Jupiter Pergola is an authorized dealer for Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet, the hand-built stainless outdoor kitchen line from Kalamazoo, Michigan. This is the top of the market — grills and cabinetry welded to order by hand rather than assembled from stamped parts. Below is the range, what it is actually made of, and the one specification decision that matters more than any other if you live near salt water.
Images show the Kalamazoo range across different configurations, finishes and settings.
Two ways to build an outdoor kitchen
We carry both Kalamazoo and WeatherStrong, and they are not the same product aimed at the same person. It is worth working out which one you are before you fall in love with a photograph.
WeatherStrong is weather-resistant cabinetry built to order in Bartow, Florida in roughly ten business days, in seventeen finishes. It is the right answer for most homes, and it is the one we fit most often. See the WeatherStrong range.
Kalamazoo is hand-welded stainless — 304 as standard or 316L marine-grade — across cabinetry and appliances alike, built to order over roughly ten weeks. It is for oceanfront exposure and for people who cook seriously enough that the grill is the point of the project rather than an appliance in it.
A single Kalamazoo grill can cost more than an entire WeatherStrong island. That is not a reason to avoid it — it is a reason to be sure. We would rather talk you out of the expensive answer than sell it to you and have you wonder why.
Built like metalwork, not like furniture
Kalamazoo starts with raw mill sheet and forms, welds, finishes and assembles the grills and cabinetry by hand in Michigan; the undercounter refrigeration is built for them by Perlick. The company as it trades now was established in 2005, on a Michigan metalworking family line going back to 1906. The practical difference from cabinetry is structural rather than cosmetic:
- A fully welded structure rather than a fastened box, so the carcass cannot work loose over years of thermal movement.
- A welded rain gutter around every opening, so water that gets past a door leaves the cabinet instead of sitting in the bottom of it.
- Soft-close stainless hinges and slides, and full-extension shelves — stainless hardware, not plated steel that will bleed rust down a door front.
- Ships assembled on leveling legs with utility chases already built in, which is what makes a clean install possible on a patio that is not perfectly flat.
304 or 316L: the one choice you cannot change later
Both grades are stainless. The difference is molybdenum, which is what resists the chloride pitting that salt air causes. 316L has it; 304 does not. You can change a finish, a layout or an appliance after the fact. You cannot change the alloy the kitchen is made of without buying it again.
- Oceanfront, or direct east exposure: specify 316L. Do not negotiate with yourself about this one.
- On the Intracoastal, on the islands, or within about a mile of open water: specify 316L.
- Abacoa, Jupiter Farms, and inland generally: 304 is a sound choice and the saving is real.
The caveat the brochures skip. No stainless is maintenance-free in salt air. Surface corrosion and discoloration are excluded as standard across this industry, Kalamazoo’s warranty included. 316L buys you a far longer runway. It does not buy permission to never rinse the kitchen.
The cabinetry
Two door styles. Signature is a full-overlay flat panel in stainless or powder-coat that disappears into the architecture. Arcadia is a four-board panel in ipe or powder-coat, and it is the call when the kitchen sits under a wood ceiling and a flat steel door would read as cold.
Finishes run to sixteen matte powder-coats plus custom RAL matching. If your window frames or your railings already have a RAL number, the kitchen can be built to it rather than approximately near it.
Left: a Signature island, shown as a studio product view. Center: Arcadia fronts alongside a gaucho grill. Right: the powder-coat and woodgrain finish palette.
Most cabinet modules run from 12 to 48 inches, with grill bases from 30 to 54 inches and appliance cabinets from 21 to 57 inches, so a run gets laid out to the inch rather than forced onto a standard grid — base and drawer cabinets, sink bases, waste pull-outs and open shelving alongside them.
The cooking equipment
The Hybrid Fire Grill is the piece Kalamazoo is known for. In Kalamazoo’s own words it is designed to cook with gas, charcoal or wood — individually or in any combination. A drawer below the grates runs empty for even gas heat off the cast stainless Dragon Burners beneath it, or loaded with charcoal and hardwood when you want live fire. One grill, three fuels, without owning three grills.
The rest of the line, briefly. The Gaucho is an Argentine open wood fire with a spoked wheel that raises and lowers the cooking surface over the coals — it is also the thing your guests will stand around all evening. The Shokunin is a Japanese-style charcoal grill made of stainless rather than ceramic, so it will not crack the way a ceramic kamado can, and it shrugs off Florida. The Artisan Fire Pizza Oven has independent top and bottom burners and turns out a pie in a couple of minutes. The smoker gives you genuine low-and-slow from a cabinet that matches the rest of the run.
