What Dishes Can Be Used in Wood Fired Ovens?

That’s a great question, particularly because our ovens are so versatile. Because they cook much more than pizza, chances are you’re going to want to use a wide variety of pans in them.

Of course, we first recommend that you invest in some of our accessories – namely, our Accessory Stone and Deep Cooking Pan. These two accessories will be your indispensable “sidekicks” when using your Fontana Forni oven; if you don’t have them yet, you’ll wonder how you ever got along without them once you give them a try. The stone ensures the crispest pizza, bread and cookies, while the pan is made of heat-resistant metal that will bake your side dishes and desserts to perfection.

However, we understand that you may need to use other dishes in your oven if you are preparing a large meal. If so, it is best to use:

• Oven-safe metal
• Oven-safe ceramic
• Terracotta
• Cast iron

You should not use glass pans such as Pyrex® or Corning®; these can and do shatter because they are made from tempered glass that cannot tolerate the heat. If the pan shatters, that can be a major safety issue and it may even damage your oven. Also, you certainly should not use any pan that cannot be replaced. In other words, wood fired ovens like ours are not the right cooking vessel for your grandmother’s vintage bakeware! Save those for your kitchen oven.

Remember, we have several other accessories that can make using your oven easier and more enjoyable. From the large and small pizza peels that make pulling your pizza out easily to the turning peel that makes it simple to turn small items on the stone or in the dish, we have many things that elevate the entire experience of cooking in wood fired ovens.

Read More

Authentic Italian Dishes in Your Wood Fired Oven

Here in the U.S., people are sometimes unfamiliar with authentic Italian dishes; by authentic, we mean the dishes that are not typically served in Italian restaurants in America. In fact, the average person would be surprised to learn about the dishes Italians prepare at home; often, they are things most Americans have never heard of. The good news is, we have an assortment of authentic Italian recipes you can make in our home pizza ovens! With our help, you can become familiar with dishes that are prepared in real Italian home kitchens.

One of them is panzanella, which is made with day old bread cubes and seasoned with olive oil, vinegar and salt, in addition to cucumbers, tomatoes and fresh basil, all of which is served in a large bread bowl. Another is peposo, which is a Tuscan beef stew dish dating back hundreds of years. To be truly authentic, the peposo should be prepared inside a terra cotta pot – and of course, cooked inside a wood fired oven. Speaking of beef, we also have an outstanding Italian beef roast recipe that includes a compound butter rub. The rub is made of minced rosemary, sage, garlic, salt and pepper that is mixed with butter – mmm!

We also have recipes for authentic Italian desserts that can easily be made in our home pizza ovens. One of the most popular is crostata ai lamponi, which we Americans know as raspberry tart. When you prepare it in an authentic Italian manner and cook it in the traditional Italian style in a wood fired oven, you’re bound to find it to be far superior to any raspberry pie you’ve had before. So, where can you find these authentic Italian recipes? We have them all over our social media channels, including our Facebook and Google+, as well as on Twitter @fontanaforniusa and Instagram at fontanaforniusa.

Read More

Year Round Cooking in a Pizza Oven

When is outdoor cooking season over? Everyone has their own opinion, but the general consensus among experts is that the last official BBQ season day of the year is Labor Day. Of course, if you have a portable pizza oven from Fontana Forni, it doesn’t necessarily matter when outdoor cooking season ends. There are a few reasons for this, including:

• It’s an oven, rather than an open BBQ grill
• The oven can also do the job of a grill, in many cases
• With most models, you can easily move them indoors when it’s too cold to cook outside

In fact, there are some very prominent non-summer occasions when using your Fontana Forni oven is a very appropriate cooking method. Some people actually use them to cook their:

• Thanksgiving turkeys (smaller birds only) • Christmas and Easter hams (same rule applies – it has to fit in the oven)
• Holiday side dishes (in fact, your portable pizza oven can be a life saver if you run out of room in your conventional kitchen oven during the holidays)
• Desserts (specifically pies, crisps and cookies)

As you can see, it is a viable possibility that you will use your pizza oven all year long. For those who were on the fence about buying because it seems like a portable pizza oven is just an “outdoor” season investment, that’s important information. You really can use yours in any season, provided that you protect it from the elements by placing it in a safe location. If that means moving it inside during harsh weather, that’s okay; if nothing else, your guests will be impressed! If you need a model that will fit in your kitchen, take a look at the dimensions of each model to see which one is best.

Read More

3 FAQs about our Outdoor Pizza Ovens

As one of the leading distributors of imported outdoor pizza ovens from Italy, we receive many questions; we’d like to answer a few of them here now. If you are still considering a Fontana Forni oven, perhaps these answers can help you in your decision making process.

