Is your outdoor kitchen ready for winter?

Why it’s wise to winterise your kitchen

The leaves flee the trees. Wildfowl wing their way to warmer climes. The signs are all there; winter is making its blustery approach. To the outdoor kitchen owner this can mean many things – turkey smoking on the grill, mulled wine with friends by a roaring fire, burst tap pipes come spring… This article focuses on the latter.

It’s simple

Winterising your outdoor kitchen is simple. So simple, it can be expressed in a series of bullet points:

If you have a tap/sink in your outdoor kitchen:

  1. Turn the tap water supply off at the stopcock
  2. Turn the tap on. Drain down the tap using the drain cock, and leave the tap open. Any water remaining in the tap or pipework is likely to do permanent damage if it freezes. Alternatively, turn off the water supply to the tap then disconnect tap tails and open the tap to allow the water to drain.

If you have a Chef’s Anvil:

Read the Anvil Care article for more detail, or follow the steps below.

  1. Clean hotplate, and dry any moisture
  2. Remove all ash (can retain moisture and cause condensation)
  3. Oil the hotplate
  4. Re-cover (make sure cover is dry inside)

If you have an outdoor fridge:

  1. Switch off at the fuse board or at the plug
  2. Clean and dry it to prevent bacterial growth

If you have barbeques:

  1. Clean down
  2. Cover
  3. Disconnect gas bottle if applicable

And that’s it. Happy winter grilling!