Slow Food From Your Wood-fired Oven

Orchard Ovens’ domestic wood-fired oven owners continue to delight us with their enthusiasm and inventiveness as home cooks.  Their stories about their lifestyle with a wood-fired oven and the brilliant entertaining opportunities that it provides, fill us with joy.  But as we head towards National Slow Cooking Month, there is something else with which they can inspire.

One thing many of them like to do, is to make the very most of the fantastic heat retention properties of a domestic Valoriani wood-fired oven.  They waste nothing from the energy they created through wood burning, using all the residual heat  (left after cooking has ended for the day) to cook dishes that benefit from a more languid approach.

Some are also slow food advocates and find this method of cooking completely in line with that ethos.

All of this happens after the fire has died down and when the temperature has fallen sufficiently to allow a dish to cook slowly and gently, often overnight.  And the great news is that you can do this, whether you have a bespoke, built-in Valoriani oven, a ready-to-go, static-base or wheeled woodfired oven, or an oven that you have built with one of Valoriani DIY pizza oven kits.

The general tip is to prep your meat or load your ingredients into a suitable dish, make sure your temperature is suitably low (perhaps 150°C) and that the fire is completely out.  Pop the dish into the oven, firmly shut the door and leave well alone for several hours, or overnight. 

Using foil can be advantageous, especially when you first start experimenting with slow cooking.  It can prevent your food from drying out or burning.  Similarly, if your dish requires liquid, make sure there is enough in there to not dry up over a 7 or 8 hour period.

Here are some slow-cook woodfired oven dish suggestions.

1.     Slow-cooked chicken cacciatore

2.     Braised pheasant alla Toscana

3.     Overnight roasted turkey

4.     Pot-roasted pork cooked in red wine

5.     Traditional Italian classic – osso buco

6.     Leg of lamb with rosemary

7.     Slow-cooked lamb shoulder

8.     Tuscan cannellini beans

9.     Tandoori roasted chicken

10.  Tuscan ribollita

11.  Brunswick stew

12.  Lancashire hotpot 

13.  Beef barbacoa

14.  Slow-cooked chilli

15.  Traditional Bolognese ragù, cooked the wood-fired way

16.  Butterbean and tomato soup

17.  Roast gammon joint

18.  Moroccan lamb tagine

19.  Hummus

20.  Jersey Bean Crock (as cooked by one of our Orchard Ovens’ customers)

When you start using your oven in this way, anticipate a few mistakes.  That’s how you learn. You might not be an overnight success at first, but at least you will have tried.

Don’t be afraid to ask us for advice on how to cook something in a Valoriani oven, if you are struggling.  We may not have cooked the exact same dish, but we will be able to guide you and find out how you are getting on with your oven at the same time!

Just call us on 07743 847647 and let’s have a foodie convo!

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Editors notes

Orchard Ovens is the domestic and commercial pizza oven supplier in the UK of Valoriani, based in Reggello, Tuscany - the manufacturer of Italy's hugely respected Valoriani pizza ovens, known as the Maserati of pizza ovens and the kings of clay. These ovens are made from superb refractory clay - cotto clay - found in the family's quarry and unique, thanks to having just the right alumina. This allows Valoriani ovens to heat up quickly and retain heat superbly, bring huge advantages to homeowners, as well as restaurant owners, hotels, pubs, mobile caterers, pizzerias, takeaways and more.

Orchard Ovens supplies some of Britain's best-known restaurants and chefs, whilst it is also a specialist creator of outdoor kitchens and wood-fired oven builds for the rich and famous, as well as everyday homeowners wishing to add value to their home and enjoy an outdoor lifestyle to the full.