Outdoor Kitchen Storage: The Upgrade You'll Appreciate Everytime You Grill

When people design an outdoor kitchen, most of the attention goes to the fun stuff: the grill, pizza oven, smoker, refrigerator and countertops. Storage often becomes whatever space is left over.

That’s a mistake.

If you're building or remodeling an outdoor kitchen, one of the best investments you can make is at least one large, fully enclosed three-drawer storage system designed specifically for outdoor use. It isn't nearly as exciting as choosing a new grill, but you'll probably use it every single time you cook outside.

The point of an outdoor kitchen is to cook outside—not spend the entire meal walking back and forth to your indoor kitchen.

Think about how many things you regularly need while grilling: tongs, spatulas, knives, scissors, thermometers, gloves, butcher paper, butcher's twine, bottle openers, pizza tools, napkins and dozens of other small items.

Without good outdoor storage, every forgotten item means another trip inside.

A wide three-drawer cabinet gives you enough room to create a genuine outdoor cooking station. The top drawer can handle utensils and smaller tools, while deeper lower drawers can accommodate bulky grilling and entertaining supplies.

The [NewAge Classic Series Modular 3-Drawer Cabinet](https://findagrill.com/outdoor-kitchens/product/newage-classic-series-modular-3-drawer-cabinet) is a good example. It's built with weather-resistant 304 stainless steel, has full-extension multi-depth drawers, and includes adjustable dividers in the upper drawer. Two of the drawers are extra deep, which makes a surprisingly big difference when you're storing larger outdoor-kitchen gear.

I actually have two of these NewAge three-drawer cabinets in my own outdoor kitchen, and they've become some of the most useful components in the entire setup. And I use them every time we cook or entertain in the backyard. 

Outdoor cabinets have a tougher job than indoor kitchen cabinets.

They're exposed to humidity, dust, insects and temperature swings—and depending on where you live, mice and other rodents.

That's why there's an important difference between simply adding doors or drawers to an outdoor island and installing fully enclosed storage designed for outdoor use.

I don't want to open a drawer before a cookout and discover evidence that a mouse decided my butcher paper made excellent bedding.

A fully enclosed stainless-steel drawer system provides another layer of protection between your cooking equipment and the outdoor environment. The [Blaze 30-Inch Stainless Steel Triple Access Drawer](https://findagrill.com/outdoor-kitchens/product/blaze-30-inch-stainless-steel-triple-access-drawer) is specifically designed as fully enclosed outdoor storage, with commercial-grade 304 stainless steel, heavy-duty drawer mechanisms, close-assist operation and even internal lighting.

That fully enclosed construction is exactly the type of feature I'd prioritize when planning an outdoor kitchen.

More than you might think.

Between my two NewAge cabinets, I keep utensils, napkins, butcher paper, tinfoil, Kling wrap, wax paper, scissors, kitchen shears, butcher's twine, pizza peels and trays, thermometers, cast iron cookware, vacuum sealer, lighters, matches, USB cables, disposable gloves, tabletop fly fans, food tents, spatulas, aprons, remotes, bottle openers and other grilling accessories outside.

That means when I decide to fire up the grill, most of what I need is already waiting for me.

There's also a simple organizational trick I've adopted that works surprisingly well: I color-code my outdoor utensils whenever possible.

My outdoor tongs, knives, citrus squeezers and other tools have green handles when I can find them. After everything gets washed, there's no debate about where it belongs. Green goes back outside.

It sounds like a small detail, but when you're maintaining two kitchens, little systems like that keep things organized.

Outdoor kitchen budgets can escalate quickly, so storage is an easy place to cut corners. I'd do the opposite.

You don't necessarily need cabinets filling every available opening. But I would strongly recommend budgeting for at least one wide, three-drawer, fully enclosed outdoor storage unit. If your budget is tight, there are narrower enclosed three-drawer units available from manufacturers like Coyote, Twin Eagles, Blaze, Bull, Napoleon and others. Get one!

Something like the NewAge three-drawer cabinet gives you multiple drawer depths and built-in organization, while the Blaze 30-inch triple drawer offers a fully enclosed design specifically intended to protect and organize outdoor cooking tools. Both provide the kind of usable storage that turns a collection of outdoor appliances into an actual outdoor kitchen.

And don't underestimate width. A larger drawer can hold things that otherwise don't have an obvious home—pizza accessories, rolls of butcher paper, aprons, oversized utensils and entertaining supplies.

A grill makes an outdoor kitchen fun. Good storage makes it functional.

If you're spending thousands—or tens of thousands—of dollars building an outdoor cooking space, don't design it so you still have to run inside every five minutes looking for tongs, butcher paper or a bottle opener.

Install at least one quality, wide three-drawer system that's fully enclosed and designed for outdoor conditions. Organize it properly, stock it with the tools you actually use, and keep those tools dedicated to the outdoor kitchen.

It's one of those upgrades that doesn't get much attention when you're designing the space.

But once you start cooking outside regularly, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.