Our outdoor kitchens are beautiful: practical, comfortable and perfect for spending free time outdoors. But have you ever wondered when the concept of outdoor kitchen was born? And the passion for grilling and of barbecue? We will reveal it in this article full of curiosities that you may not know.

The history of the outdoor kitchen: the dawn of barbecues already in the Bronze Age

Today, barbecues and grilling are the favourite pastime of many homeowners who have an outdoor kitchen or a simple outdoor space. Actually, this passion goes back to the Bronze Age. In fact, if you think about it, at the time people could not have indoor kitchens, which were born later. Immediately after the discovery of the fire, therefore, some of the first “grills” were created. Think that archaeologists have discovered evidence of grilled food dated back to 2300 B.C.! Since then, nothing particularly significant has happened, except the birth of dwellings as we conceive them nowadays.

The “barbacoa” of the West Indies

We therefore fast forward to the seventeenth century. In this period, around 1600, the first reports of outdoor barbecues in the Western World came from what used to be called the West Indies. The natives of the island coined the term “barbacoa”, which generally referred to whole meats or sheep cooked on low heat. Settlers and colonial explorers adopted this practice and brought the idea of barbecue to Europe and to the United States, and thus the era of grilling for pleasure was born.

Since the 90s, the world of outdoor kitchens has opened up to everyone

Although, therefore, the barbecue was already known, it was only from the 1990s that manufacturers of outdoor kitchen furniture came onto the scene. The idea of creating an integrated space that can accommodate all kinds of grilling products, together with classic kitchen furniture and appliances, was launched then and began to attract the first homeowners. All this represented a revolution, because finally you could have fun socializing with friends and family while preparing a meal, without having to carry utensils and other grilling products back and forth. Today, outdoor kitchens can be created to suit the lifestyle and design preferences of any homeowner. From various styles available in a multitude of materials or paint finishes, to accessories for technologically advanced barbecues. Outdoor kitchens and living spaces have become extensions of the house.

And in the future? What will happen?

We at OF, experts of outdoor kitchens, believe that luxury houses and flats (but not only the luxury ones) in the future will continue to bring more and more of the comforts of modern kitchens outside. An increasing number of houses are designed with a patio or large terraces, which become a well-integrated extension of the living space inside the house. Dishwashers, microwaves and even ovens have become common spaces in outdoor kitchens. Technology will continue to develop to make these appliances weatherproof and more affordable. In short, outdoor cooking started as a social activity and will continue to be so in the future: it may vary just depending on where you live and your financial means. The future will bring many changes in the technology of outdoor kitchens and the way they are created, but the community dimension of this outdoor environment will always be present.

Finally, let’s remember: What do we do very often when we get together? We eat.