.0–5.5 cu. ft.), and full-size configurations.
For most outdoor kitchens, one mid-size refrigerator handles the job. If you entertain frequently or want dedicated beverage storage, consider adding a separate wine cooler or beverage center.
Vent Hoods
If your outdoor kitchen is under a roof, pergola, or any overhead structure, you need a vent hood. It's not optional — smoke, grease vapor, and heat need somewhere to go, and without a hood pulling that air away from the cooking surface, it collects under your structure, stains the ceiling, and makes the space uncomfortable to stand in.
Even in fully open-air kitchens, a vent hood improves the cooking experience. It pulls smoke away from your face, keeps the area around the grill cleaner, and reduces grease buildup on nearby surfaces. Outdoor vent hoods are sized to match your grill width and rated by CFM (cubic feet per minute of airflow). As a general rule, your hood should be at least as wide as your grill and rated at a minimum of 600 CFM — higher for larger grills or enclosed spaces.
Pizza Ovens
An outdoor pizza oven is the second-most-popular add-on after refrigeration, and for good reason — there's nothing quite like pizza cooked at 700°F+ on a real stone surface. The crust blisters and chars in 90 seconds, the cheese melts and browns properly, and the result is closer to a wood-fired pizzeria than any indoor oven can produce.
Gas-fired pizza ovens are the most common for outdoor kitchen installations because they heat up faster and maintain temperature with less effort. Built-in models drop into a countertop cutout just like a grill. Countertop models sit on top of the island and are easier to add to an existing build. Either way, you'll want a dedicated gas line or propane connection — pizza ovens consume significant BTUs, especially during the preheat phase.
Sinks
An outdoor sink is one of those components that seems optional until you've cooked without one. Rinsing produce, washing hands between handling raw and cooked proteins, cleaning utensils mid-cook, filling pots — all of these require water, and without a sink, every one of them means a trip inside.
Installation requires a water supply line and a drain. The supply can tie into your home's plumbing or connect to a garden hose via an adapter. Drainage typically routes to the home's sewer or septic system. In cold climates, install shutoff valves that allow you to drain the lines before winter. Plan your plumbing routing during the island build — it's significantly easier before the countertop is in place.
Trash and Waste Management
A pull-out trash drawer keeps waste management clean and out of sight. Stainless steel construction, smooth-glide slides, and removable bins for easy bag changes. It sounds mundane, but a built-in trash solution is worlds better than a freestanding can that tips over in wind, attracts bugs, and looks out of place in an otherwise finished kitchen.
Putting It All Together: Starter, Mid-Range, and Full Builds
A starter outdoor kitchen includes a built-in grill, one access door (for propane storage), and one double-drawer unit. Total island width: around 6 to 8 feet. This gives you a functional grilling station with organized storage at a reasonable cost.
A mid-range build adds a side burner, outdoor refrigerator, additional storage (combo unit or extra drawers), and a sink. Total island width: 10 to 14 feet, often in an L-shape. This is where an outdoor "grill station" becomes an actual outdoor kitchen where you can prep, cook, store, and clean without going inside.
A full build includes everything above plus a vent hood, pizza oven, beverage center or wine cooler, power burner, warming drawer, and trash pullout. Total island footprint: 14 to 20+ feet, often in an L or U configuration. This is the setup for people who entertain regularly and want a complete, self-contained cooking and serving space.
The beauty of component-based outdoor kitchens is that you don't have to build everything at once. Start with the grill and essentials, leave room in your island plan for future additions, and add components as your budget and ambition allow. Every piece we carry is designed for drop-in installation, so expanding later is straightforward as long as you've planned the island framing and utilities to accommodate it.
Browse all of our outdoor kitchen components to start planning your build.
