We have one and use it all of the time. We store cooking items in there even when we bring them out at the time of cooking. The cheese for the burgers, condiments for when we eat outside and so many other things. If you are outside all of the time and your kitchen is not close then you will get tired of running back and forth.

I would. Even if you use filtered water and not water bottles you can store a pitcher of filtered water in there that is nice and cold on hot days to not have to run inside with potentially dirty feet every time someone wants a drink. Also great to minimize having to run back and forth for things you want to keep cool while grilling and when you do have people over.

Usually in colder climates outdoor fridges do not fare well. We entertain outside all summer and what I find better than a samll fridge is a huge tub filled with ice and lots of variety of drinks set out on the open deck not in my out door kitchen and it is awesome people come add their drinks it works perfectly.

Have you looked at the price on the outdoor beverage fridges?

One thing I never want to do without is a 2-burner outside cooktop. I love being able to fry fish and other stuff outside and keep those odors out of the house.

I also wouldn't put a smoker too close to the house as I don't want something like pulled pork putting out smoke right next to the house for 18 hours. Get one of those Green Eggs and roll it out when you need it.

We used to live in the northeast and I grilled year round and sometimes needed to clear a path in the snow to get to the grill!

As a minimum, I would rough-in 1) an underground power line to the potential fridge so power can easily be connected later, and 2) a cold water PEX line for a potential sink as well.

it sounds like you wouldn't use it. why not skip it for now and put one in later if you decide you need it?

BTW, if you want your drinking water situation to be easier in your outdoor kitchen, consider installing an under sink filter like this one. they're super easy to put in. you don't even need to have a separate tap for it.

I’m in Fl and we barbecue year round and opted not to put one in. They are expensive and do not have great reviews in terms of longevity. We haven’t missed having one.

We are in florida so an outdoor fridge for us made sense. We put in a cheap $300 standalone counter height fridge in our last house outdoor kitchen. Had it at least 6-7 years. Was still working fine when we moved. Survived numerous bear attacks (bear opened fridge and helped themselves and often left the door wide open - how rude 😀). This is something you could do for the summer and bring it inside over the winter. If you use it more than you think. put in a nicer one later (just plan for the appropriate niche space). We put in a Liebherr outdoor fridge in our current home and it is great - quiet, holds temp, looks good etc but it was pricey.

One suggestion is put in a single bowl kitchen sink rather than a bar size sink. We did that for our last and current outdoor kitchen. I don’t want the dirty grill grates in my kitchen sink so we made sure we had a large enough sink outside to accommodate them. Would never put in a small sink.

We have two Primos (similar to Green egg but oval shaped) built in - no gas grill. Love them! Would never go back to a gas gril. We do have side burners which I use a few times a month.

Enjoy your space! I think you will use it more than you think particularly with children playing in the backyard.

We put on in our outdoor kitchen and I am happy we did. If your kitchen is not close, you will appreciate it for drinks and other foods that need to be kept cold. I would also recommend a pullout trash bin if you have the space.

@Mark Bischak, Architect Oh I drink plenty of red wine ;)

@Kim G Bears in Florida?! For whatever reason, I never knew that was a common threat, haha. Thank you so much for all of your advice/perspective. Great idea about the sink too!

@User Great tip about the under-sink purifier...we will def do that!

@formulaross20 Excellent idea about the rough-ins....thanks!

@chispa Thanks! I def. want some outdoor burners...trying to decide whether to select a gas grill that has them or to put in standalone/built in ones into the outdoor kitchen.

@Patricia Colwell Consulting I do love this idea about the ice buckets/bins for drinks when we have lots of people over, thanks!

We live in the Philly ‘burbs and have a mini fridge outside. We use it tons!

blinktmb -- buckets and bins are great alternative to a fridge, and of course, they don't use power when they're not in use! we have a decorative cooler we like to use for parties. it's the "vintage" edition of the coleman cooler. too heavy for camping, but perfect for the backyard!

😧

haha, yikes. that grill probably always smells like meat too.

my parents used to live in the mountains where there were plenty of black bears, but they went after the hummingbird feeder, not the grill.

Kim G, was your house near a state park? My parents have lived in FL for nearly 20 years and I don't think they have ever seen a bear and certainly never one in their lanai! Did you have a screened lanai?

It was adjacent to a conservation area. Bears/deer/wild turkeys/alligators were very common We did have a screened lanai - that doesn’t stop a bear from coming through. Refrigerator bear attacks were common in our neighborhood. Most fridges were in garages and got hit when garage doors were left open.The bears opened the fridge - took out milk/yogurt/ice cream whatever. Drank/ate - folks found the empty containers. They did shut the door though! A few neighbors found bears sitting in their pools/spa. I wasn’t sorry to move to be honest. You definitely had to be careful walking at night.

Yeah, I didn't think the screen would stop the bears! I guess once one bear learns about a food source (fridges) they pass on that knowledge to their offspring and you then end up with a bunch of bears in an area that know that learnt behavior. We have bears in my area of Los Angeles and I have seen them on local Ring camera videos, but never come across one in person.

You could also consider an electric cooler (Dometic is a common brand) that you place outside when needed and store inside when not. It can also go in the car for road trips, grocery runs, camping, etc. the undercounter outdoor fridges tend to be very expensive and high maintenance.

I think they're cool, but I have no problem just using a cooler with ice when we have a few guests. Can set that wherever you want it too.

While I would love an outdoor sink for washing my hands, I also wouldn't want to deal with worrying about winterizing it every year. My big patio is right off of my kitchen (so not that far of a trek) so I did not do either a sink/fridge outside

I love mine and turn it off when not in use. It's a built in commercial grade one. Turning it off will also help save the compressor and give longer life.