Choosing fuel for an outdoor kitchen in Sarasota.
Gas, charcoal, wood, pellets, or a ceramic kamado each cook differently. The choice shapes the island, the utilities, and how you cook on a weeknight. This guide explains the trade-offs at the category level and points to what is on the showroom floor.
Written by the Pinecraft Barbecue showroom staff, September 2026.
Why fuel comes first
Fuel decides the appliance, the cutout, and where the fuel is stored. It also decides whether a gas line or a propane tank is involved, and how fast a weeknight dinner starts.
How you cook on a weeknight is a different job from a long weekend smoke. Name the cooker you actually use, then the island can follow.
A kamado opening is not a gas-grill opening. A pellet grill needs a plug. Charcoal, wood, and pellets need dry storage of their own.
Read the planning an outdoor kitchen guide for the utilities and location questions that sit next to this fuel choice.
Gas grills: fast starts and steady heat
Natural gas or propane turns on with a knob. The grill heats in minutes and holds a steady temperature. Cleanup is simple. The trade is less smoke flavor than charcoal or wood.
A cart grill stands on its own. A built-in grill needs an opening sized to the model. Built-in lines on the showroom floor include Twin Eagles, Delta Heat, and Napoleon.
On the showroom floor you can see Napoleon cart grills, the Delta Heat built-in, and the Twin Eagles island. Those are showroom displays at 3303 Bahia Vista St, not customer projects.
A gas line or a propane tank has to be decided before the island is built. We design your kitchen and supply the equipment; licensed contractors we work with install it.
Charcoal and the ceramic kamado
Charcoal gives smoke and high heat. You light it, tend the fire, and get flavor that gas does not. Charcoal or a kamado needs room for the cooker, airflow, and ash.
A ceramic kamado is a charcoal cooker with thick walls. Those walls hold heat, so the same cooker can run low and slow or very hot. That means it grills, smokes, and bakes.
Big Green Egg is the kamado line in the catalog. On the floor, the Big Green Egg aisle has the sizes lined up. Compare sizes in the Big Green Egg size guide. An Egg can sit in a nest, a table, or an island opening, and that choice changes the footprint.
That aisle is a showroom display at 3303 Bahia Vista St, not a customer project.
Wood and charcoal pits for long cooks
Offset and cabinet pits burn wood splits or charcoal. They need tending through a long cook. A smoker is a different job from a weeknight grill.
Patience is the point. Wood smoke is the deepest flavor in this lineup. You feed the fire by hand with splits or lump charcoal.
These pits take more space than a cart grill. Many sit apart from the serving island so smoke stays off the table.
Meadow Creek is the smoker line in the catalog. The Meadow Creek room on the showroom floor is the place to see that format. The Meadow Creek smoker guide compares cooker formats and cooking jobs.
Pellet grills: wood smoke with a thermostat
A pellet grill feeds compressed hardwood pellets with an auger. You set a temperature on a controller. It needs electricity. Real wood smoke arrives with little tending.
The trade is a plug and pellet storage that stays dry. A pellet grill needs power for its controller and a dry place for pellets. Plan an outlet and covered storage, not only grate width.
On the floor you will find Pit Boss pellet grills and a vertical smoker. See the same brands in the shop, sold in the showroom or by phone.
That aisle is a showroom display at 3303 Bahia Vista St, not a customer project.
Griddles run on gas
A griddle is a flat cook surface for breakfast, smash burgers, and stir-fry. Most of them run on gas. A griddle needs its own cook surface in the line.
The Evo round griddle and the Halo griddles are on the floor. Evo is a round, gas-fired cooktop. Halo's line includes griddles you can stand at and cook on.
Many islands pair a gas grill with a griddle or a side burner. The Twin Eagles island on the floor does exactly that. The showroom display puts a Twin Eagles griddle beside the grill and side burner. That island is a showroom display at 3303 Bahia Vista St, not a customer project.
Mix fuels, then see them in the showroom
Mixing fuels in one island is common. You do not have to pick one fuel for the whole kitchen. A gas grill plus a kamado is a usual pairing. A pellet grill can sit beside either one.
See the choices side by side in the showroom. Start with outdoor kitchens if you want the island around the cookers. The shop is where those brands are sold, in person or by phone. Salt air and a lanai change the layout. Read the salt air and humidity guide and the lanai and screen enclosure guide rather than repeating those notes here.
Outdoor Kitchens by Pinecraft Barbecue starts with a free, no-obligation home measurement in the Sarasota area. See the service area for the community list. We design your kitchen and supply the equipment; licensed contractors we work with install it. Call (941) 217-6995, visit 3303 Bahia Vista St, or use contact to send the sketch and photos ahead of the visit.