Outdoor ovens
Take the kitchen into the garden!
The old farmhouses of Italy often have a big brick oven out the back, used for baking bread and for slow-cooking stews. They make the perfect pizza ovens. With a dome-shaped interior, and a front door that serves also a chimney, they are heated up to a high temperature with large quantities of wood; the ashes are later pushed out of the way to clear a cooking surface on the base of the oven.
To build such an oven requires a considerable investment: there are specialist suppliers in the UK. Much cheaper options (costing tens of pounds rather than thousands) include small outdoor ovens made of cast-iron or clay. They can add variety to the more familiar barbecue, as well as some welcome warmth on a cool evening.
