MORE
WINTER
WARMERSSAY CHEESE!
24 T3 DECEMBER 2020Horizon
LivingGET A PIZZA THE ACTION
Whether you want to get more out of your garden in December,
or retreat indoors, there’s a great pizza oven for youHaving an outdoor space is always great but
in 2020 those yards, lawns, patios, decks
and balconies have been more essential
than ever. Sales of barbecues have naturally
been huge this year but there’s also been a
big jump in demand for pizza ovens. As
winter draws in, if you want to get a little
more use out of your garden, a pizza oven is
even more attractive. Why? Because they
get very hot and cook extremely fast, and
you don’t have to stand over them for ages
with a pair of tongs, as you do with a BBQ.
Our favourite pizza oven of the summer
was The Firepod (£399, thefirepod.com).
Firepod recommends cooking pizzas at
350°C. A built-in thermometer and the fact
it runs on easily controlled gas means this is
very straightforward, but purists will note
that this is about 50°C lower than the usual
recommended temperature. However, this
clever and compact oven turns out perfecto
pizzas with superbly crispy bases, time after
time, so it’s impossible to quibble. Firepod
can also become a stove or barbecue grill
via the addition of various accessories.
As well as high temperature and rapid
cooking, the key to perfect pizza is a thinbase made with high quality dough that’s
been properly worked. If that sounds like
a lot of effort to you, you should try
Dough Dealers’ ready-made dough (from
£6, doughdealers.co.uk). It’s just like mama
used to make... but it’s actually made by
some blokes in London.
Excellent though The Firepod is, you
may find it’s a little parky to be entertaining
outdoors for much longer this winter. Just
as well, then, that Sage has added a
compact indoor pizza oven to its range.
The Smart Oven Pizzaiolo (£699.95,
sageappliances.com) is described as “the
first domestic benchtop oven to hit 400°C
and cook an authentic wood-fired style
pizza in just two minutes”, and that is a
pretty much spot-on description. Using
electric heating, it cooks exactly as a flame
oven would, with a scorchingly hot base,
and radiant heat from an element above.
The Pizzaiolo’s Element iQ heating
system creates brilliantly authentic thin-
crust Italian pizza, but it also has settings for
deeper ‘pan’ and ‘New York’ pizzas, as well
as one specifically for – look away now,
pizza purists – the frozen kind.LAY-Z-SPA
BARBADOS
For braver souls – and those
just desperate to get out of the
house –hot tubs really come
into their own in winter. This
energy efficient model can be
heated via an app before you
venture out, too...
£599, lay-z-spa.co.ukLA HACIENDA
SKYLINE
This modern log-burning
patio heater is 1.5 metres tall
but only 36cm square so it
doesn’t take up much patio
space. Smoke is ported out of
the tall chimney rather than
into your face. A big plus.
£200, lahacienda.co.ukPHILIPS HUE
OUTDOOR
Light your outdoor space in
style this winter with Hue’s
ever-growing range of app-
controlled, weatherproof
lights. This large Lily XL
spotlight pierces the winter
gloom with great aplomb.
£130, philips-hue.comIMAGE^SOURCE:^ GETTYIM
AG
E^
SO
UR
CE
:^ L
AY
- Z
- S
PA
IM
AG
E^
SO
UR
CE
:^ L
A^
HA
CI
EN
DA
IM
AG
E^
SO
UR
CE
:^ P
HI
LI
PS