Price Points: Outdoor pizza ovens

Outdoor pizza ovens

Move over barbecues, you’re now passé – outdoor pizza ovens are the al fresco cooking gadgets to own these days!

The most basic pizza oven comes in at just over 150 quid – but for one that has all the bells & whistles and looks like a supermodel, prepare to pay up to five grand! I think I’d invest in the budget example in the first instance – see how often it gets a workout. If enthusiasm doesn’t wane and the British weather allows for regular use, I’d think about upgrading to the mid-range Ooni. Much as the canary yellow Charlie catches my eye (it’s also available in 7 other beautiful colours), I can’t imagine spending that amount of money on an oven – unless it’s an Esse range that’s indoors, sees everyday use and helps to heat the house!

  1. Outdoor tabletop pizza oven: £159.99, Vonhaus

    Fuelled by pellets and including a pizza stone to give you that authentic stone-baked flavour, you can also use this oven for smoking fish, meat or vegetables.
    The double layer design allows for a hotter inner temperature to have your pizza ready in no time, and the speedy heat up means it will be ready for cooking in only 15 minutes reaching temperatures of up to 350°C. Finished off with an ash collector, tidying up is even quicker.
    With a max pizza size of 13 inches, this is a perfect pizza oven for a pizza making night with the family.

    When all the slices are gone, the removable chimney and foldable legs allows for easy storage until next time.

  2. Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven: £699.00, Ooni

    Multiple fuel options for maximum cooking versatility
    Cook with wood or charcoal out of the box, or use gas with the Ooni Karu 16 Gas Burner (sold separately)
    Reaches 500°C (950°F) in just 15 minutes
    New hinged oven door design with ViewFlame™ technology to boost visibility
    Mounted digital thermometer displays internal ambient oven temperature (batteries included)
    Large cooking area fits up to 16-inch pizzas and other substantial cooks

  3. Charlie outdoor charcoal oven: £4,950.00, Charlie

    Charcoal BBQ, pizza oven, smoker, charcoal grill
    Crafted from the finest quality stainless steel, and comes with a powder-coated finish in a choice of 8 vibrant colours.
    Charlie is weatherproof and designed to work whatever the weather! Unlike top-opening barbecues or ovens, our front-opening design minimises heat loss and the impact of the weather conditions.
    Charlie’s sealed design and superior thermal insulation mean it uses 45% less charcoal than an open grill. As a result, one modest load of charcoal will last for around six hours.
    Charlie has 2.5 times the capacity of a domestic oven! It has nine cooking rack positions to allow many different cooking options. Cook indirectly (away from the fire) or directly (close to the fire). The cooking racks are professional-grade, and each oven comes with two racks as standard.

shop outdoor pizza ovens

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Prices & links correct at time of publication.

Charlie outdoor charcoal oven
Charlie outdoor charcoal oven
£4,950.00
Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven
Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven
£699.00
Outdoor tabletop pizza oven
Outdoor tabletop pizza oven
£159.99
Charlie outdoor charcoal oven
Charlie outdoor charcoal oven
£4,950.00
Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven
Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven
£699.00
Outdoor tabletop pizza oven
Outdoor tabletop pizza oven
£159.99
Charlie outdoor charcoal oven
Charlie outdoor charcoal oven
£4,950.00
Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven
Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven
£699.00
Outdoor tabletop pizza oven
Outdoor tabletop pizza oven
£159.99
Charlie outdoor charcoal oven
Charlie outdoor charcoal oven
£4,950.00
Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven
Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven
£699.00
Outdoor tabletop pizza oven
Outdoor tabletop pizza oven
£159.99
Charlie outdoor charcoal oven
Charlie outdoor charcoal oven
£4,950.00
Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven
Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven
£699.00
Outdoor tabletop pizza oven
Outdoor tabletop pizza oven
£159.99

Cakes & Bakes: Beetroot and goats cheese pizza

Home-made beetroot and goats cheese pizza | H is for Home

We were sent a pizza steel kit to review last week and thought we’d give it its first trial in this week’s Cakes & Bakes post.

Pizza steel kit | H is for Home

It’s a pizza steel, so of course that was going to be the thing we made! After making last week’s loaf we had some left-over ingredients so we thought beetroot and goats cheese pizza would be a great choice – waste not, want not! And we always have batches of home made tomato sauce in the freezer… we’ll share that recipe next week as it’s a very flexible and useful staple to have available.

Pizza dough in a steel mixing bowl | H is for Home

The kit is available in two sizes (depending on the width of your oven) and comprises a steel, a pair of aluminium combi peels for preparing the pizzas and a stainless steel dough cutter.

Pizza dough and Pizza Steel dough cutter | H is for Home

Prior to use, the steel needed to be ‘seasoned‘. This entails it being wiped all over with some kitchen roll impregnated with olive or rapeseed oil and putting it into a hot oven (250ºC) for an hour. Once that’s been done it keeps the steel non-stick, makes it easier to clean and stops it from rusting. So long as you maintain it properly by not washing it in soapy water, keeping it dry and resealing it with oil when necessary.