Q: Why are there so many models?

A: Fontana Forni is a manufacturer that knows how to meet the needs of its audience. We know that some people want a single oven, while others want a more sizeable double. Some prefer a stainless steel finish, while others believe that a red powder coated oven has a more “authentic” appearance. With Fontana Forni, you can be sure there are wood burning pizza oven models for everyone’s style.

Q: Can the oven be installed in my outdoor kitchen?

A: Absolutely. Although some owners simply leave their Fontana Forni ovens in a freestanding spot on the back patio or deck, others have a grand vision for a large outdoor kitchen – and we completely respect that. The freestanding ovens can easily have an outdoor kitchen cabinet/countertop built around them, and the built-in models can be built into nearly any wall, indoors or out.

Q: Are these strictly pizza ovens, or outdoor pizza ovens that can accommodate other dishes as well?

A: These are ovens that can accommodate all kinds of dishes, including but certainly not limited to pizza. Fontana Forni ovens can also bake chicken, beef, pork, bread or desserts, and it can roast any of the aforementioned meats as well as vegetables. Your Fontana Forni oven is almost as versatile as the conventional oven inside your house.

If you have any further questions about Fontana Forni outdoor pizza ovens, please leave a comment; we will do our best to answer you.

Read More

Why Wood Fired Ovens are Perfect for Vegans

Vegans have a very strict diet – more strict than standard vegetarian diets, as most people know. The vegan diet not only excludes meat, poultry and fish, but also dairy products such as milk, cheese, yogurt and butter, in addition to eggs and other animal-derived ingredients (for many vegans, that means even no honey).

So with those things in mind, it’s appropriate to ask the question: Can someone with a vegan diet still find use for a wood fired oven? Absolutely! Because today’s vegans are often very motivated to cook innovatively, our wood fired ovens are a great addition to the vegan kitchen, whether it is indoors or out. We even feature some vegan recipes on our Facebook page, including:

• Roasted beets

• Grilled eggplant towers

• Stuffed tomatoes

• Roasted small potatoes

Of course, any breads you make in your wood fired oven can certainly be vegan breads. They can even be gluten free breads, if you happen to have that dietary restriction as well; simply substitute the flour in our recipe with your favorite gluten free flour.

The same goes for pizza, which can be made with a gluten free crust. As many vegans know, pizza can be made without cheese or with an acceptable cheese substitute product that is made especially for vegans. Whatever your preference, your favorite vegan pizza can be even more delicious in a wood fired oven that cooks it to a perfect crisp.If you are committed to a vegan or gluten free diet – or, another lifestyle with dietary restrictions – your cooking regimen can be significantly enhanced by owning one of our wood fired ovens. At Fontana Forni USA, we welcome customers of all types, and are committed to building wood fired ovens that can appeal to cooks of all varieties.

Read More

What is Authentic Italian Pizza?

When you have some of the best pizza ovens for sale in the world, you receive many different questions about pizza. Of course, one of the most common inquiries we get is, “What is authentic Italian pizza?” That’s a great question, and there are actually many viable answers depending on the region of Italy you’re asking about. Perhaps the better question is, “What makes an authentic Neapolitan pizza?” This refers to pizza cooked in the same style as pizza in Naples, which is where pizza was first served in the 19th century.

So, here’s the answer: If you want to make an authentic Neapolitan pizza, the key is simplicity. A classic pizza napoletana is very, very simple: dough, of course; then, a basic tomato sauce made from tomatoes and olive oil that may be seasoned with a little oregano and salt; and finally, topped with sliced (not shredded) mozzarella cheese, with a few sprigs of basil. If that sounds familiar – maybe, like a style of pizza you are used to hearing by a different name – that’s because it is! This style of pizza is also referred to as the margherita, which is named for Queen Margherita who enjoyed it in 1889 after a local baker created a pizza for her in the colors of the Italian flag.

Of course, the thick-crusted Neapolitan pizza is not the only authentic pizza there is. In Rome, pizza is slightly different; Roman pizza has a much thinner crust, and is known for its crisper bite. Of course, both should only be prepared in wood fired pizza ovens – no exceptions! If these are made in conventional ovens, they shouldn’t be considered authentic. To create authentic Italian pizza, it all starts with selecting one of the best pizza ovens for sale in the world: the wood fired pizza ovens of Fontana Forni. Take a look at our wide variety of pizza ovens now!

