Outdoor Kitchen Ideas: Combining a Pizza Oven and BBQ in One Setup

The case for combining a pizza oven and a BBQ

For years, garden cooking in the UK meant one of two things: a barbecue — usually charcoal, often a kettle from a DIY shop — or a pizza oven, increasingly fashionable but limited in what it could cook. The two existed in separate worlds. You either had a serious BBQ setup or you had a pizza oven. Rarely both.

That separation is breaking down for a simple reason: serious garden cooks have realised the two cookers complement each other beautifully. A charcoal BBQ excels at direct, smoky grilling — steaks, ribs, fish, vegetables. A wood fired pizza oven excels at high-heat baking and roasting — pizzas, breads, whole birds, gratins. Use them together and you can produce a multi-course meal from outdoor heat alone, with no kitchen needed.

This guide covers how to build, plan or buy an integrated outdoor cooking setup with both — from full custom-built kitchens to ready-made all-in-one units.

Why integration matters

You can technically run a separate pizza oven and BBQ on opposite sides of the garden. Plenty of people do. But integration — having them physically in the same workspace, sharing prep area, storage and shelter — changes how you cook in three concrete ways.

Workflow. When the oven and grill are within two steps of each other, you can cook multi-stage meals without sprinting around the garden. Searing a steak on the BBQ while a pizza dough proves in the warm zone of the oven; finishing a piece of fish in the oven after charring it on the BBQ; using the BBQ's coals to start the pizza oven's fire.

Heat management. Two heat sources mean you can run one cool while the other is screaming hot, or stagger their warm-up so something is always ready. A unified kitchen lets you plan the timeline rather than juggling it.

Atmosphere. A proper outdoor kitchen is a destination. It becomes the centre of every garden gathering, in a way that two cooking appliances in different spots never will.

Two ways to build it

Option 1: The all-in-one unit

The fastest route. Buy a single integrated unit with both cookers built in. The XclusiveDecor Napoli Outdoor Kitchen is exactly this — a wood fired pizza oven and charcoal BBQ grill in a single freestanding structure. £3,499 for the whole setup, delivered, no construction required.

Best for: People who want a serious outdoor kitchen without the project. People who rent or might move within five years. Anyone whose garden doesn't allow for permanent built-in construction.

Trade-offs: Less customisation than a built-in. Fixed layout and dimensions. You're working with what the manufacturer designed.

Option 2: Built-in custom kitchen

The maximalist route. A permanent built-in outdoor kitchen with masonry counters, integrated storage, plumbed sink, mains gas line, perhaps even a fridge. The pizza oven and BBQ are inset into a continuous counter, with prep space between them.

Best for: Homeowners with long-term plans. People with the budget (£7,000–£25,000 depending on scale) and the space.

Trade-offs: Project-management overhead. Permitting, in some cases. Months of build time. You need to know what you want before construction starts, because changes are expensive.

Designing a built-in setup: what we'd specify

If you're going the custom route, here are the design decisions that matter most.

Position the pizza oven first

The pizza oven is the largest and least flexible element. It needs:

  • A heat-resistant base capable of holding 80–150kg
  • Chimney clearance overhead (60cm+ minimum, more if under eaves or near foliage)
  • Distance from combustible surfaces (1.5m+ from wooden decking, walls or fences)
  • Wind shelter — fires struggle in exposed positions

Once you've found the right spot for the oven, design the rest of the kitchen around it.

BBQ next, on the opposite side of the prep zone

You want prep space between the two cookers, not next to one and miles from the other. A typical layout: pizza oven on the left, 1.5–2m of counter prep in the middle, BBQ on the right. This gives you a natural workflow — you can have one hand on each cooker without crossing.

The Firenze Charcoal Barbecue Grill

If you want a serious built-in BBQ to pair with a wood fired oven, charcoal is the right choice. Gas BBQs are convenient but the flavour ceiling is limited. A proper charcoal grill like the Firenze — limestone body, integrated thermometer, ash drawer, chimney — will produce restaurant-quality grilling and integrates beautifully into a masonry kitchen.

Counter material

Three good options:

  • Granite or quartz: Heat-resistant, easy to clean, premium look. Most expensive (£300–£600 per linear metre installed). Best for outdoor use.
  • Polished concrete: Mid-range cost (£150–£300 per linear metre). Custom shapes and colours possible. Needs sealing.
  • Ceramic tile on concrete substrate: Cheapest (£80–£150 per linear metre). Lots of design freedom. Grout lines collect grime over time.

