There is something unique about cooking with fire outdoors. My sister and her family built a wood fired barrel oven in their backyard 10 years ago, and we've spent a number of incredible evenings enjoying some of the most amazing wood fired pizza I've ever had there.
My buddy Preston (who is also Half Italian) is an incredible cook, and loves cooking over fire. There's something special about hanging outside with friends, enjoying the weather, tending the fire, cooking and drinking wine together.
My sister reminded me about the photo of our Italian grandfather cooking with fire in his backyard in the 1950's. I suppose it's in our blood as Italians to enjoy these outdoor experiences.
I've always been inspired by these wood fired backyard ovens and have wanted this experience myself, but the idea of building a large oven like my sister's seemed daunting. But what if it didn't have to be?
It was Preston who introduced me to the awesome little graphic by ChefSteps. Maybe creating amazing pizzas cooked over an open fire was attainable after-all?
So, I finally pulled the trigger on the 47 bricks, the slabs and the bag of sand.
I loved how Chefs Steps took this subject and created a fun lego inspired step by step instruction graphic! I've watched a few KZread videos on how to set up this oven and how it works and had been keeping my eye on the materials at my local building supply store, but just hadn't found the right materials and time to put this together.
It took me about 3 hours to get the oven to 750 degrees. I used some of my fireplace firewood as well as a box I purchased from Amazon made specifically for pizza ovens.
My sister Sarah shared some of her sourdough starter with me and gave me the recipe for how to make her dough, but I was more focused on the oven and getting the temperature just right for our first attempt. We went ahead and purchased some ready-made dough from Trader Joe's this time. Sarah will be so disappointed!
For my first attempt this little oven did amazing! Despite the fact that I had some cracking in the slabs, the pizza's turned out awesome and the hang with friends was perfect.
Cooking outside doesn't have to be a daunting task. This little pizza oven was an easy place to start and wasn't that difficult to set up so hopefully this video encourages you to give it a try for yourself because it's what our Italian ancestors figured out long ago... it's all about the experience.
Buen Appitito!
#pizzaoven #diy #cookingoutdoors #halfitalian