Work surface for an outdoor kitchen

[craigjm]

I am going to be building a bit of an outdoor kitchen but due to its position its not really possible to cover it. What work surface would be the best as an all weather work surface left to the elements? I guess wood would need lots of maintenance so maybe granite? Has anyone done something like this and is any special sealing required?

[Chris Stott]

Porcelain/manmade stone.

Wood is a rubbish material for even an indoor kitchen, and porcelain has all the benefits of granite while being pretty much impervious to water ingress (ie; it won’t stain) and looking much more modern.

[craigjm]

Good shout Chris and that wont need to be sealed either. Wood was off the table (groan) immediately

[paulwirral]

Get onto your local Facebook freecycle type website , there’s always plenty of stuff on offer for very little , don’t discount old snooker table slate , you’ll need to chop it around a bit but it can work well

[craigthecoupe]

Stone would be ideal, though for a budget alternative, what about microcement? it's meant to be pretty robust?

[Belle427]

Stainless bench maybe.

[sherman]

Stainless steel.
You could get your local metal shop/ blacksmith to make something or you can buy them online.

[thebraketester]

Stainless would get my vote.

[mikeiow]

If you’re not covering it, prepare to wipe bird sh!t & maybe other detritus off….stainless sounds like a sensible option!

[OutInTheShed]

Glazed ceramic tile?
We have an outdoor table topped with this and it's done well.

I'd prefer to see cutting boards used for actual food prep, no outdoor surface is really hygenic.
People put stuff on the ground then put it on the table.
You need plenty of space to put things down that isn't a food cutting surface.

[craigjm]

craigthecoupe said:

Stone would be ideal, though for a budget alternative, what about microcement? it's meant to be pretty robust?

Never heard of that will look it up

[craigjm]

mikeiow said:

If you re not covering it, prepare to wipe bird sh!t & maybe other detritus off .stainless sounds like a sensible option!

Thankfully it’s about 75ft off the ground on a terrace and the flooring has never suffered from bird droppings

[craigjm]

OutInTheShed said:

Glazed ceramic tile?
We have an outdoor table topped with this and it's done well.

I'd prefer to see cutting boards used for actual food prep, no outdoor surface is really hygenic.
People put stuff on the ground then put it on the table.
You need plenty of space to put things down that isn't a food cutting surface.

That’s a possibility

Yeah sure wouldn’t cut directly on it

[tomsugden]

I built an outdoor kitchen last year and had this exact issue. I went with polished concrete with some tumbled coloured glass beads in it, then when it's dry you flat it back. It really pops in the sun.

This was the build thread. https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Edited by tomsugden on Sunday 10th May 08:38

[Matt Harper]

Zodiaq quartz. It's engineered stone - looks great, non-porous and completely weatherproof.

[Car bon]

Depends how handy you are.... Granite from someone's old kitchen from eBay - if you have an angle grinder, you can cut off what you don't need & buy some polishing discs if you have any freshly cut exposed edges.

Large format porcelain tiles work well too

[paulwirral]

paulwirral said:

Get onto your local Facebook freecycle type website , there s always plenty of stuff on offer for very little , don t discount old snooker table slate , you ll need to chop it around a bit but it can work well

I forgot to add , I used the quarry tiles that I lifted from the kitchen floor , I like re using free stuff but I know most on here prefer to spend money !

[craigjm]

Thanks guys lots of options to think about