Two things worth knowing before you commit. These grills drink gas, so plan a properly sized dedicated line rather than a tee off something else — that is a decision made at rough-in, not at delivery. And build the surround so the unit can come back out. A grill bricked permanently into masonry is a serviceability problem you have created for your future self.
Refrigeration
Refrigerators, beverage centers, wine chillers, clear ice makers and keg tappers in 15 and 24 inch widths, with insulation Kalamazoo puts at 23 percent thicker than competing units — which matters more here in August than it does almost anywhere else in the country. One thing to know if you are specifying 316L throughout: nearly the whole range can be built in marine-grade, but the ice maker is the exception.
One piece of siting advice we give every time: shade the refrigeration. A unit in full west sun will run close to constantly and will not last as long as the same unit under cover. Where the fridge goes is a design decision, not an afterthought.
What it costs and how long it takes
Plan on roughly ten weeks for Kalamazoo to build the equipment once the design is finalized, plus another two to three weeks for delivery — call it three months door to door, and longer if the design takes a while to settle. It is hand-built to order, which is the entire point, but it is not a short timeline and you should hear that from us now rather than in week six. If you need a kitchen sooner, WeatherStrong builds in roughly ten business days.
On price, using Kalamazoo’s own published list figures: an entry Echo gas grill starts around $13,600 and the Echo line runs to about $30,000. Hybrid Fire grills run from roughly $22,000 to $46,000, and Gaucho grills from about $33,000 into the high fifties in marine-grade. Cabinetry is quoted by the run, and 316L, custom RAL and ipe are each upcharges. Those are list prices as published by Kalamazoo and they move — we confirm current pricing at the time of order.
The warranty, stated plainly
A summary of Kalamazoo’s published US residential terms. The full text, which governs, is on Kalamazoo’s warranty page:
- Grills, pizza ovens and cooktops: 2 years parts and labor. 5 years parts only on burners, gas valves, manifolds and control boards. 25 years parts only on cast Dragon Burners, cooking grates and the fabricated stainless structure.
- Cabinetry: 2 years parts and labor. 5 years parts only on hinges, slides and adjustable legs. 25 years parts only on the fabricated stainless structure.
- Refrigeration (Perlick-built, units produced January 2021 or later): 3 years parts and labor, 6 years parts only on the sealed system. Ice makers up to 2 years from installation or 27 months from shipment, whichever comes first. Drain pumps 1 year, stainless cosmetic defects 60 days.
- Smokers are their own case: 2 years parts and labor, but the pit computer and pit fan carry BBQ Guru’s separate 2-year parts-only warranty, with 5 years on hinges and adjustable legs and 25 years on the pit shelves. Do not assume the grill terms above apply to a smoker.
- Transfer: grills and cabinetry transfer in a property sale with registration and the original owner’s authorization. Refrigeration does not transfer.
Excluded across the board: discoloration, surface corrosion, scratches and weather-related staining. That is industry standard rather than a trap, but it does mean the long coverage is against the metal failing, not against it aging.
Looking after it in Jupiter
- Rinse with fresh water every couple of weeks near the water, monthly inland. A hose is enough — this is not a chore, it is two minutes.
- Wipe with the grain, never across it.
- No chlorine cleaners, no steel wool, no abrasive pads. Bleach is chlorides, and chlorides are the thing you are protecting against.
- Orange speckling is almost always airborne iron settling on the surface rather than the steel itself failing. It comes off easily if you catch it before it pits.
- Cover the grill. Covers are cheap and salt is patient.
The roof over it
The combination we are asked for most is a Kalamazoo run under a motorized louvered pergola — shade over the cook, shade over the refrigeration, and the louvers closed when a storm comes through. We build the structure and the kitchen under the same contract, which means one company is accountable for how the two meet.
Said plainly, because it matters to how you lay the kitchen out. No motorized louvered roof system is 100% waterproof, ours included. What ours gives you is the most watertight motorized louvered roof available: when the louvers close they overlap onto integrated gaskets, and a built-in gutter and downspout system carries the water away through the posts. In everyday South Florida rain the space stays comfortable and largely dry. In the heaviest downpours or wind-driven rain you may see some misting, splashing or an occasional drip — and keeping the gutters and downspouts clear goes a long way toward preventing it. So we plan the layout with the electronics and the refrigeration out of the wettest part of the structure. For a space that must stay dry in any weather, we also build solid roofs and frameless sliding glass enclosures, which seal the sides against wind-driven rain.
What it looks like built in
Why buy it from us rather than online
A Kalamazoo kitchen is not a box that turns up and works. It needs a gas line sized for the appliance, dedicated circuits, a surround built to the right dimensions with service access, and in most of Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie Counties it needs permits for both the structure and the electrical.
