GARDEN DESIGN
IN SEARCH OF RECREATING
RESTAURANT QUALITY ,
WOOD FIRED FOOD AT HOME
Wood fired pizza ovens became one of the hits of lockdown last year , as a direct result of a surge in interest in home cooking and an overall desire to produce food akin to restaurant fayre . This year , outdoor cooking in general , along with the use of wood fired ovens , will again be very popular , as people stay at home and the desire to enhance the overall eating experience prevails .
Landscape designers can tap into this trend and use the resource of Surrey based ‘ Kitchen in the Garden ’ – specialists in outdoor kitchens and wood fired pizza ovens – that provide expert advice alongside a wide range of suitable products . Certain things are best done outside - wood fired cooking really does deliver a superior cooking taste and experience and is one that has been tried and tested throughout the generations of time . At ‘ Kitchen in the Garden ’ we have seen wood fired ovens really coming into their own over recent years .
The best pizzas are cooked outside as indoor ovens cannot get up to the ideal temperature of 360 to 400 oC . But it is not just pizza . In fact , there is nothing better than a wood fired leg of lamb with the additional bonus of avoiding the cooking smell that inevitably lingers indoors .
Wood fired ovens can be stand alone or form part of a complete outdoor kitchen -depending on the customer ’ s garden space or individual requirements . They can be anything from a modern design to a more traditional style . Essentially , there are two types ; built in with a surround of your own choice , of which the best brand is Le Panyol , or freestanding / countertop , that can either sit within an outdoor kitchen or have its own stand .
Leading brands in the UK are Delivita ( sounds Italian , but actually made in Yorkshire ) and Alfa Forni or Fontana – Italy ’ s best .
If your customer is nervous about cooking with wood , or just impatient to wait for things to heat up , there are gas fired options as well as hybrid ( gas and wood ). The True Neapolitan Pizza Association ( Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana , AVPN ), the guardians of pizza tradition , have shown , after strict trials and blind tasting , that gas is able to cook a real Neapolitan pizza just as well as a wood-fired oven ! Clients should choose a size based on what they want to cook and for how many . Bread bakers need a large oven , or if they want to cook several pizzas at once . One should take in to account that wood fired ovens take longer to heat up but are cheaper in initial outlay and can provide a good wood smoky flavour for longer roasts . Pizzas can be cooked in as little as 90 seconds , so gas fired ovens with a quicker heat up time deliver greater convenience .
Planning on where to store the oven is also key . You will need an area for preparation and serving and enough space around to do some theatrics with the pizza peel .
The beauty of wood burning ovens is anyone can learn how to use them , whether you are a beginner or a professional chef .
If you would like to know more about wood fired pizza ovens
Email : sales @ kitcheninthegarden . co . uk or Tel : 01932 556266
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