Written by Carly Freestone | 9th February 0018
February is full of reasons to be cheerful. Dry January is already a distant memory, the days are getting longer, and today is National Pizza Day. We all love a takeaway pizza, but how about upping your alfresco entertaining game this summer with an outdoor pizza oven?
A brick and clay domed oven makes a wonderful centrepiece to any outdoor dining area and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has created the Rolls Royce of pizza ovens, The Dome60 Leggero, to ensure perfect pizza every time. Handmade in Italy, it is crack resistant and waterproof, heating up to the required pizza making temperature on the inside (600C, with the floor at 350C) but always cool enough to touch on the outside. A traditional wood-fired oven like this retains heat for 24 hours, so you could always throw in a slow-roast casserole for an easy Sunday lunch after Saturday night entertaining.
For the artisan appeal without the bespoke price tag, why not book a one-day course in building your own pizza-oven from scratch? The courses are often run alongside lessons in hedge-laying and dry-stone walling and cost around the £100 mark. Complete building novices are welcomed and providing you put your knowledge into practice in your garden, the resulting oven will be both authentic, rustic and by far the most affordable option. For the challenge and satisfaction of building your own oven but without the need to wield a trowel and lay bricks, The Stone Bake Oven Company offers a range of build your own oven kits which are easy to assemble.
Gas ovens with a more BBQ style appearance are another option, and although not as aesthetically pleasing, they are simpler to use and faster to heat and start from as little as £139. For a more authentic Italian taste, table top pizza ovens in terracotta mimic the cooking style of the expensive wood-burning models with a fire on the floor of the oven pushed to one side to cook the pizza. Table top metal ovens have the benefit of being lightweight and portable making them ideal for slinging in the car and taking on a camping trip or to the beach, guaranteeing a pizza party whenever and wherever the mood takes you.
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