Whichever you choose, the prep area between cookers should be at least 80cm wide — enough to stretch dough or rest a tray of skewers.

Storage

Under-counter cabinets for wood storage are essential. You want enough capacity for a typical season's hardwood — say, 200–300kg of logs. Ventilated cabinet doors keep the wood dry while allowing airflow.

Also build in:

  • Tool storage for peels, tongs, brushes
  • A small refrigerator for raw meat and beer (optional but transformative)
  • A waste bin recessed into the counter
  • Power outlets for lighting and small appliances

Shelter

A pergola or fixed roof over the cooking zone is the single most useful upgrade you can make. It lets you cook in light rain, protects the cookers from year-round weather, and makes the kitchen useable for nine months a year rather than four.

Make sure any covering material is non-combustible and that there's adequate ventilation above both the pizza oven chimney and the BBQ.

Sample layouts

Small garden: L-shape, 3m x 2m footprint

Pizza oven in the corner. BBQ to one side, 1.2m of counter between them. A small storage cabinet underneath the counter. Total cost (custom build): £5,000–£8,000.

Medium garden: Linear run, 4m x 1m footprint

Pizza oven at one end, BBQ at the other, 2m of counter in the middle with a sink. Generous wood storage underneath. Pergola overhead. Total cost: £8,000–£12,000.

Large garden: Full outdoor room, 5m x 4m footprint

Three-sided kitchen layout under a fixed roof. Pizza oven on one wall, BBQ on another, an outdoor fridge and sink between them. Dining area within the same covered space. Total cost: £15,000–£25,000+.

The cheaper alternative: free-standing all-in-one

If a built-in kitchen is overkill, the Napoli Outdoor Kitchen achieves 80% of what a built-in kitchen does at 25% of the cost. You get:

  • A handmade Portuguese wood fired pizza oven with five-layer insulation
  • A charcoal BBQ grill integrated below
  • A stable freestanding base with integrated chimney
  • The whole thing delivered ready to use — no construction

For £3,499, that's about a tenth of the cost of a comparable built-in build, with no project management overhead. The trade-off is that you're committed to its layout and footprint — you can't reconfigure or extend later.

What you can cook with both

Once you have a pizza oven and a BBQ working together, your menu options expand dramatically. A few combinations we've used and loved:

Pizza party with grilled starters. Charcuterie-style spread of grilled vegetables, prawns and halloumi from the BBQ while the pizza oven heats. Then 8–10 pizzas in 20 minutes.

Long Sunday roast. Smoke a pork shoulder for 4 hours on the BBQ at low heat. While the meat rests, blast a pan of vegetables in the pizza oven at 250°C for 15 minutes. Bread baked alongside the vegetables. Serve as a feast.

Whole-fish dinner. A whole sea bass grilled over coals on the BBQ. Roasted potatoes and fennel from the pizza oven. Flatbreads cooked in 30 seconds in the falling heat.

Brunch. Sausages and bacon on the BBQ. Eggs baked in cast iron in the pizza oven. Toasted sourdough from the pizza oven floor.

None of these are possible — or are at least much harder — with just one cooker.

The accessories that make it all work

Whatever setup you build, you'll want:

  • A complete pizza oven tool set for the oven side
  • Heavy-duty BBQ tongs, a long-handled brush, a meat thermometer for the grill side
  • Fitted weatherproof covers for both cookers — the Royal pizza oven cover or model-specific covers protect your investment year-round
  • A dry log store with capacity for one full season of wood
  • A separate charcoal bin for the BBQ

Plan the build, then commit

The single biggest mistake we see in outdoor kitchen projects is mid-build redesign. Plumbing, electrics, masonry and the cookers themselves all need to be coordinated — and changes are expensive once concrete is poured. Sketch the layout to scale, work out the workflow on paper, ask yourself what you'll actually cook there, then build it. Don't iterate after the foundations are in.

If you're not sure you want to commit to a built-in build, start with the Napoli Outdoor Kitchen. Use it for a couple of seasons. You'll learn what you actually want from an outdoor kitchen — what you cook, how you use the space, what's missing — and that knowledge is worth more than any amount of upfront planning.

Then, if you decide to commit to a full built-in setup later, you'll do it knowing exactly what to specify.

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