Outdoor kitchens are a big investment, so you to be sure they last. They have to handle many different climates like extreme sun and heat in the Southeast, and freezing temperatures and snow in the North.
For the New Hampshire based RTA Outdoor Living, they’re proving their outdoor kitchens can withstand harsh winters. They teamed up with the Mount Washington Observatory to install an outdoor kitchen at the 6,288 foot summit of Mount Washington.
If there’s one thing that Mount Washington is known for, it’s brutal weather. During winter, they’ll see winds north of 100 mph for days on end mixed with fog, extreme cold and ice.
Every outdoor kitchen company says its product is built to last. We wanted to test that claim somewhere the weather does not negotiate. We do not know exactly what a Mount Washington winter will do to this kitchen. We do know we will show people the answer either way.
Tommy Gubanc, head of marketing at RTA Outdoor Living
It’s not just the winds and lows that are a problem for any building project. At Mount Washington, they’ll see hundred of freeze-thaw cycles annually. Those can be particularly treacherous for outdoor structures. As anyone who has driven up north can tell you, moisture expands when it freezes which can lead to cracking.
We are not waiting until the end of the year to present a polished success story. We documented where the kitchen started, and we are allowing Mount Washington to determine the result in public. That means putting the kitchen, and our reputation, on the line.
Peter Kurst, project manager at RTA Outdoor Living
The 10-foot linear kitchen was installed in August, and it will stay there until August 2027. As part of the testing, anyone can see the kitchen and the current conditions through a live webcam. Since installation, there have already been two days with wind gusts over 100 mph, and some snow, ice, and sub-zero windchills.
RTA’s outdoor kitchens use structural panels to create a permanent outdoor living space. The Summit Kitchen uses signature handmade chiseled-edge concrete countertop in Cloudy with Modern Stone Ash concrete panels. It also has two 36″ gas grills from Coyote Outdoor.
The kitchen uses their standard production components, so it’s the same as customers have in their backyard. The only differences for safety purposes are the installation team anchored the island into an adjacent concrete wall using stainless steel support members and the grills have a system to secure the lids and doors when they’re not in use.
My first concern was what would happen if the kitchen failed and became debris in high winds. After seeing how ruggedly it was built, I expect it to make it through the winter and possibly several winters. Even so, I would be surprised if a full Mount Washington winter left it completely unchanged.
Jay Broccolo, director of weather operations at Mount Washington Observatory
It’s great that RTA is testing their outdoor kitchen like this, and doing it in public. In addition to webcam viewing, RTA is also going to put together a short documentary.
Access to the observatory via the Auto Road closes in late October, then re-opens in spring. After the end of the test period, the kitchen will be donated to the observatory, so hopefully it performs well.
The initial reaction was, ‘There is no way that is going to work, but we want to see it happen. Now that the kitchen is here, the team is excited to use it and find out what the mountain does to it.
Jay Broccolo, director of weather operations at Mount Washington Observatory