Read More

How We’re Keeping Up with Food Trends

In early 2013, Forbes magazine asked several restaurant chefs about their culinary predictions for the near future. Chef Scott Conant (owner of the establishments Scarpetta and Montage Beverly Hills) made a prediction that one of the hottest food trends to hit the scene over the next couple of years would be, “More wood grilling; things that are seemingly rustic and, in the right hands, really elevate the product.” Of course, as leading importers of wood burning ovens from Italy, we agree!

Plus, you would have to live under a rock to be unaware that indeed, Chef Scott’s prediction was correct. Wood grilling is definitely all the rage, both in the commercial culinary world and home cooking. Whether it’s on an open flame in a humble backyard BBQ or in a high performance wood burning oven like the ones we carry, grilling over wood is something that any cook can do to elevate the quality of a dish. But that’s not all Chef Scott had to say, and we agree with his next forecast as well.

It’s in regards to chefs exploring cooking alternatives for cutting down on costs. “One way to do it is to choose vegetables over really expensive cuts of meat,” he said. “Heirloom vegetables and original strains of vegetables—those are super interesting.” That’s also a great idea, considering that our wood burning ovens are the perfect vessel for cooking vegetables to perfection. The Fontana Forni Facebook page has some incredible photos that walk users through the process of cooking delicious vegetable dishes, including:

• Stuffed Tomatoes (Pomodori Ripieni)

• Roasted Beets

• Eggplant Towers (Torrette di Melanzane)

These are authentic Italian recipes that are bound to be chef-approved, and they will certainly delight your family as well – especially if you’re looking for healthy side dishes or meat alternatives to prepare in your wood burning oven from Fontana Forni.

Read More

Can Kids Make Pizza?

Of course they can! Although our wood fired pizza ovens are only for adults to use, kids can certainly make pizza dough and create their own specially-topped pizzas that you can put into the oven for them. If you teach your kids to make pizza, take note of the following tips:

Always work on a clean surface. Kids need to know that countertops can gather germs very quickly – and that this is not safe for food preparation. Let them help you clean the countertops before beginning, so you can teach them a lesson about safe food prep right off the bat.

Wash your hands before and after handling dough. Washing hands before keeps germs off the pizza dough, and washing them after handling the dough ensures that they will be clean enough to put on toppings. This is another important food preparation lesson.

Don’t get too fancy. Often, kids want to toss pizza dough in the air; after all, they’ve seen it done on TV. But doing it with the dough for every pizza increases the risk of wasting your dough when it all falls on the floor. Rather than letting them toss the dough for every pizza you’re making together, make one small ball of “tossing dough” that’s just for fun. Then, set the rest aside to prepare more carefully.

Think outside the box. Sometimes, kids think about pizza toppings that adults have never imagined. Other times, they limit their chosen toppings to what they are used to in the pizzas your family buys. Making pizza together is the best time to introduce new, healthy pizza toppings to kinds. Show them how to use their imaginations constructively when making pizza; it’s a great teachable moment!

Once your pizzas are put together, make sure that children are standing back at a safe distance while you load each pizza into the oven. Whichever model of our wood fired pizza ovens you have chosen, the pizzas are bound to come out spectacular!

Read More

Pairing Wines with Pizza: Which Ones Go Together?

Pizza and beer may go together like peanut butter and jelly, but while cooking a pizza outdoors in a wood burning pizza oven on a warm summer night, you may prefer to pour a glass or two of wine. So, how do you select the correct wine to go with your pizza? Here are some considerations to make.

Acidity: Tomatoes are acidic, so the more tomato sauce you have on your pizza will determine how much acid you want in your wine. Some people follow a “red with red” rule that dictates pairing tomato sauced pizzas with red wine, while others prefer a clean white with bright citrus notes that nearly matches the acidity of the tomatoes. Which one you choose may depend on how much acid your palette can handle.

Herbs: The more herbs you have on your pizza (basil, oregano or even cilantro), the more you will want a wine that is rich with tannins. Experts often recommend a medium-bodied red wine to complement the flavors of any heavily herbed dish, but if your pizza is flavored with pesto, that could also work well with a floral wine such as Chardonnay or Riesling.

Cream: Pizza with alfredo sauce (“white” pizza) is popular, but the smooth texture and understated taste of a cream-based sauce needs the right wine to bring out its flavor. When cooking up a white pizza in your wood burning pizza oven, try a wine that offers a little spice; anything that claims to have notes of cinnamon, pepper or clove could be a great way to zest up a creamy white pizza.

Spice: Of course, some pizzas have more than enough spice on their own. If yours has lots of pepperoni, sausage or salami, you need a full-bodied or even earthy wine to tamper down the spice and smooth out your palette. This could be red or white, but many wine experts lean towards red anytime you are pairing wine with red meats.

