Frequently asked questions

When buying an outdoor kitchen, you look at design, price and quality, but above all at how you cook outdoors, how much space you have and how the kitchen will get to its spot. Choose the width based on the appliances you will really use, and measure the route from the street to the patio. Also plan connections for electricity and water, and a suitable cover. Read more in Buying an outdoor kitchen: what to look out for.

Which outdoor kitchen suits your garden or patio depends on the free space and the route to get there. Keep 90 to 100 cm of clear space all around. For a small patio, 109 or 157 cm is often enough; with 253 or 301 cm, two of you can cook side by side. For a roof terrace or a garden without side access, we agree the delivery with you in advance. You will find help with measuring in Outdoor kitchen: the right dimensions.

The difference between a standard model and a made-to-measure outdoor kitchen lies in who decides the layout. A standard model has a fixed combination of modules, worktop and appliances in one of five widths. With a custom outdoor kitchen, you choose in the configurator what goes into each module yourself, or request a quote for a different format. A kitchen built specifically for you is excluded from the 14-day right of withdrawal.

You put together your own outdoor kitchen in the configurator. First you choose the layout and depth, then you fill the modules from left to right with a door, drawers, a 70-litre fridge or an 18-bottle wine cooler. Finally, you choose the worktop and extras, such as a kamado, a built-in gas barbecue, a sink or a pop-up socket. With every choice, you see straight away what the kitchen costs.

You can add modules and options later, although it is wise to plan the complete layout in advance. You can simply place a separate outdoor fridge next to the kitchen, and you can also order a worktop separately from the range. What can be added to the kitchen itself later depends on the space and the existing connections. Write to us about it and we will look together at what is possible.

You request a quote for a customised outdoor kitchen by sending us the dimensions, layout and options you want, ideally with a sketch or a photo of where it will go. Our workshop in Almelo will make you a proposal for any format. You can also realise many wishes directly in the configurator: it handles straight kitchens as well as L, R and U shapes in a depth of 57 or 77 cm, and you can export your design there as a PDF.

A standard-model outdoor kitchen from VARETTI costs between around 1.150 and 5.000 €, including VAT and standard delivery. The price depends mainly on the width and the appliances: the VARETTI Maela 232, 109 cm wide with a 70-litre fridge, is the entry-level model; the VARETTI Levante 658, 301 cm wide with a Boretti gas barbecue and two fridges, is the largest. You can see all current prices in the range.

You can see the outdoor kitchens in real life in the showroom at Slachthuiskade 36 in Almelo, the Netherlands, on the same site as the workshop where we build them, just across the border near Enschede. You plan a visit by appointment, so an adviser can take the time for you. There you can see the standard models, put the Douglas fir worktop next to sintered stone, and open appliances such as the kamado and the 70-litre fridge yourself.

You look after a Douglas fir outdoor kitchen with a few regular tasks each year. Wipe grease and crumbs off the wooden worktop after cooking, because grease stains soak into Douglas fir. If you want to keep the warm wood colour, oil the wood about once a year in the places exposed to the sun with a natural wood oil, or choose the nano coating. If you let it go grey, there is no need to oil it. Clean sintered stone with water and a little washing-up liquid.

All VARETTI outdoor kitchens are made of Douglas fir, planed on both sides and dried, in boards 19.5 cm wide and 2.8 cm thick. Only for the worktop do you have a choice: a 3 cm Douglas fir worktop or 12 mm sintered stone in Black Betty, Snowy White, Granny Grey or Gold Flames. You can have the carcass in natural wood or with a black frame. You can see all the worktops under Worktop options.

Douglas fir is suitable for outdoor use because it naturally contains resin, which helps it stand up well to moisture and insects. It is still a natural product: outdoors it turns silver-grey, it moves slightly, and small drying cracks can appear while the structure stays stable. With a nano coating, a cover and a spot under a canopy, a Douglas fir outdoor kitchen lasts 10 to 15 years in our experience. Read more in Why Douglas fir.

The nano coating is an invisible layer that soaks into the wood fibres and makes water, grease and dirt bead off, while the wood keeps breathing and retains its colour. With normal use the protection lasts about 2 to 3 years, and you can choose it for the whole kitchen or just for the worktop. You mainly need it if the kitchen stands completely in the open. Under a closed canopy, the wood usually copes well without it.

The outdoor kitchens are delivered fully assembled, so you do not have to put anything together. You only connect the water, drain and electricity yourself, if you have chosen those options. You drill the openings for pipes and cables yourself in the back or underside of the cabinet, exactly where your pipes and cables come in, because every garden is different. We show you how in Connecting water to your outdoor kitchen.

You choose: your outdoor kitchen comes with sturdy swivel castors or fixed feet. With castors, you can push it into place yourself on a level, firm surface, even with a kamado or a 70-litre fridge inside. Feet stand particularly steady and can be levelled once the kitchen has its permanent spot. Always push or pull the kitchen by the base and never lift it by the worktop, so that the worktop and carcass stay undamaged.

