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Outdoor Ovens
We Aussies are blessed with a climate that means we can spend
most of the year outdoors, and tossing prawns or snags on the
Barbie is a part of life. But why stop at a bbq or kettle?
Helen McKerral investigates a versatile addition to the outdoor
kitchen.
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most Aussies, my garden includes a barbie out the back, but I
have a confession to make: I’m no vegetarian but nor are hunks
of meat my favourite food and what I’d really prefer is a
wood-fired outdoor oven. Actually, that’s not quite right
either: what I’d really prefer is what comes out of that
wood-fired oven! Forget stodgy, fatty commercial pizzas
smothered in cheese and processed ham, and think instead of
light and crispy bases with a smear of home-made passata from
home-grown tomatoes, a crumble of salty fetta, a few juicy black
kalamata olives, a drizzle of olive oil and a scatter of fresh
basil leaves – yum! Or bread with that unmistakably aromatic,
smoky, chewy crust that can only be produced in a wood-fired
oven. My mouth is watering already!
A friend of mine built his own outdoor oven last year. It was a
quick and dirty version made from scavenged bricks, clay and
chicken wire but it works a treat. Even better, this little
project quickly expanded to include experimenting with yeasts,
doughs (pizza, bread and sour), and growing his own toppings –
basil, rocket, parsley, tomatoes, chillies, even mushrooms! –
making for not only delicious but also healthy dinners.
I have a few more pressing projects to complete in my own
garden, but an outdoor oven is on the list too.
How do wood-fired ovens work?
Put simply, you build a fire inside the oven and let it burn for
some time. The thick walls of the oven insulate the interior and
store heat, with clay or cement absorbing heat more quickly than
brick for speedier cooking. When the oven is at the temperature
you want, you either push the embers/fire to the back of the
oven or rake them out, put your food inside and close the door
(or leave it open). It is then various forms of
stored/re-radiated heat rather than direct flame that cook the
food.
Outdoor wood fired ovens are either flued or unflued with a
single half-circle door at the front. Unflued designs rely on
cool air being drawn in at the bottom of the door, displacing
heated air which flows up and around the dome and then out of
the upper part of the door (you can often see the “shear” layer
inside as a separation of clear and smoky air). If you decide to
build your own unflued oven, it’s important to follow
dimensions/proportions of door height/width/oven size exactly,
so that the air flows correctly to feed the fire.
Unique Flavour
Professional chefs and bakers know that wood-fired ovens can
produce what the most sophisticated, modern
electric-induction-magnetic-gas-whatever cooker cannot. It’s not
only the smoke that adds flavour, it’s the way the oven cools as
the food cooks. Initially high temperatures produce a crust that
seals in flavour and moisture, while the center of any food
cooks more slowly. You can also smoke foods in a wood-fired
oven, so it’s a truly versatile piece of equipment. And at over
350 degrees, a wood-fired oven gets much hotter than a
conventional kitchen oven, cooking a pizza in just a few minutes
so the flavours remain fresh.
DIY or Buy?
If you’re considering adding an outdoor oven to your patio or
back yard and aren’t sure whether bought or homemade is right
for you, a quick google search will help you decide. You have
three options:
1. Buy and have installed a complete, pre-made oven. Expensive,
but the only work you’ll need to do is stoke the fire and start
cooking!
2. Buy an oven in kit form – a compromise in price and ease.
Many commercial designs can be personalised with tiles or
mosaic.
3. DIY from scratch. I’m no handywoman but, inspired by my
friend’s simple but serviceable little oven, and thanks to the
numerous free plans and instructions online (see below) have no
doubt I can make my own. Many different materials can be used
but the basic principles are the same: build a base, make the
floor, pile a dome of damp sand on the floor to shape, then
build the walls around the dome. When the walls have
sufficiently set to be self-supporting, carve out the door and
remove the sand. Add more layers to the outer walls to thicken
them and cure the walls with a low fire for a few days before
use.
Location, Location, Location!
Outdoor entertaining areas are the obvious place for outdoor
ovens. They make attractive focal points in their own right and
perform the double duty of heating an area in cool conditions.
On the other hand, if you live in a warm climate and entertain
mainly in summer, under the pergola may not be the best location
unless you want to cook your guests as well! Obviously, your
oven must be sited away from flammable materials, and you will
need to check local fire ban regulations.
I have seen outdoor ovens under verandahs close to house walls,
on a balcony, free-standing on paved areas, by a swimming pool
and incorporated into a raised retaining wall – your options are
limited only by your imagination!
Fuels and Learning To Cook
Fancy woodfired ovens have thermometers but part of the fun for
many is learning to cook more intuitively. Be prepared to have a
few experimental failures (what my family apprehensively know as
“new taste sensations”), but also remember wood-fired oven
cooking isn’t brain surgery. My friend, by no means an
experienced chef, was turning out perfect pizzas and bread after
only a few tries.
Always use well-cured hardwood – you don’t want fast-burning,
ashy pine for this; use green or wet wood or chips only if you
are smoking food. Obviously, avoid any painted or treated
timbers whose chemicals may be absorbed by your food during
cooking.
Different ovens take different times to come to temperature
depending on their size, construction and materials. You’ll soon
learn to factor in the pre-cook time; my friend often cooks
pizzas first while the oven is very hot, then places his bread
in the slightly cooler oven afterwards. Experienced wood-oven
users have numerous little tricks to identify whether the oven
is at temperature, such as heat on skin a certain distance from
the door, the feel of the outside of the oven, the amount of
carbon burned off the inside of the oven by the current fire,
and how quickly a scatter of flour browns on the oven floor.
Children generally love fire and cooking outdoors – with a
little supervision even the youngest can choose their own pizza
toppings.
Bon apetit!
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