Vegetables: Lighter pizzas with vegetables like zucchini, broccoli, asparagus or artichokes deserve an equally light wine. They can be outstanding with a clean white or a rosé; just choose a wine that seems to reflect the lightness of the pizza you are cooking in your wood burning pizza oven.

Once you find a good pairing, you’ll be likely to choose pizza and wine over pizza and beer quite often! If this your first time using your wood burning pizza oven, it may be helpful to watch this demo before you begin.

Read More

Replacing Your BBQ Grill with an Outdoor Pizza Oven

This is a question we get frequently: “Is it really possible to replace my BBQ grill with one of your outdoor ovens?” Yes, it certainly is! The model that we most often recommend for grilling meat is the Pizza e Cucina. That’s because we designed it to be a multi-use outdoor cooking apparatus. Here’s why the Pizza e Cucina is the ideal outdoor oven for grilling.

Like our other outdoor ovens, the Pizza e Cucina has a wood combustion chamber to heat the upper area. However, this model also comes with cast iron grills – the only additional part you need to cook any meat you like directly above the fire, just like you would on a charcoal grill. They do not need to be purchased separately; the accessory is included!

Speaking of charcoal, that leads us to answer another common question: “Can I cook with charcoal in an outdoor pizza oven?” If you are using our Pizza e Cucina to grill meat, then the answer is yes. This model comes with a grate for your meat, and charcoal can be piled right underneath it so that you can cook directly over charcoal – just like on your outdoor BBQ grill. And for those who like to smoke their meat, wood chips can be substituted for the charcoal.

At some point, you may want to use your outdoor pizza oven to actually make pizza! When that happens, just remove the cast iron grill and replace it with the included pizza stone. When we designed the Pizza e Cucina, we thought of everything: We made the grill “cover” a pizza dome that can be removed to convert the unit to a pizza oven whenever you would like. No matter how you plan to use it, the oven is fully heated in a short 10-15 minutes.

So, there you have it: How to replace your BBQ grill with an outdoor pizza oven. This may not be possible with other outdoor ovens, but it is certainly possible with the Pizza e Cucina from Fontana Forni USA.

Read More

Bread in a Wood Fired Oven: It’s Just Better!

There’s making bread, and then there’s baking bread. For anyone who has tried it, baking homemade bread in the oven is far superior to just “making it” in a bread machine. Here are some thoughts on bread machine bread vs. oven baked bread.

Bread machine bread just has a much denser, more compacted texture than oven baked bread, even if the recipe you use for each one is exactly the same. This is because bread machines have a very small pan space, and they don’t really allow the bread to rise enough. Plus, the loaves come out in a shape that is vastly different from what most people prefer. Often, these loaves aren’t even sliceable – and let’s be honest, they probably end up in the trash after a day or two.

Then, there’s bread in the oven. Most people prefer lighter, slightly moister bread that tastes fresh baked, rather than a hard, excessively dry bread – so if you are one of those people, that’s just one more reason to invest in one of our wood fired ovens. You could bake bread in a conventional oven, but once you try baking it in your wood fired oven, we think you’ll agree that there’s just no going back.

At Fontana Forni, we have one basic bread recipe that also works for pizza dough. You could say it’s our “bread and butter,” in fact.

Here it is:

• 2 ¾ cups lukewarm water

• 1 Tbsp. granulated instant yeast

• 1 Tbsp. salt

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil

• A pinch of sugar

• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

• 3 1/2 cups bread flour

Add the pinch of sugar and dry yeast to the water. Allow the mixture to rest until you see the surface of the water and yeast begin to bubble (about 15 minutes). Mix in about half the flour with a wooden spoon; when the mixture starts to form into dough, add the olive oil and salt. Add the remaining flour and mix gently by hand until the dough is moist; do not overwork it! Place in a container big enough for the dough to double in size and cover either with a plastic lid or with plastic wrap (not airtight). Allow it to rise at room temperature for about two hours; then, form into a bread loaf or pizza crust.

There’s a little more to it than that, so check out the original recipe for more details. If you have any questions about our wood fired ovens before placing an order, feel free to contact us; we will be glad to answer them!

Read More

Wood Fired Ovens: Not Just for Pizza!

When people hear the term “pizza oven,” they often think that means an oven that is exclusively for cooking pizza. But if you own one yourself, you (hopefully) know that wood fired ovens are for much, much more than cooking pizza! It’s a little known fact that wood fired ovens can cook almost anything that can be cooked in the conventional oven you have in your kitchen.