A pop-up socket is a retractable power strip in the worktop with three outlets. You pull it up when you need power for a blender, lamp or charger, then push it back down into the worktop so the work surface is smooth again. The strip's plug goes into a standard outdoor socket, so you need a safe outdoor power supply at the kitchen. In the configurator, it is also available as a USB pop-up socket.

The difference between a kamado, gas barbecue, grill and induction lies in the heat source and what you cook with it. Grill is the umbrella term. A kamado is a 16- or 18-inch ceramic charcoal grill that holds heat for a long time, ideal for grilling, smoking and slow cooking. A built-in gas barbecue from Grandhall or Boretti heats up quickly and can be controlled precisely, and you use a 2- or 4-zone induction hob for pans and sauces. You will find the comparison in Gas or electric outdoor kitchen.

You get your outdoor kitchen ready for winter by first cleaning the kitchen and worktop thoroughly to remove grease and food residue. Then disconnect the garden hose, drain the tap and any under-sink water heater, and leave the tap open, because freezing water will split the tap housing. Switch off the fridge, leave the door slightly open and put the dry kitchen under a canopy or a breathable cover. More tips in Looking after your outdoor kitchen.

Whether the kamado or barbecue is included in the price can be seen from the model's configuration. If it says kamado 16 inch or 18 inch, the kamado is included. If it says cut-out for kamado (max. 52 or 60 cm), you get an opening in the worktop into which you place your own kamado or Big Green Egg. For a built-in gas barbecue, the name of the appliance is listed, for example Grandhall Premium G4. You can read which ceramic grill suits you in Kamado or Big Green Egg.

When it comes to the woodwork, you can expect a solid piece of Douglas fir furniture built for the outdoors. Knots, colour differences between boards, a little resin and small drying cracks are part of Douglas fir and are not defects. Because wood moves outdoors with moisture and temperature, the gaps around doors and drawers can vary slightly depending on the season. The drawers run on wood; no drawer runners are fitted. If you see something that is not right, send us a photo and we will take a look with you.

Which connections you need for your outdoor kitchen depends on the options you have chosen. The fridge, wine cooler, induction hob, under-sink water heater and pop-up socket run on electricity and need a safe outdoor socket. For a sink, you need water, via the garden hose or a fixed pipe, plus a drain into a gully or a gravel bed. A gas barbecue runs on a 5 or 11 kg propane bottle, a kamado on charcoal. More in Gas or electric.

An outdoor kitchen can stand freely in the garden, because our kitchens are built to stay outdoors. A canopy gives the wood and appliances extra protection from rain and sun: you have less maintenance, and the Douglas fir turns grey more slowly. If the kitchen stands completely in the open, choose the nano coating and a suitable cover, and only put the cover over a dry kitchen.

Before your outdoor kitchen is delivered, make sure the route from the kerbside to its spot in the garden is wide, clear and firm. Check gates, doors, corners, thresholds and differences in level, and make sure someone is at home on delivery day. If you have chosen a sink, a fridge or a pop-up socket, run the connections for electricity, water and drainage to the spot where the kitchen will stand. You will find the whole process in How to order.

For an outdoor kitchen, you need the width of the model, which is the length of the entire worktop (109 to 301 cm), plus space to move around it. Keep 90 to 100 cm clear between the kitchen and the dining table or fence, so you can get past someone standing at the worktop while carrying a bowl. Each cook needs 60 to 70 cm of free work surface, and the doors and the lid of the kamado must be able to open fully. More in Outdoor kitchen: the right dimensions.

You connect the tap and sink to the water supply and drain as described in the instructions supplied. The tap has 3/8-inch connections for hot and cold water, and the drain is fitted to the sink as standard. You drill the openings yourself where your pipes come in. Afterwards, run the water for a minute to check for leaks, and call in a plumber for a fixed water pipe. Step by step in Connecting water to your outdoor kitchen.

You connect the tap to the garden hose with a Gardena connector or a hose nipple on the 3/8-inch connection; you can order the garden hose connector directly in the configurator. That way the garden hose is all you need for the water supply, and in winter you simply disconnect it. If water has been standing in the pipe for a few weeks, let it run briefly until it comes through cool, as recommended by the German Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt) for stagnant water.

Your outdoor kitchen is delivered completely built and assembled, on castors or feet depending on what you chose, protected with film and on a pallet by a freight carrier. Check the kitchen for visible damage straight away on delivery, and if the packaging is already damaged, have the driver note this before you sign. The tap is supplied loose so that it is not damaged in transit. You fit it to the sink yourself after delivery.

Yes, VARETTI delivers across Europe. Every outdoor kitchen is built after you order in our workshop in Almelo, just across the border near Enschede, and taken fully assembled to the kerbside by a freight carrier. Standard delivery is included in the price; the delivery time for your model is shown on the product page. Payment is made online in advance, for example by card, PayPal or Klarna. You will find the process from order to delivery in How to order.

