While cooking outdoors has been a signature of California life since the days before Spanish missionaries arrived, the latest craze in outdoor living here is true outdoor kitchens.

It’s an inevitable merging of two trends—friends gathering in the kitchen as you cook, and entertaining outside to take advantage of our mild climate.

Starting with the ubiquitous barbecue grill, more and more local residents are emulating the lifestyle of Mediterranean countries, building permanent outdoor cooking areas, some as elaborate—and expensive—as their kitchens inside.

Not surprisingly, the craze reaches its height at the hillside estates of wealthy vintners. Some have outdoor kitchens approaching the cost of a small house, and it’s a rare upscale house built now without at least a built-in grill and sink outside.

Most either have or covet the ultimate toy for the entertaining home chef, a wood-fired brick oven. A few fortunate souls even have these ovens both inside and out, so they can enjoy the sybaritic pleasure of authentic pizza year round, not to forget home-baked bread and roasted fish, fowl and meat on cold winter nights.

For most people, a wood-fired oven may be a hopeless indulgence, but assembling a modest outdoor cooking area is within the reach of most Valley homeowners.

Start with a grill
It’s a rare household in California that doesn’t have a BBQ grill. Most people now opt for the convenience of a gas-fired grill but purists still prefer charcoal.

Most grills are mobile, designed to easily roll into place, and use tanks of readily available propane, though you can also connect them to public natural gas lines. They range from simple trays on legs to elaborate stainless steel carts able to act as ovens as well as open grills.

Gas grills can reach the high heats ideal for cooking thin pieces of meat and fish, and can impart a smoky flavor as hot fat burns on the heated stones that simulate hot charcoal.

They can’t provide the true flavor of aromatic hardwood, but that’s easy to add by sprinkling wood chips on the ‘coals’ or, for longer smoking, wrapping moistened chips in heavy aluminum foil and poking some holes in it before placing on the heat.

Most grills also provide a side burner or two, ideal for heating sauces or cooking food off the grill.

Grills are also available as separate ‘cooktops,’ to be built in or placed on a suitable brick, concrete or stone platform.

The same is true of traditional charcoal grills. They can be bought as assembled units, or built from scratch, a necessity for large assemblies.

Though more trouble to use than gas, they provide more romance and better flavor. They’re generally more versatile since you can quickly grill steaks over the coals or pile them at each end for indirect heat.

They also can provide smoky wood flavor, though the hottest and most popular fuel, mesquite, is fairly neutral and hickory or other chips are a nice addition in cooking pork and some other meals.

Compressed charcoal briquettes are convenient and relatively inexpensive, but chunk charcoal is the preference of purists. One fuel to avoid, however, is that soaked with inflammable lighter fluid. As with separate lighter fluid, they always impart an unpleasant petroleum flavor to whatever they cook. An electric starter, propane torch, or the old reliable, a chimney and a piece of newspaper, are better approaches.

Some people, of course, can’t choose between the two, so get both gas and charcoal.

Counter space is vital
Often overlooked in planning your outdoor cooking area is the need for adequate counter space for preparation, placing hot dishes and even serving. If you have enough space, it can also be designed to keep your guests out of your way, just like a separating counter in an indoor kitchen.

It’s relatively easy to build a small unit incorporating both grill and counter, and also worth adding a sink and at least cold running water if possible. It’s convenient to wash and prepare many meals outside, particular if the weather is nice. A place to store fuel and other supplies is vital, too.

A few people even add a refrigerators outside, but an ice chest for cooling drinks is adequate and more appealing for most entertaining. An icemaker, however, is a great addition if you entertain a lot. Some suppliers make refrigerators and icemaker suitable for use outside, but they still should be protected from the weather.

The ultimate appliance, the pizza oven
Though most people realize that they’re a lot of trouble, expensive and space-consuming as well, it’s a rare serious cook who hasn’t wished he had a brick oven. Though used mostly for baking pizzas, which require a very high temperature for best results, they can also make superb bread and roasts and casseroles.

Interestingly, in Italy you can buy a portable, if heavy backyard oven from their equivalent of Home Depot for about $250, but here, that doesn’t seem to be an option.

The usual approach is to buy a $3000 clay insert, then have a mason build an enclosure around it, a process that typically runs more than $10,000, sometimes way more.

Perhaps some enterprising entrepreneur will start casting cheaper versions in Mexico or even locally one day. They’re not necessarily much more elaborate than the chimneas that have become popular for extending our evening entertainment.

There is an inexpensive alternative, however. Years ago, Sunset Magazine described an abode oven that in neither costly nor difficult to build. Not as sophisticated or effective as prefabricated inserts, it can still bake and roast fine foods. It’s described in the Sunset book, Building Barbecues and Outdoor Kitchens.

A last addition to an outdoor kitchen is a roof. Perhaps best is an open arbor that provides protection from the sun but also draws the area together.

Few people choose to cook outside in bad weather, but a permanent or removable cover is an option for those who do.

Fortunately, we aren’t bothered by the bugs that hamper most outdoor adventures elsewhere in America, but fat- and meat-seeking yellow jackets can be a nuisance in the Fall. Traps can help, but for those especially sensitive, screening might be nice.

Contact Paul: paul@ilovenapa.com