The growing appeal of the outdoor kitchen

For most of us the main ingredients of outdoor cooking are a smouldering barbecue grill, slabs of alternately under- and over-cooked meat and a light sprinkling of frustration. But these days, it seems, there is another option on the menu. Ever since the pandemic, more and more homeowners have been investing in lavish outdoor kitchens – keeping up with the Joneses with garden wine fridges, rotisserie grills, pizza ovens and professional-quality prep areas so they can cook and eat outside in comfort.

The concept has been enthusiastically adopted by the likes of David and Victoria Beckham, who are reportedly awaiting a verdict on a planning application for an all-singing, all-dancing outdoor kitchen at their Cotswolds barn. If approved, their glass-walled structure will be surrounded by wild plants and seating areas for the family and their guests. But outdoor kitchens aren’t only a status symbol for the super-rich – a recent study by Uswitch found that they have become one of the UK’s most popular home improvement projects, ranked somewhere between installing new windows and replacing the roof.