Good Morning! 

Houzz did a survey of 1,100 homeowners doing outdoor living projects. Data is hard to come by, and in it they had some good data about outdoor cooking and outdoor kitchens.

Of homeowners doing outdoor living projects, the amount building outdoor kitchens has remained constant since their previous survey in 2024. They also are a significantly higher percentage of kitchen new builds compared to rebuilds.

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Oklahoma Joe's stayed true to their brand and released three new barrel-style cookers this week that are all about fire and smoke. One is a Home Depot exclusive with a height-adjustable charcoal bed and easy ash clean-out. Another is an offset smoker that has cooking grates in the fire box for more cooking options.

A Kickstarter just wrapped up for an indoor electric grill called LUMO that's powered with AI. A neat feature about it is it has a clam shell design that will open completely for two grilling surfaces. There have been quite a few indoor cooking products like this, so it will be interesting if any can catch on.

Fonatana Forni released their first outdoor kitchen line last year and they just followed it up with Ember, a corrosion-proof outdoor kitchen setup. They designed it specifically for coastal areas where other kitchens are prone to rust. They're so sure about the quality of it that they're offering a 20-year warranty.

The Financial Times has a story about Ooni and their efforts to weather the past handful of years. Avid readers of CookOut News will be familiar with the financial story, but they said in it that last year Ooni saw a small revenue increase. That would be a change from the large decreases they've seen over the past few years.

Finally, Kalamazoo released a new outdoor kitchen line with all stainless steel cabinets. Like their grills, these cabinets are at the super high-end with a 26" cabinet retailing for north of $6k.

Thanks for Reading!

Wes Wright

Founder and CEO

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