Your pizza oven is likely to cost you good money and will serve you well by making delicious pizza over the years. It will also add class to your backyard and be the focal point of many of your social gatherings.
And your pizza oven can do so much more to expand your bill of fare. It is an excellent alternative to a tandoor oven.
The beauty of a pizza oven is that as it cools, it gives you more cooking time. Therefore, you can cook a range of foods that require diminishing heat and more prolonged cooking as it cools.
Here are five ways you can use your pizza oven for cooking foods other than pizza.
1. Bread
Most bread requires a lot of heat and cook in minutes. Bake them while the oven’s still hot. If your pizza oven is wood-fired, you can expect a delicious smoky flavour and lovely char. Since the first pizzas were invented, bread has been a key ingredient.
The rule to remember is that the more fat and eggs you add into your dough, the longer it needs to cook at a lower heat. Ciabatta and sourdough require a lower heat.
Naan bread, sourdough, ciabatta, and garlic bread are great when made in a pizza oven.
A few tips to help you make tasty bread;
- Create steam in the oven before baking to make your crust crispy.
- Don’t open the oven door for a few minutes after putting the dough in. Let the dough rise fully first.
- Your bread should sound hollow to the tap when done.
2. Fish, Sea Food and Steak
At a reduced heat of 280-320 degrees Celsius, your pizza oven is excellent for grilling fish, seafood, and steaks. You can cook whole fish or steak on a wire rack. Alternatively, you can bake them in a pan, thrown together with potatoes, herbs, spices, wine, and oil.
Pulled pork is particularly amenable to roasting using this method. Simmer it at 100 -130 degrees Celsius for the best results.
Use a cast iron pan for this and other roasted dishes. It is tough enough to withstand the heat of the pizza oven.
3. Roasting Vegetables
You can choose to fire roast your vegetables or roast them. Fire-roasted vegetables are exposed directly to the flames. This is desirable for peppers and eggplants.
Other vegetables are roasted using the oven’s heat. Adjust the heat according to the density of the vegetables and the degree of the desired doneness.
4. Soups
Pizza ovens are excellent for cooking soups that require simmering at low heats for long periods.
Toss some vegetables, seasoning, bits of meat, and water or stock in a pan and cook slowly for wholesome soup. This description is elementary, and you should feel free to depart from it to fashion your recipe.
5. Desserts
The heat leftover from your cooking is usually sufficient to cook most desserts. Live flames are not recommended; having embers is fine; just push them to the side of the oven so that the food is not too close.
Pies, crumbles, cinnamon rolls, baked bananas, and grilled apples are some of the pizza-cooked desserts.
Conclusion
Your pizza oven is capable of cooking so many foods. It is a good idea to take advantage of this to bring variety to your table.