Lou Decruss wrote:

>
> I've got a pretty cool setup at the weekend place that has doors on
> both sides of the kitchen going out to a 600 sq.ft. multilevel deck.
> It works, but not awesome like the cool setups in those pictures. I'm
> just being a selfish baby. The deck is wood and attached to the house
> so the grills and smoker have to be placed in the yard or driveway. I
> have one small gas grill I feel is safe so that goes by one door, but
> that's not enough for real cooking.

Sounds like you do have a pretty good setup to me. But, nah... you're
not being selfish. Most foodies spend a lot of time, money and effort
to turn their *indoor* kitchens into a great place to cook. So why not
do the same for outdoor kitchens? But... the biggest problem is being
able to afford to do either. <g>.

>
> How cold does it get where you are? I've grilled and Q'd in subzero
> temps, but a kitchen wouldn't work. <g>
>
> Lou

Our minimum mid-winter temperatures usually vary between -3 Deg C and 5
Deg C (which is overnight/early morning). The maximum temps can be
anything from 12 Deg C to 19 or 20 Deg C (around midday). Depends on
how many cold-fronts we have 'sweeping through' during the season. But,
as soon as the sun goes down (which is around 5.30pm in mid-winter) the
temperatures drop rapidly, and it's worse if there is no cloud cover.

Of course, you're probably thinking "What a wuss!" because I know that's
not nearly as cold as it can get in some parts of the USA (or Canada or
UK) but it's still not outdoor kitchen weather, IMHO.

However, it did get cold enough at our place in early July to form a
layer of ice (that was a centimeter thick) on top of the kidlet's
paddling-pool in the back yard one early morning, and it lasted until
midday before it began to melt... Heh. It looked like an ice-rink for
small critters, IMO. We had a few frozen water pipes and all the garden
hoses were frozen solid too. Minimum temperatures outdoors dropped to
around -8 Deg C for several days and the maximum temps didn't reach
much above 9 Deg C, IIRC. I was not impressed... We had snow in
several parts of the country at that time - but not where we live
(thank goodness).

Mind you, our weather is starting to get nice and mild again; we've had
a few afternoon outdoor cooking/grilling sessions in the last 10 days.
August can still be a bit chilly, but it's usually not too cold. Spring
arrives in September here, and a lot of folks celebrate Spring Day on
the 1st. I'm counting the days...
--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy

Egg tastes better when it's not on your face...