You can cook far more than just pizza in a wood-fired pizza oven. In fact, with a wood-fired pizza oven you can cook up the most delicious roast chicken dinner you’ll ever make. Roasting a chicken in a conventional electric kitchen oven simply does not compare to the taste and texture of a chicken that has been cooked in a wood-fired pizza oven. The wood smoke adds to the flavour of the chicken and the high temperatures give the chicken skin a little bit of crispiness while still leaving the meat inside soft and tender. There’s a reason roast chicken from the local charcoal chicken shop tastes better and that’s because it goes through a similar process, being roasted over hot smoking coals. For a roast chicken that will delight your dinner guests, fire up your backyard wood-fired pizza oven and get cooking. If you don’t yet have a wood-fired pizza oven, they are well worth the investment!
WOOD-FIRED PIZZA OVEN ROASTED CHICKEN
What you need
- 1 Whole chicken
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- A few pinches of salt and pepper
Optional stuffing for a delicious Herb Roasted Chicken
- 1 onion
- 1 lemon
- 6 cloves of Garlic
- 4 sprigs each of Rosemary & Thyme
Instructions
- Get your wood-fired pizza oven going until it reaches the ideal roast chicken cooking temperature of between 180 and 200 degrees Celsius.
- Start by rinsing the chicken in cold water, paying particular attention to thoroughly rinsing out the centre cavity.
- Let the chicken dry off on a tea towel or some paper towel while you prepare the rest of ingredients
- If you are choosing to add the optional stuffing, peel the garlic cloves and cut each of the onion and lemon in half.
- Season the cavity of the chicken with a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Fill the cavity with the two halves of onion, two halves of lemon, the garlic cloves and half of the Rosemary & Thyme.
- Set the chicken in a roasting pan that is oven-safe.
- Chop the remaining Rosemary and Thyme and mix them with the olive oil, before drizzling the mixture over the top of the chicken and rubbing it on the skin with your hands.
- Sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper over the top of the chicken.
- Place the chicken in your wood-fired pizza oven and start the cooking process.
- Rotate the pan after about 15-20 minutes, before cooking for a further 15-20 minutes.
- Use a stem thermometer to check the internal temperature of the chicken, which you want to reach around 75 degrees Celsius.
- Once your chicken is cooked, remove it from the wood-fired pizza oven and allow it to rest for about 5 minutes before serving.
- The final step is to enjoy your delicious meal!
What about sides?
Roast potatoes make a great side to go alongside roast chicken and if you have a big enough wood-fired pizza oven, you can cook them at the same time.
You could also roast up other vegetables like onion, capsicum, carrot, corn or eggplant.