North Yorkshire Homeowner Praises Our New Fornino 50 Pizza Oven

Orchard Ovens’ customer, Peter Lowman, has been using our new Fornino 50 wood-fired oven at home for around 10 months now, having instantly fallen in love with it when it made its appearance at the Lancashire Show in July 2024.  When we caught up with him to find out what he thought of it, there was nothing but positive feedback and some great customer insight.

Peter and his wife moved from the south of England up to the North Yorkshire village of Lothersdale around four years ago, when Peter left his life as a successful business leader and entrepreneur and entered retirement.  The labour of love they have taken on is that of converting a cowshed into three-bedroomed accommodation, a somewhat challenging task, which sometimes puts a bit of strain on kitchen arrangements.

That was the case when the Lowman’s daughter, who lives in the USA, announced that she was coming home in November but wanted to have the traditional Thanksgiving Dinner here in the UK.  Having mastered the skill of getting the Fornino 50 up to temperature and rustling up gourmet pizzas at home, Peter, who does most of the cooking, was immediately faced with the prospect of having to cook a heap of other dishes the wood-fired way.  Using the pizza oven was his way of trying to ensure that 10-12 people could be fed with a variety of traditional Thanksgiving fayre.

That prompted a suggestion that the manufacturers of the oven, which will also operate on gas, create a door for it.  This would allow it to cook dishes that required longer in the oven than a pizza, which will cook in about 90 seconds.  They promptly obliged and Peter has since provided further feedback to perfect their oven door design.

With this – and a thermometer that he has affixed to the oven – he has been able to cook a whole heap of different dishes, although, (perhaps thankfully), atrocious November weather scuppered the Thanksgiving party.

He has experimented by cooking succulent and juicy ribs, whole roast chicken, leg of lamb and even Pablo’s chicken, using a recipe created by culinary sisters Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley (Hemsley + Hemsley), which he has adapted for the wood-fired Fornino 50 oven.

With the notorious Pennine winds with which to contend, the oven is situated very close to the house but there is absolutely no problem with the heat, thanks to great insulation within the oven’s construction.  Another plus of the oven is that it has a removable top-of-the-range, refractory clay oven floor, manufactured by maestro, Valoriani, which can be used in the indoor oven, if desired.  Add to this the resplendent black and gold oven ‘look’ and it’s a real winner.

Peter’s oven has already attracted neighbours to pizza parties at his house and made him a popular focus of village life.  His cooking, abetted by the dough-rolling and pizza topping input of his wife, seems to hit the spot – quite an achievement for a first-time pizza oven owner, who had only previously cooked with a barbecue.

Peter agrees that cooking with a wood-fired oven is a far more engaging process, with which all can get involved in some way.  It’s also a very apt way of living, in a location that has no mains gas or water and takes its water supplies from a borehole. 

All he needed, to keep his aesthetically pleasing oven in tip-top condition was a cover, but he has now sourced one and is well-equipped.  He believes his oven was a great purchase and one that has enriched his spare time and social life. No wonder he is recommending it to others who want to spend more hours al fresco.

With all of this positive feedback, we’re sure to attract more ‘Peters’, who want a brilliant but highly affordable first-time pizza oven, which will cook a wide recipe repertoire and do so in an authentic Mediterranean way.  If that sounds like the pizza oven you need in your life, please call us on 07743 847647.

Ends

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.