Outside Cooking Station

[BOB OLINGER]

Can anyone suggest a good top coat for an outside cooking station counter top that's open to the elements? It's made from Red Grandis. Thanks in advance.

[Richard Coers]

Any kind of film finish will require a lot of maintenance, probably every other year of sanding and recoating. Some kind of oil would be better, but I have no direct experience with that. How about nothing? How much sun exposure? UV is what kills a finish.

[Jamie Buxton]

Whatever you do about the finish, get a fabric cover for the station. It will protect the station for the 99% of the time it is not being used for cooling.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Old Down East Deck Finnish might be OK. It is a mixture of Linseed Oil, Pine Tar, Gum Turps and Japan Drier. It might even be non toxic in tiny quantities. It is promoted by Jamestown Distributors and they carry the ingredients. My favorite part of the outside cooking station is the high BTU burner for the Wok.

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[Scott Winners]

I used a sacrificial layer of Doug Fir plywood for the top of my outdoor kitchen counter. It is not food safe, but I have an enormous cutting board for it that lives in the garage, and the DF ply can take a hot cast iron piece off a an open fire without too much trouble, though there are some char marks.

I have never used Red Grandis. I built mine planning to shovel snow off it regularly when cooking in the winter months.