Outdoor Rooms

Outdoor Rooms featured our Mosman barbecue in Issue 34, February 2017, as the photograph illustrating “Take It Outside,” writer Karen Booth’s guide to choosing and living with a barbecue, outdoor kitchen or woodfired oven. Our built-in barbecue, its stone benchtop set into a run of Sydney sandstone paving, appears on page 68 alongside the magazine’s maintenance advice.

The tips running beside our photo are practical rather than aspirational. Clean the fat collection tray often, since that is where a fat fire can start, and line it with fat absorbent. Before first use, run the barbecue on high for five minutes without the hood to clear excess grease. Scrub the plates with warm water or a grease remover, dry them, then spray the cast iron or steel plates with vegetable oil to stop rust. Wipe the outside with a wet rag rather than a wire brush, which scratches the finish, and fit a cover when not in use.

It is a fitting pairing: a barbecue built to be used hard, on solid sandstone paving that can take a family gathering, cared for with the kind of routine maintenance the article describes. Look after it properly and a well-built outdoor kitchen like ours keeps working, and looking good, for years.