For example, in many of our own wood fired ovens, it is possible to cook an entire meal; we’re talking appetizers, main courses and even dessert. Yes, it’s even possible if none of those courses are pizza! Some of the most popular dishes for cooking in wood fired ovens include:

Meats

Everything from slow cooked pork loin, to quick fired steaks and even chicken breasts can be made in wood fired ovens. As you would anytime you are cooking meat, you should use a meat thermometer to ensure your meat is cooked to a safe temperature. Other than that, just cook and enjoy!

Appetizers and Side Dishes
From summertime favorites like baked beans to comfort foods loaded with potatoes, side dishes are easily whipped up in wood fired ovens all year long. Check out our recipe for homemade ricotta and spinach ravioli; it’s to die for! As for appetizers, there are infinite meal starters that can be cooked to perfection in a pizza oven: stuffed mushrooms, mac ‘n cheese bites and spinach dip are just a few of the most popular.

Dessert

Wood fired ovens are the ideal vessel for cooking delectable desserts like crumbles, crisps and browned betties – and they’re even better for cookies. Chocolate chip cookies in a pizza oven? You bet!

If you are looking to make the most of your pizza oven, these dishes are a great place to start. Wood fired ovens are for so much more than pizza – and once you get going, you probably won't be able to stop!

 

 

Read More

A Wood Burning Pizza Oven for Large Groups: The Marinara!

When we unveiled our Forno Toscano pizza ovens, we knew they’d be a big hit – but no one could have predicted how popular the Margherita would be. The Margherita is our signature pizza oven, and it is arguably our best seller, too. People love that they can cook a personal pizza in a wood burning oven in the backyard, and they love that they can load the pizza in after a quick, 10 to 15 minute preheat.

Now, we want to get you just as excited about another model of wood burning pizza oven: the Marinara. The Marinara is the largest model in our Forno Toscano line. Its dimensions are considerably larger than the Margherita, and even larger than our mid-sized wood burning oven for pizzas, the Mangiafuoco. It has a 32” x 32” interior, which means it can hold the equivalent of a large pizza – yes, one that would feed 6 to 10 people! If you entertain large groups, the Marinara is without a doubt the way to go.

If you aren’t sure that your outdoor kitchen has enough room for the Mariana, head outside now and take some measurements; you may be surprised! The Marinara has exterior dimensions of 42” deep, 30” wide and 77” high. If you have a width of 30 inches to spare, you can fit the Marinara in – and if you don’t have that space available, you may want to make some! Customers who have bought the Marinara and given us feedback have told us that it was well worth the sacrifice. After all, you made room for the wet bar and the beverage cooler – and they don’t help you feed anybody!

If you have any questions about the Marinara wood burning pizza oven, or any of the models in our Forno Toscano line, don’t hesitate to let us know. We will be happy to answer them when you fill out our contact form.

Read More

Make cooking and baking more fun with a Fontana Forni Outdoor Oven!

Fontana Forni USA, an exclusive US distributor of Fontana Forni ovens and grills offers a wide range of wood burning outdoor oven and grills, pizza ovens and wood fired oven accessories to make outdoor cooking and baking easier. http://youtu.be/912p7sNnLbk

Read More

Wood Fired Pizza Oven – Prepare Delicious Spicy Pizza!

Fontana Forni USA produces the world's finest pizza ovens for the home and garden, caterers, pizzerias, bakeries and restaurants. Whether cooking pizza, pastries, bread, or roasts, each Fontana Forni outdoor pizza oven uses a wood-firing process to provide an even, natural radiant heat source.

Read More

Toscano Margherita – Best-Selling Wood Fired Outdoor Oven

Whether you're cooking pizza, a roast and veggies or a few loaves of bread, Forno Toscano Margherita oven provides an unparalleled and remarkable flavor to any meal prepared. In addition to ovens, Fontana Forni offers a variety of grills and accessories to enhance and expand your outdoor culinary adventures. Shop with confidence!

Read More

Beautifully Constructed Wood Fired Outdoor Pizza Oven!

Looking for an easy-to-use pizza oven? Check out Fontana Forni wood fired outdoor oven. It's a true Italian-style oven that requires zero installation. Just set it, light the fire, delicious homemade pizza will be ready within 2 minutes.

Read More

Italian Branded Outdoor Ovens - Fontana Forni

Prepare delicious homemade pizza in as little as 2 minutes with Fontana Forni ovens. Fontana Forni USA is the exclusive US distributor of hand crafted Fontana Forni wood burning ovens and grills. Buy now

Read More