Jupiter Pergola Inc. holds a Florida general contractor license (CGC1530171) and a Florida electrical contractor license (EC13012123). The same company that designs and engineers the structure also pulls the permits, builds the surround and wires the circuits, the lighting and the motors. If something is wrong afterwards, there is one phone number to call and nobody to point at.
Start with a design
Send us the footprint and tell us how you actually cook, and we will lay out a run that fits — cabinetry, appliances, finishes and the steel specification for your exposure. Call (561) 826-9200 or request a consultation.
Common questions
Is Jupiter Pergola an authorized Kalamazoo dealer?
Yes. Jupiter Pergola Inc. is an authorized dealer for Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet, serving Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie Counties from Jupiter, Florida. We are also a licensed Florida general contractor (CGC1530171) and electrical contractor (EC13012123), so the same company supplies the kitchen, builds the surround, pulls the permits and wires the circuits.
Should I specify 304 or 316L marine-grade stainless in South Florida?
If you are oceanfront, have direct east exposure, are on the Intracoastal or the islands, or are within roughly a mile of open water, specify 316L. The molybdenum in 316L is what resists the chloride pitting that salt air causes. Inland — Abacoa, Jupiter Farms and similar — 304 is a sound choice and the saving is real. It is the one specification you cannot change later without buying the kitchen again.
What is a Hybrid Fire Grill and how does it work?
Kalamazoo’s Hybrid Fire Grill is designed to cook with gas, charcoal or wood, individually or in any combination. A drawer below the cooking grates runs empty for even gas heat from the cast stainless Dragon Burners, or loaded with charcoal and hardwood when you want live fire. It means one grill does the work of three without owning three grills.
How much does a Kalamazoo outdoor kitchen cost?
Kalamazoo sits at the top of the market. On their published list pricing an entry Echo gas grill starts around $13,600 and the Echo line runs to about $30,000; Hybrid Fire grills run from roughly $22,000 to $46,000; Gaucho grills from about $33,000 into the high fifties in marine-grade. Cabinetry is quoted by the run, with 316L, custom RAL and ipe each carrying an upcharge. A single Kalamazoo grill can cost more than an entire WeatherStrong island, which is why Jupiter Pergola talks the decision through before quoting it. List prices move and are confirmed at the time of order.
How long does a Kalamazoo kitchen take to arrive?
Kalamazoo publishes a build time of about ten weeks once the kitchen design is finalized, and delivery typically adds another two to three weeks, so roughly three months door to door. Every piece is hand-built to order in Michigan. If your timeline is shorter than that, WeatherStrong cabinetry builds in roughly ten business days and is the better answer — Jupiter Pergola carries both lines.
Can a Kalamazoo kitchen go under a louvered pergola?
Yes, and it is the combination we are asked for most. One caveat we always state: no motorized louvered roof system is 100% waterproof, ours included. Ours is the most watertight available — overlapping louvers closing onto integrated gaskets, with a built-in gutter and downspout system carrying water away through the posts — and in everyday rain the space stays largely dry. In the heaviest downpours or wind-driven rain you may see misting, splashing or an occasional drip, and keeping the gutters clear mitigates it. So we plan the layout to keep the refrigeration and the electronics out of the wettest part of the structure.
What does the Kalamazoo warranty actually cover?
Grills, pizza ovens and cooktops carry 2 years parts and labor, 5 years parts only on burners, valves, manifolds and control boards, and 25 years parts only on cast Dragon Burners, grates and the fabricated stainless structure. Cabinetry carries 2 years parts and labor, 5 years on hinges, slides and legs, and 25 years on the stainless structure. Perlick-built refrigeration produced January 2021 or later carries 3 years parts and labor with 6 years on the sealed system, and ice makers are capped at 27 months from shipment. Smokers differ again: the pit computer and fan fall under BBQ Guru’s own 2-year parts warranty. Discoloration, surface corrosion and scratches are excluded throughout, so the long coverage is against the metal failing rather than against it aging. Kalamazoo’s published warranty page governs.
Do I need a permit for an outdoor kitchen in Palm Beach or Martin County?
In almost all cases yes — a permanent outdoor kitchen with gas and electrical service requires permits, and running a new gas line and dedicated circuits requires them separately. Jupiter Pergola pulls the permits and passes inspection under its own Florida GC license (CGC1530171) and EC license (EC13012123).
Explore more outdoor living solutions
- WeatherStrong outdoor kitchens — weather-resistant cabinetry in seventeen finishes, built in about ten business days
- Motorized louvered pergolas — the roof the kitchen usually goes under
- Frameless sliding glass enclosures — operable glass walls that seal the sides against wind-driven rain
- Solid roof patio covers — for a space that must stay dry in any weather
- Contact us for a free on-site consultation