How quickly your outdoor kitchen is delivered depends on the delivery option you choose. Every kitchen is only built in our workshop in Almelo after you order. Standard delivery currently takes 28 days, express delivery 14 days and super-fast delivery 7 days; the two fast options cost extra. You can see the current delivery time on the product page and in the ordering process; it is always an estimate.

You choose the delivery date yourself when you order; the available dates are shown on the product page. If the day turns out not to suit you after all, you choose another day after the original date. On the evening before delivery, our transport partner sends you a two-hour time slot, so you can plan your day freely. More in How to order.

The carrier brings your order to the kerbside at the delivery address, to a point the lorry can reach. From there, you move the kitchen to its spot yourself: on castors you push it, on feet you carry it with several people. So make sure there is a level, clear route and a few helping hands. Always push by the base and never lift by the worktop. If you live near the border, you can also collect the kitchen yourself from our workshop in Almelo, for example after a visit to the showroom.

Whether the outdoor kitchen fits through your gate, side passage or garden path is determined mainly by its depth, because the kitchen rolls lengthwise through the opening. Compare the depth on the product page with the narrowest point of the route and allow a few centimetres of leeway. With a 253 or 301 cm kitchen, also watch out for right-angled corners, because such a long kitchen is hard to turn there. You will find a measuring guide in Outdoor kitchen: the right dimensions.

A Douglas fir outdoor kitchen with appliances weighs between around 100 and 800 kg depending on the model; the 205 cm VARETTI Cora 434, for example, weighs 227 kg. The kitchen arrives on a pallet: lift it down with several people and then take it to its spot: on castors you push it, on feet you carry it. Lawn, gravel or a threshold take some effort, so lay boards or ground protection mats on soft ground. Always push by the base and never lift by the worktop.

If delivery turns out not to be possible, contact us as soon as possible and we will schedule a new delivery date together. You assess in advance whether the kitchen can safely get from the street to the spot you want. So measure the entire route before ordering and, if in doubt, send us photos of the gate, garden path and corners via the contact form.

You pay no shipping costs for standard delivery of your outdoor kitchen: delivery to the kerbside is included in the price, as is assembly. If you choose express or super-fast delivery, you pay a surcharge, because your kitchen then gets priority in the workshop. You will see the amounts on the product page and in your basket before you order. You can read about the process in How to order.

At VARETTI you can pay by credit or debit card, PayPal, Pay by Bank directly from your online banking, Klarna or Satispay. If you are ordering for a business, you can also buy on invoice via Billie. We do not charge a fee for any payment method, and all prices include VAT. If you pay in advance, your kitchen goes into production as soon as we receive the payment. More in Payment methods.

No, at VARETTI you pay online before your kitchen goes into production: by credit or debit card, PayPal, Pay by Bank, Klarna or Satispay. With Klarna, you can also pay later or in instalments. You will find all the options under Payment methods.

At VARETTI, businesses can pay on invoice via Billie: you choose the option at checkout and settle the invoice later. As a private customer, you pay online by credit or debit card, PayPal, Pay by Bank, Klarna or Satispay; with Klarna, you can also pay later or in instalments. The overview is under Payment methods.

You can change or cancel your order as long as it does not yet have the status "In production". To do so, send an e-mail to info@varetti.de with your order number as soon as possible. Once building has started, the kitchen is tailored to your configuration; in that case, drop us a line and we will discuss the options. With a standard model, you also have a 14-day right of withdrawal after receipt; a made-to-measure kitchen is excluded from this.

If there is damage or a problem after delivery, check the kitchen as soon as possible and report it via the contact form or by e-mail to info@varetti.de. Include your order number, a short description and both overview and close-up photos. If the packaging is already damaged on delivery, have the driver note this before you sign. Defects are covered by statutory liability for defects for two years from delivery.

If a part is missing or something does not work, report it via the contact form with your order number and clear photos. Say which part it concerns, for example the tap, a hinge or the fridge, and what exactly is wrong. We will review your report and resolve it by sending a replacement part, carrying out a repair or exchanging the item.

The warranty at VARETTI follows statutory liability for defects: for two years from delivery, we are liable for defects that were already present at handover, for the kitchen itself as well as for appliances such as the fridge, hob and built-in gas barbecue. Greying, colour differences, slight movement and small drying cracks in Douglas fir are normal characteristics of a natural product and not defects. The details are in our Terms and Conditions.

You can return a standard model within the 14-day withdrawal period, counted from the day you received the kitchen, without giving a reason. Notify us of your withdrawal by e-mail to info@varetti.de or via the withdrawal function on the website, and arrange the collection with us. The kitchen then goes back unused and well packed within 14 days. A kitchen built or adapted to measure specifically for you is excluded from the right of withdrawal. Everything about it is in the cancellation policy.

You bear the cost of returning an outdoor kitchen yourself. Because a kitchen is too large to send as a parcel, we can arrange collection within Germany on request: allow around 150 € per shipping package; the exact amount depends on the carrier and the route. As soon as the kitchen is back with us in good condition, we refund the purchase price within 14 days. If the kitchen has been used more than was necessary to inspect it, we deduct this loss in value. More in the cancellation policy.