Wood-fired pizza ovens are a versatile cooking machine. You can roast, toast, smoke, slow cook, grill and bake a wide variety of crowd-pleasing dishes with just one wood-fired pizza oven in your backyard.
Here are just five of many, many easy dishes that you could make with a new wood-fired pizza oven from Sydney Fire Bricks.
1. Steak
Who needs a barbecue, anyway? Did you know you can cook delicious steak in a wood-fired pizza oven? While your pizza oven is heating up, rub your streaks with a little butter and season them generously with some salt and pepper. Once your pizza oven is heated up, place a cast-iron skillet inside for five minutes to allow it to heat up. Remove the cast iron skillet and place the steaks in it before returning it to the pizza oven. Allow them to cook for between two and five minutes, flip them over and then cook for between two and five minutes more on the other side. That’s it.
From there, you’re ready to cut up the steaks and dig in.
2. Roast vegetables
Veggies never tasted as good as they do from a wood-fired pizza oven. A whole range of vegetables work well for roasting, including potatoes, onions, pumpkin, carrots, eggplant, broccoli, capsicums and cauliflower. To prepare, simply toss some chopped vegetables in some olive oil and add some salt or other seasonings to your liking. Place the vegetables in a baking tray or aluminium tray and put them in your heated-up pizza oven. It’s important to rotate and reposition the trays periodically, so that the vegetables all cook evenly. When they look like they’re well roasted, take them out and serve.
3. Roast chicken
Do you like cooking roast chicken? You can take roast chicken to another level by simply switching out your conventional kitchen oven for a wood-fired pizza oven. Prepare the chicken as you would for your normal oven, giving it a good rinse in cold water, drying it off and then rubbing it with olive oil and seasonings to taste. If you like, you can also add some stuffing. Place it in a baking tray and put it in your pizza oven, which you want at between 180 to 200 degrees Celsius. Rotate the pan after 15 to 20 minutes, cook for a further 15 to 20 minutes and it should be done.
Easy-peasy!
4. Banana Bread
Who doesn’t love banana bread? It’s quick and easy and a great way to use up any bananas that are becoming a little bit too ripe to be eaten otherwise. Heat your wood-fired pizza oven to about 180 degrees Celsius, find your favourite banana bread recipe and cook away. Cooking it in a wood-fired pizza oven will deliver an unbeatable crispy crust on top, while the inside of the bread will remain moist and gooey.
5. Pizza
Well, it isn’t called a wood-fired pizza oven for nothing. And, after all, pizzas are quite an easy meal to make. Knead some dough to create the base, spread some tomato paste, add your favourite toppings, finish it off with some grated cheese and then pop it in your pizza oven to cook. Don’t forget you can also make some desert pizzas for later in the night if you like. Nutella pizzas are a much-loved favourite!