Heating and eating on your patio

Chimenea
Dibor's patio chimenea offers an elegant eating alternative
© Dibor

‘In cooler climates the season for comfortable outdoor living may seem disappointingly transitory, but various heating options can help keep the cold at bay,’ writes Andi Clevely. Hurrah! While the British summer may not be the hottest in the world, we shouldn’t let that confine our eating and meeting to indoors. Andi’s book ‘Patios’ tells us more:

Heating and eating

Although bulky and expensive, gas–powered standard heaters can supply overhead light as well as warmth over a large area.

A metal or pottery chimenea is a more elegant solution, originally from Mexico and fuelled by wood or charcoal to give a live fire for heating and cooking.

Dished metal braziers are a modern version of the humdrum incinerator. A fire pit of bricks and mortar sunk in the ground offers the warmth and romance of a bonfire combined with safety and (if fitted with a grille) alfresco cooking facilities.

Keep warm with a patio fire
© Raw Garden

Barbecues

For ease and convenience, a barbecue is the most efficient method of cooking outdoors. A range of types is available:

Disposable

Simplest and least expensive: a foil tray filled with charcoal and covered with a wire or metal grille.

Portable

Wheeled or collapsible models, often smartly designed; readily stored out of the way when not needed.

Built-in

Permanent DIY structures of brick or stone, with a solid hearth or fire cradle and cooking grille or spit.

Including space for permanent or seasonal cooking facilities such as a stylish and sophisticated barbecue completes arrangements for alfresco dining.

Be fire–wise

• Flames and smoke are hazardous, so shield fires from wind, and keep children, flammable materials and fire–lighting equipment well away from each other.

• Smoke and cooking smells are anti–social nuisances: choose still weather for cooking outdoors or site the barbecue downwind of neighbours.

• Wear protective clothing near fire, keep extinguishers such as water and sand near by, and make sure that fires are completely out after use.

This is an extract from ‘Patios' by Andi Clevely.