Pizza dough shaped on Pizza Steel piza steel | H is for Home

Before using it to cook your pizza, it needs to be preheated in the oven for 45 minutes (a pizza stone needs up to twice that length of time to achieve the correct heat).

Dressed beetroot and goats cheese pizza prior to going into the oven | H is for Home

Even if you don’t make pizza that frequently, the steel can be used to make home-made loaves, rolls, baguettes… any sort of bread product.

Detail of the crust from a home-made beetroot and goats cheese pizza on a Pizza Steel steel | H is for Home

Prior to using the pizza steel, our home-made pizzas usually take about 25 minutes to cook. This batch of beetroot and goats cheese pizza took a mere 12-15 minutes – and the base and crust had a far superior texture.

Slices of home-made beetroot and goats cheese pizza | H is for Home

We can’t recommend the pizza steel highly enough for producing professional looking and tasting pizzas. In fact, we can safely say it’s going to revolutionise our pizza and bread making!

What’s your favourite pizza topping(s)?

Click here to pin the recipe for later!

Beetroot and goats cheese pizza
Yields 2
Cook Time
20 min
Cook Time
20 min
For the pizza bases (makes 2)
  1. 450g/16oz Italian Tipo 00 flour
  2. 300ml/10½fl oz warm water
  3. 10g/⅓oz fresh or dried yeast
  4. 25ml/1fl oz olive oil
  5. 10g/⅓oz salt
For the topping
  1. 200ml/7fl oz tomato sauce
  2. 125g/4½oz goats cheese log, sliced
  3. 1 raw beetroot, peeled and sliced thinly
  4. 6tsp pesto (or my nettle pesto)Home-made beetroot and goats cheese pizza ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Place the flour in a mixing bowl fitted with the dough hook attachment
  2. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and add to the bowl
  3. Mix at slow speed until you achieve a dough texture
  4. Cover with cling film or a large clear plastic bag and rest for an hour
  5. Add the olive oil and salt to the dough and mix slowly for a further 4 minutes
  6. Rest for ½ hour
  7. Shape the pizza and leave to prove for 12 minutes
  8. Add the tomato sauce, and other toppings and bake at 230ºC/ 450ºF/Gas mark 8 on a pizza steel for 25 minutes
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Have a look at this Pizza Steel clip – doesn’t it just make you want to get baking?!

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Cakes & Bakes: Pizza

'Cakes & Bakes' blog post banner

Home-made pizza sliced | H is for Home

It’s pizza for this week’s Cakes & Bakes post. We’ve got a great pizzeria here in Todmorden – and we certainly can’t match their huge, wood fired oven… but we like to eat it in the house sometimes too!

There’s a very simple list of ingredients for the dough – flour, yeast, salt, olive oil, water.

yeast mixture yeast mixture next to the fire

With sub zero temperatures outside, the yeast mixture found the perfect place to come to life beside the fire.

pizza dough

The dough is simple to make and easy to work with.

risen pizza dough

Size and thickness is a matter of personal choice. In this house, Adelle has deep pan tendencies – Justin is a more thin & crispy kinda guy!

shaped pizza base

We rustled up a lovely tomato sauce. Olive oil, garlic, tomatoes & basil – cooked through, seasoned, reduced and strained.

tomato sauce being added to pizza base

This sauce was spread evenly over the pizza dough. Adelle then added roast aubergine, mozzarella and olives. Justin very similar, but he substituted Gruyère cheese for the mozzarella and also added red onion.

Adelle's pizza before being cooked Justin's pizza before being cooked

Both turned out very well – delicious in fact. We’ll continue experimenting with dough thickness, toppings and oven temperatures ’til we have absolute perfection!

If you have a garden, you can build your own wood fired pizza oven. You will make a unique pizza without leaving your home.

Easy pizza base

Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Servings 3 medium-sized pizza bases

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tbsp fast acting yeast
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 300 ml lukewarm water
  • 500 g strong flour
  • ½ tsp sea salt

Instructions
 

  • In a measuring jug mix the oil, lukewarm water, sugar and fast acting yeast
  • Leave in a warm place for 10 minutes for the yeast to begin foaming
  • In a large mixing bowl combine the flour and salt and make a well in the middle
  • Add the yeast mixture and combine to a smooth, firm dough
  • On a floured work surface, knead the dough for 5 minutes and form into a ball
  • Put the ball into the large mixing bowl, cover with cling film and leave in a warm place to prove until it doubles in size - about an hour
  • Tip the dough back out on to the floured work surface, divide into 3 equal parts and flatten each into 1cm circles
  • Leave to rest for 15 minutes before adding toppings and cooking
Pizza base ingredients
Keyword pizza, pizza base