SWMBO has gotten increasingly sensitive to cooking smells over the years to the point where I'm now looking into cooking outside. My problem, though, is that I'm not really that interested in grilling. What I'd really like is an outdoor cooktop, basically just gas eyes. I wouldn't say no to a grill as part of it, but almost everything I see is a grill plus an ancillary burner or two. I'd rather have four eyes and a small grill.

In addition, I've seen some things that are essentially just campstoves on legs, but they make me nervous. I'd rather have a sturdier base that I'm less likely to trip over.

The closest I've found is Char-Broil's Outdoor Stovetop, which looks nice, but is just one burner, and I need more than that.

I've had the thought that it might be possible to install a natural gas cooktop meant for indoor use outside (and hook it up to NG), but I have the feeling that it probably wouldn't stand up to the elements very well.

I also don't want to spend $2000 on it.

Does anyone have any ideas?

my mother had a neat old stove, she said it was a world war 2 french army camp stove, I have no idea why she thought this, anyway- it was only about 3 or 4 inches tall, about 28 inches wide (3 burners) and maybe 12 deep. very heavy iron. not the kind of thing you could tip over, but still not so heavy that you couldn't lift and move it with ease.
she set it on top of a slab of marble and piped gas to it. it was the stove I grew up with and used for about 10 years. it's still in use today.

this is the closest thing I could find on the net ..

Yeah, that's basically the same thing as the campstove on legs I posted before. I don't know that I trust myself to find something fireproof, inexpensive, and stable to put it on, though.

There are similar things made for the commercial applications that are a little more well built. Think "omelet station". Here's one, albeit electric and way too pricy.

You could always get a Chimenea (see also here), or even a classic wood burning stove. You can probably find an old cast-iron wood burning stove in some antique shop for chump change. Clean it up, season it properly, and it will provide all the heat (albeit without much in the way of temperature control) that you could ever need for cooking.

Induction cooktops?

They're cheap and the cooktop itself doesn't get hot (I think). Maybe you can buy a few of those? I believe your pots and pans need to have very straight and level bottoms.

Newegg is selling kitchen gear? Weird.

An induction cooktop is not a terrible idea. I'd have to get some electricity installed outdoors, and I'd still have to give some thought to a stand to put it on, but it's something to think about.

I don't know how I'd use a chiminea to cook on, really. If you can explain to me how I could saute some vegetables, for example, I'd love to hear it.

The burners in the picture that lastdan posted are exactly what you want. Simple, easy to use. We use them when we're camping. Just hook to a propane tank and away you go. If you want something to set it on, just use a large rectangle pan. Use a non-stick one for easy cleanup.

I currently have no table outside.

I am more than liable to trip over the propane hose, bring the whole thing down, and burn my house.

I do not feel confident in constructing a stand for it.

Therefore, I need something with an integrated stand of some nature. I find it amazing that no one seems to sell these things in an enclosed case. Basically, I just want this for the outside.

So contract someone to build a stand, or buy a workstation and cut a hole for a cooktop like this one.

Or maybe this one (with stand) from Home Depot

This one might be budget overkill.

-Zeke

Yes, we all know Wal Mart is the devil, but this might be getting closer to what you want.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4809684

I wasn't aware you were willing to use a propane tank.

Camping suppliers seem to be the key here...
http://www.ahappycamper.com/products/stoves/partner/4burner.html

Yeah, I can get something similar from places other than Wal-Mart. But if you take a look at the dimensions, it's 28" tall. Hardly high enough to work on without something else underneath it.

that thing is slick! (EDIT: yikes ! ~$900.00)

questions:
do you plan to pipe gas to it or use a tank?
why not buy a patio table to stand it on (and the tank below)
would you rather use electric?

have you considered just getting a gas grill and simply putting pans on it? (I do it all the time, works just fine)

Yeah. It's really starting to look like my options are:

1. Buy a tabletop cooktop and construct a box around it
   
2. Buy a grill and deal with a single "side-burner"
   
3. Buy an "outdoor kitchen" and spend $5000

I'm not a big fan of any of those options, but I guess I'll have to make do.

I think I might go to my local grill store and ask them if they have any options.

The Home Depot Bayou one is 25" tall. I'm not really sure of the point of the "extension legs" on those things. Maybe midgets are the only people who want to cook outside besides me.

The "budget overkill" one is neat, but no burners. I don't want to have to heat up the whole griddle just to cook in one pan.

I was planning to just use a tank. We have natural gas at home, but I don't really feel like paying a plumber to hook up a pipe outside, nor do I feel like making it a permanent fixture.

I'm nervous about an open flame on top of a table not designed for it. And my wife is way more skittish about such things than I am.

I don't have an electrical outlet outside, tho it's not unreasonable to get an electrician in to put an outlet outside.

I hadn't considered just putting pans directly on a grill. If that's a reasonable solution, why do people have the separate "side burners" on grills?

It's not that I need "fine" temperature control, but I do need temperature control. I could stick a pan in some burning coals, but it's unlikely that I'd both be able to sweat some onions and sear a steak with that method.

Well, that was the top of a $2000 stove, so no. But I get your point.

I'd like something that was enclosed so I couldn't trip over the legs, but just spot welding some sheet metal onto the legs would be fine, although a cabinet underneath would be snazzy.

Let me go to the grill store to see what they can tell me before I commit to anything, but I appreciate the help. That goes for everyone actually. Thanks.

Alternatively, you could do an electric one using this: