Our Guide to Pizza Oven Cooking on Bonfire Night

Let’s be honest, once the clocks go back, most pizza ovens get a cover thrown over them, and that’s them done until Spring. It’s dark by five, it’s cold, and nobody fancies standing about in the garden for any longer than they have to. But Bonfire Night is an exception. It’s the one night when everyone’s okay with being outside, wrapped up and waiting for the fireworks. So, if you’re hosting your own firework display this year, why not feed your guests properly while you’re at it? Here’s how we’d go about it.

Why the Pizza Oven Belongs at Bonfire Night

Think about it. You’ve already got people standing around in the cold for a couple of hours, and the usual routine is someone (normally whoever’s hosting) running back and forth to the kitchen and missing half the display. With a pizza oven though, you can stay outside with everyone else.

Pizza ovens throw out a fair bit of heat too, and there’s something about a live fire that people just gravitate towards. Before long you’ll have a little crowd hovering around the oven, chatting and waiting on the next thing coming out. And the food fits the night too. Hot, smoky, a bit charred round the edges, it certainly beats a jacket potato or plate of cold sausage rolls any day.

Cooking in the Cold and Dark

Here are a few practical things we’ve learned from years of all-year-round pizza oven cooking.

1. Give it longer to heat up. On a cold night, the oven takes a bit longer to get up to temperature, so light it earlier than you think. An infrared thermometer is worth having so you’re not guessing the temperature of the stone, too. It’s also worth noting that the stone will take slightly longer to recover between pizzas too.

2. Point the back of the oven into the wind so it pulls the flame forward instead of blowing it back

3. Keep your peels dry. A wet peel means dough is more likely to stick. Have a tea towel to hand to dry it off if needed, and if you can, use two peels, one for launching and one for turning, as a hot peel makes dough stick too.

4. Sort your lighting. Prep toppings in the kitchen before it gets dark and get some lights or a head torch out.

A Bonfire Night Menu

The trick is to plan your menu around the oven’s heat, and that means doing some of the legwork before anyone turns up.

Get something warm and comforting such as a low and slow beef shin chilli made earlier in the day, or even the day before, as chilli’s always better the next day anyway. When guests start arriving, pop the casserole dish of chilli in the oven to heat through and pick up a bit of smoky flavour. 

When the oven’s at its hottest, that’s your pizza window. If you’re expecting a crowd, par-bake a few bases beforehand so people can just add toppings and go. A cast iron pan of sausages works well around this time too. They don’t take long, so you can fire them out quickly. Kids love them too!

Later on, as things cool down, it’s pudding time. Toffee apples, a bread and butter pudding, or a warm pan of mulled wine always goes down a treat!

Final Thoughts

We hope we’ve convinced you not to leave the oven under its cover just because it’s got a bit colder out there. Bonfire Night is the perfect excuse to fire it up again, and once you’ve cooked out in the cold you won’t go back!

If you need a new pizza oven or a few accessories to complete your set-up, have a browse of our range, and don’t forget to show us your Bonfire Night creations across our socials!

If you need any more information about any of the products listed on our website, give us a call on 01423 608648, email [email protected], or get in touch through our social channels.