There are a lot of conventional ways of cooking your favourite pizza, like using a dedicated pizza oven such as wood-fired pizza oven or electric pizza oven, a grill and much more. But if you are someone who finds all that boring and wants to spice things up, we have got the perfect thing for you.
Presenting the concept of Chiminea cooking. An idea that you will fall in love with especially if you are a person who would like to take things to the great outdoors.
Cooking on a chiminea is a very traditional concept with a modern touch that can add more flavour and fun to your pizzas.
There are a lot of different types of Chiminea pizzas and dishes that you can try out with this type of cooking, and the best part is that all of this is as simple as cooking with your regular electric pizza oven. Even by being traditional with its roots, an outdoor cooking chiminea is still a practical alternative to cook topped-pizzas and other similar dishes freshly.
What Is Chiminea?
Chiminea is a fire retention place which has a round/hollow chamber with a chimney on the top. These fireplaces have been in use for a very long time in different forms. The Chiminea is usually made with clay or cast iron. There are a lot of different styles and materials that are being used, but the concept is similar. Chiminea cooking can be a great alternative to bring out the smoky flavour with your pizzas if you are not so used to dealing with the traditional wood-fired ovens.
Utensils To Use With A Chiminea When Cooking
Now when it comes to cooking in a Chiminea, you must know about the right type of Chiminea grilling accessories that will fit the profile to help you prepare. If you have been doing everything right with the recipe and still the pizza doesn’t turn out well, the utensil that you are using might be the culprit.
1. Skewers
Skewers are a great accessory that can be used to cook in a Chiminea. They are durable and sturdy and can take the heat like a boss without burning. Now there are a lot of good skewers that are available in the market. So make sure that you choose the right skewer that fits into your Chiminea. Also, make sure to get a grill over which you can place the skewers. This will prevent the food from burning up.
2. Pizza Stone
The pizza stone is probably the best utensil that you can use inside your Chiminea. Pizza stones are great at taking high temperatures and which is a requirement if you are cooking in a Chiminea. This is because the temperature inside a Chiminea can soar higher than your traditional cooking ovens. Just make sure that you select the right size pizza stone that can fit into your Chiminea.
How To Cook A Pizza Inside A Chimnea Pizza Oven
If you are wondering how to use a chiminea for cooking, we got you covered. The Chiminea is an alternative to your traditional outdoor cooking with ovens. But there are some things that you must keep in mind.
Chimineas get heated up quickly, and this means that you put the food inside as soon as it heats up. This is because it is difficult to control the temperature inside the Chiminea, and you need to make sure that your food cooks along with the rising temperature.
Always find a utensil that you can use as a surface where you can put your food to cook it in the Chiminea like a skewer or a pizza stone. The last thing that you want on your pizza is bits of Wood char sticking to the bottom of your pizza.
1. How Can You Cook In A Chimnea? The process Is Simple
- First, you need to assemble your wood inside the Chiminea along with the Utensil where you are going to place the pizza. Make sure that the surface stands appropriately.
- Ignite the wood and get the fire started. Once you see the fire catching up, place the pizza on the utensil. Be careful while doing this.
- Once you see the formation of Golden crust on the pizza dough, check for the temperature. This means that your pizza is almost ready.
- If you want the more charred and crisp flavour into your pizza, you can keep it in for a while and after you get the desired flavour, take the pizza out with a spatula.
- Cut up your pizzas using pizza scissors or pizza cutters and serve them hot.
2. What Food Can You Cook On A Chimnea?
There are plenty of food items that you can cook on in a chimnea, pizza, tofu, fish, meat, to name a few. The chimnea can also be used to bake bread and loaves, although you will need to have specific skills to be able to cook them.
The chimney of the chimnea can be removed, enabling you to have a barbecue without the risk of open flames. By removing the chimney, you can heat marshmallows and other food items.
3. Is Chimnea Safer Than A Fire Pit?
A chimnea is safer than a fire pit; this is because even if you remove the chimney of the chimnea, the flames are under control. The flying sparks of an open fire will not trouble you or make you feel uncomfortable and unsafe.
Another advantage of using a chimnea over a fire pit is the released smoke. In a fire pit, the smoke is uncontrolled and can cause irritation in a persons’ throat. In a chimnea, the air is pulled upwards and creates a draft that moves the smoke out through the stock.
You should keep in mind that despite the chimnea being safer than a fire pit, there are some dangers. For one, the chimnea will be hot when used, and nobody should get close to it without wearing some gloves. Another danger is that the chimnea may get toppled as it is freestanding.
Conclusion
It is straightforward and easy to cook pizza and other dishes with a Chiminea. The only thing is that you need to keep a constant eye on your food while it’s getting cooked. There are a lot of different types of Chimineas that are out there that you can use to make your outdoor cooking experience fun. The best would be the Chimineas that are made out of clays as they tend to give your pizzas an earthy flavour as well.
Well, if you feel that you can have some fun and experience cooking with Chimineas, go ahead and buy yourselves one. They are traditional, what could go wrong?