Covered Outdoor Kitchens Built for Cooking Through Rain and Summer Heat

Rain is easier to enjoy when you can hear it land on something nice.

• A copper-toned rain chain hangs at the roof edge, a few steps from the grill. Water runs down the cups instead of dropping off a plain gutter.
• Two round white pendants hang low over the counter, so the light falls on the food and not the sky.
• Herb beds and a small citrus tree sit just past the post. You can snip garnish without leaving the roof.
• White roses and silver green foliage soften the fence behind the grill.

Plant the herbs you cook with most closest to the counter. They get used more that way.

The roof here is corrugated sheeting over timber beams, held up by thick posts with diagonal braces. It is plain, and that is the point. Rain runs off the slope and the whole cooking line stays dry underneath.

Two things make it work.

One tight line. Sink on the left, grill in the middle, drinks fridge on the right. Nobody walks across wet paving to reach anything.

A rack on the cabinet door. It holds sauces and cleaning spray, so no one hunts for the ketchup.

Watch out: dark sheeting can feel warm in summer. Keep the sides open like this one so hot air can leave.

Shade does not have to feel gloomy. The woven reed ceiling lets light through in thin stripes, so the space stays bright by day and glows after dark.

A thick beam wrapped in rope holds a row of bare bulbs. Small spotlights sit between the rafters over the work zone.

The long concrete-look island is where everyone ends up. Five woven stools face the cook, and baskets of fresh herbs sit on the counter, so the greenery is part of the table.

The back wall is covered in glossy green tile, set in tall, narrow pieces. It echoes the plants beyond the patio, so the kitchen feels like part of the yard even with a roof overhead. Stained wood planks run across the ceiling, and a big black fan keeps the air moving.

Tile or paint? Here is how the two compare.

Glossy tile. It wipes clean after a greasy night and gives the wall real color.

Painted wall. It is quieter and easier to change later, but splatter shows more.

A jar of lemons and a potted shrub on the counter tie the whole corner back to the garden.

Not every kitchen has to hang off the back of the house.

This one stands alone, with a pitched roof, clay tiles and white posts. The wood-fired unit sits against a solid back wall, and three small things make it work.

1. The black flue runs straight up the wall, so smoke leaves above the cook.
2. A sink sits right beside the oven, so cleanup does not mean a trip indoors.
3. A wide open front lets the breeze through on hot days.

Small shrubs along the new bed now, a green screen later.

Dark exposed rafters give this roof real height, and the kitchen uses all of it. Two ceiling fans, a black hood over the grill and a wall of pale stone make it feel like a cozy cabin with the doors thrown open.

• White cabinets with grooved doors wrap around the grill in a U shape, so the cook stands in the middle.
• A woven rug on the paving marks the cooking zone and softens the floor.
• A wall mounted screen sits on the stone for game days.
• A leafy tree and string lights beyond the roof frame the view.

Where does the rain go? Down one slope into a white gutter, with a rain chain hanging at the corner.

What is overhead? Wood planks with warm light under the edge, so the ceiling glows at dusk.

How much room does it take? Very little. Two tall posts hold a roof that reaches over a short counter. The rest of the side yard stays open for shrubs and blue blooms along the fence.

A narrow yard can still have a full kitchen. It just goes in a line.

This pergola is made of open slats, which gives summer shade and a place to hang string lights. The pizza oven, a log niche and a long bar sit beneath it, with a big olive tree in a black planter beside them. The beagle looks comfortable too.

Slats alone will not stop a downpour. Solid roof panels over the cooking end would keep the oven dry, and the open slats over the stools would still let dappled light through.

Check that any panel you add can handle the heat near the oven and flue.