3 Effective Tips to Winterise Your Kitchen

The outdoor cooking season is usually never long enough and the time comes every year when you have to close up your outdoor kitchen until next spring. To protect your investment in your garden glass rooms and outdoor kitchen, you need to do a few things to prepare this space for several months of winter inactivity.

Take the time once every year to follow the steps below to winterize your outdoor kitchen. It will be a great way to extend the life of your kitchen and its components. Doing a bit of extra work now means that you will require just minimal set-up on your first big outdoor spring cookout.

Shut off the Water Supply

One of the most important steps to winterize your outdoor kitchen is to turn off the water supply to the outdoor kitchen. Burst pipes and frozen water lines can cause expensive damage to the plumbing infrastructure along with the outdoor skin and appliances they are connected to.

Once you shut off your outdoor water connection, ensure that you turn on the sink’s faucets to drain the water supply lines. Ensure that all the water is drained from the lines connected to the outdoor ice maker and refrigerator.

Winterise Your Outdoor Kitchen Sink

Now that you have shut off the water supply to your outdoor kitchen and drained all water pipes and lines, there are only a handful of steps to winterise your outdoor kitchen sink. Your stainless-steel outdoor sink might be made of durable material, but it still needs to be covered up so that it’s protected from any unnecessary exposure to the elements over winter.

You obviously don’t want your outdoor sink to fill up with snow, sleet, and rainwater sleet that could easily find its way down the drain potentially causing damage. You also require a sink cover to keep out all kinds of debris such as leaves that can easily clog up your pipes.

Try finding a snugly fitting sink cover specifically made for your outdoor sink model. You should consider paying a bit extra for a high-quality sink that doesn’t deteriorate or start fading after just a few years of use. Covers made with carbon fibre vinyl are regarded as highly reliable.

The sink cover should ideally cover up the faucet too, but you may consider disconnecting the faucet and storing it inside over the winter, especially if it is expensive.

Get the Grill Ready for Winter

Outdoor grills need to get the most cleaning and maintenance at the end of the cooking season. So, give your grill some care to ensure that it will be good to go when spring arrives or ready for use should you get a mid-January craving for some barbecued steaks.

Remove the grates of the warming rack and grill and scrub off any food residue and grease with a wire brush and degreaser. Focus on the hard-to-reach corners of the grill and don’t forget to clean up around the burners. Once you are done with all the heavy-duty grill cleaning, give your grill a good polish using a stainless-steel cleaner.

Grilling experts also recommend regularly seasoning your grill before storing it away for the winter. It involves firing up the grill for a short period after coating the burners and grates with some cooking oil to protect against rust, get rid of contaminants, and ensure that food does not stick.

Afterwards, don’t forget to shut off the gas line if you have a natural gas grill. Disconnect the gas line and cover up any openings on the end of the line along with where it connects to the grill to ensure that no insects can get inside.