Wood red wave

Wood fired wave

The outdoor potential and artisan nature of pizza baked authentically, and speedily, in a wood fired oven came into its element over the past two years, offering many pizza operators the chance to carry on serving, as well as secure new customers during challenging times.

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH GET GOING

They say that when the going gets tough, the tough get going, reflects the ‘wood fired oven guru’, Jay Emery, of Bushman Wood Fired Ovens, who feels that the last two years have really shown the truth of that statement. “Right at the start of the Covid pandemic, I had many of my customers phoning and asking what they should do, and weekly I posted roughly the same message – ‘do everything you can to continue to work and earn a living’. Those who adapted and did exactly that got through the last two years, some of them with record tradings and truly amazing results,” reports Jay Emery.

“Three customers in particular epitomise the spirit of the entrepreneur who won’t take no for an answer, and did not give up, and I’m sure there will be many others out there who will see themselves in the story. To you, I salute you, as it’s people like you that make this country great.” One customer went to work every day by setting up his pizza van and helping feed his community by offering a takeaway service that his customers loved during the covid pandemic. In the process, he sold in excess of 22,000 pizzas from the back of a van conversion. Another client, Jay Emery recalls, had landed in the UK from his annual winter break with 60 weddings pre-booked, only to have every single one cancelled within a week of them getting back. “This client asked me what he could do to get through, so I suggested that he set up a local village round and sell in a number of of communities,” explains Jay Emery. “Three weeks later, he sent me a picture of the queue of people trying to get to his trailer, and he went on to have a record year. “Client number three wanted to move forward with a wood fired pizza business but cancelled his order shortly after Covid hit, saying that he had had to close his hotel and restaurant, as he could not see how it could possibly work. “However, once I had given him an effective marketing strategy, he took delivery of his oven in a yurt in the middle of nowhere instead, and it went crazy. He then called me asking how he should manage the 500 pizzas a day he was selling.”

A BLESSING AND A CURSE

“The truth is, Covid has been a blessing and a curse for many in the sector who have embraced the challenge,” Jay Emery continues. “But for those who looked at the positives of the situation, amazing results have been achieved. The home pizza oven industry too has also seen a massive growth with home baking no longer the domain of the seasoned professional.

“I would say that bigger, professional dough mixes once only spoken about by artisan pizziaoli are now as much in use in home cooking as in the exclusive restaurants... Sourdough and long fermentation times are now the norm rather than the exception, and the advent of the real thin and crispy ‘45 second pizza’ is taking our industry by storm. “I would also add that although our pizza world has been plagued by shortages of serving staff, to some extent they have largely been replaced by app service, making the whole dining experience a lot easier, more controlled and faster for everyone with customers ordering from the table and getting it delivered to the table and paying in advance.”

A GOOD THING

“Although the idea took time for some to adopt across my industry, the feeling of my street trading customers, takeaways and restaurants is mutual – app’s are actually improving everything,” adds Jay Emery. “There is no doubt that adversity leads to innovation, and the app developers have also risen to the challenges and are delivering by no means a perfect solution, but are getting there. “Covid has also seen its fair share of new entries in the pizza oven supply area and from my point of view, a growing market is a good market, and being a small fi sh in a big pond is much better than being the only big fi sh in a small pond… So long may the trend continue to grow. “And grow it will, I feel. International travel and package holidays abroad may never be as easy or as cheap as they have been in the past, so the staycation is here to stay and with it the advent of the garden man cave and summer garden kitchen… After all, we have such long delightful summer evenings in the UK, it’s about time they were spent here rather than abroad! “For my part, chaos is exciting, challenges are exciting, and if you are having a problem it’s only a matter of time till you fi nd a solution, just as long as you don’t give up, and there is no time like the present to make it count. “The future for our industry is bright and I’m certainly looking forward to seeing it unfold. I am grateful to be in this growing industry and thankful to everyone who has trusted us with their dreams, and would wish all health and happiness, and a very successful new year. “To those who have struggled through Covid, remember that failure in whatever guise it comes need not defi ne you as a person unless you let it. The future is yours to do whatever you want, and 2022 is your year to defi ne it.”

VERSATILE SOLUTIONS

“For many, nothing can beat the taste and appearance of authentic Neapolitan pizza cooked in a wood fi red oven which can achieve the high temperatures required to produce the distinctive cornicione crust, infused with rich wood-smoke aromas,” says Michael Eyre, culinary director at Jestic Foodservice Solutions. “Whether operators are cooking their pizzas in the kitchen or al fresco on a terrace or in a beer garden, at Jestic, we are proud to supply a full range of woodfi red pizza ovens, each designed to meet the bespoke demands of a business and off er a host of benefi ts to the operator.” The stylish-looking and high performance Quattro Pro and Quick pizza ovens from Italian manufacturer, Alfa Pro, for example, off er show stopping design and the fl exibility of wood-fi red, gas or dual fuel cooking, claim Jestic. The Alfa Pro Quattro can accommodate three 12” pizzas and can cook 60 pizzas per hour, and if you are looking for even more capacity the Alfa Pro Quick can hold six 12” pizzas with an impressive throughput of 110 pizzas per hour, they point out.

“The Quattro Pro and Quick feature seven layers of powder coating ensuring excellent weather resistance, whilst heavy-duty castors allow chefs to move the ovens around any outdoor cooking area and back indoors if the weather takes a turn for the worst. Alternatively, both models are available without the mobile stand for positioning on an outdoor counter,” explains Michael Eyre.

“Both the Alfa Pro Quattro Top and Quick models are light, compact and easy to use and so are ideal for fi tting into food trucks or mobile kitchens. Both ovens heat very quickly, reaching 450°C in just 30 minutes, and can bake a Neapolitan pizza perfectly in just 90 seconds and so off er the performance and versatility many operators have been looking for. For mobile or temporary kitchens, a chimney fl ue pipe is easy to connect for the wood fuelled versions.” Jestic have now also been the exclusive distributor for Wood Stone, the well known supplier of commercial grade stone hearth, wood and gas fi red pizza ovens, for twenty fi ve years, supplying operators with a wide range of appliances in diff erent sizes, designs, capacities and powers. The wood and gas fi red ovens from Wood Stone have been designed to produce wonderful pizzas with an authentic stone fi red taste, but also look good by enabling the pizza chef to bring their own fl air to the customer. The Wood Stone Mountain Series has been designed to be at the heart of any show kitchen. With its classic shape and bright visible fl ame, operators are able to build their restaurant and menu around this high production centrepiece (the four sizes in the Mountain Series off er nine to 31 square feet of cooking space and are available as wood or gas fi red, or a combination of both). Whatever fuel is chosen, the 10cm thick, single piece refractory ceramic deck and dome provides strong heat retention, and there are a host of customisable options including additional doors, viewing windows and burner position or even an underfl oor infrared burner. The Traditional Series features an ‘old world’ look, with both the 5’ and 6’ models in the series featuring the same specifi cation and build quality of the Mountain series, but with a more traditional domed appearance.