Let’s face it, the kitchen is the most popular room of the home. During the summer months, it’s time to bring the kitchen and the party outdoors. With the right appliances, anyone can create a makeshift outdoor kitchen.
The only stipulation is you need an outdoor power source. With that in mind, let’s take a look at appliances you can take outside.
Keeping food and drinks cold outside
The first step in creating an outdoor cooking space is keeping food and drinks cold. Mini fridges are great because they are small and portable. It’s easy to move one outside when you need it, and bring it back inside after you’re done. Some people choose to keep a mini-fridge permanently running on a deck or patio. Just make sure it’s under a covered area, near a power outlet, and away from the sun.
Typically, a mini-fridge is used to store drinks. If you have space, use it to temporarily store food. Place marinated meats inside and have them ready for the BBQ. Another good tip is keeping condiments like ketchup and mustard in an outdoor mini-fridge. Use it when you need it, and put it back in to stay cold.
Make fancy drinks with a portable blender
Blenders are a staple in any indoor kitchen. If you have an outdoor power source, take it outside during your next BBQ bash.
There are a variety of different types of blenders including countertop blenders, immersion, blenders, and personal blenders. Countertop blenders work great for making frozen cocktails outdoors. There are even countertop blenders purpose-built for making margaritas.
It’s best to set up your outdoor blending station in the shade. This ensures your ingredients and drinks stay cold. Make frozen cocktails outside, and serve them right away.
Use a juicer with your vegetable garden
Juicers and vegetable gardens go together like cereal and milk. Unlike blenders, juicers extract liquid juice from hard and soft fruits and vegetables. What’s left is pulp, which can be placed directly into your compost.
During your next party, grab carrots, spinach, and kale from your garden and put them into your juicer. This takes farm to table to a whole new level. It will be sure to impress your guests. It doesn’t get any fresher than that.
There are several types of juicers available including centrifugal, masticating, citrus, and manual. For outdoor parties, centrifugal juicers are recommended because they tend to take up the least space.
Juicers & blenders aren’t just great for parties. If you have a group of workout buddies, celebrate a workout on the patio with fresh smoothies or juices. Check out this blender and juicer buying guide for more information.
Outdoor grilling goes electric
Many people are ditching gas-powered cars for electric transportation. The same can be said of grilling. Electric grills turn anyone into a portable grill master. Take it out of the kitchen, plug it outside, and grill to your heart’s desire. It’s just that easy.
There are many different types of electric grills for outdoor use. There’s nothing stopping anyone from using indoor grills & sandwich makers outside. Cook breakfast on the deck with a waffle maker. Electric griddles & skillets and portable induction cooktops provide outdoor cooks with a lot of culinary options.
Cooking outdoors with less mess
We all know pressure cookers & multi-cookers have a cult following among home cooks. They replace different appliances, save space, and work even better outside. Once the food is prepared, serve directly from it. That means less cleanup, and it keeps food warm during the party. Plus it’s easy to make large portions.
Slow cookers are generally associated with the colder months and cooking things like stews and chilis, but you can also use them for pulled pork to go along with your barbecued meal, or as a faster way to cook side dishes like baked potatoes and corn on the cob.
For serving other items, there’s a variety of different types of serving trays to serve food outside. With an electric warming tray, you can keep food warm for an extended period of time. This allows you to serve food and not worry about it going cold or bad for those guests who are fashionably late or those who want to go back for seconds. Since it’s covered, it also keeps bugs and mosquitoes away.
Appliances for outdoor special occasions
Most of the small kitchen appliances we use are for day-to-day use. There’s also a host of specialty small appliances we can use outdoors on special occasions.
If you have an outdoor TV or use a projector outside, turn your yard into a movie theatre with a popcorn maker. There’s nothing like a warm summer night, watching a movie, and eating fresh popcorn under the stars. This is great for kids’ birthday parties or long weekend celebrations. Whatever you decide to watch, everything’s better with fresh warm popcorn.
Everyone loves ice cream on a hot summer day. With an ice cream maker, turn your covered deck into a dessert parlour. Simply add in your ingredients, and watch as it whips up frozen treats in a jiffy. Kids will be mesmerized by watching how ice cream is made and you’ll get the reputation of being the coolest parent on the block.
Using small appliances outdoors
No matter the occasion, chances are you’ll be spending a lot of time outside during spring and summer. With small kitchen appliances, there’s nothing stopping you from cooking and entertaining outside.
With a mini-fridge, you can keep food, meat, and condiments cold and ready to go. Blenders and juicers allow you to create healthy smoothies and juices from your vegetable garden. Become a grill master with an electric grill and skip the propane tank. Or use pressure cookers and multi-cookers outside to cook, and serve directly from the unit.
As long as you have a power source, you can even make ice cream and popcorn on your backyard deck or patio. The options are endless with small appliances.
Head to Best Buy before hosting your next epic outdoor gathering.
