How an Outdoor Oven can Complement the Rest of Your Backyard Space

By Matt Lee

An outdoor oven can truly complement the rest of the backyard space, as it brings another social element to the backyard and creates a memorable experience. Outdoor kitchens and ovens drastically add to a home’s value, as it makes the space great for entertaining. Below, we’ll chat about how an outdoor oven will exactly enhance the rest of your yard. 

Add Aesthetic Value 

When you integrate an outdoor oven to an entire outdoor kitchen space, your home’s value increases dramatically. You can match the texture and finish to your existing home to ensure that it provides a continuous experience as you’re entertaining. This may mean choosing quartz countertop colors that complement the oven and painting cabinets to match the roof and house color combinations. When it comes to the countertops, they truly must serve a dual purpose in functionality and aesthetic value, as they’ll be exposed to the changing seasons and elements. 

Set Your Home Apart

Now, while more and more homeowners are impressed by an outdoor kitchen space, that doesn’t mean that many homes already have them. Having an outdoor oven will set your home apart and give it a unique touch that your neighbors

are unlikely to have. Furthermore, who doesn’t love pizza?! Wood-fired outdoor pizza ovens are quickly becoming more and more popular, as they’re easy to install and can fit into the design of any existing outdoor backyard. You can take the oven a number of ways, whether you prefer a stainless steel, stucco, or brick look (which pairs well with vinyl cedar shake siding). Homeowners love cooking in wood-fired ovens, as they invite a number of cuisine possibilities and can also help you get outdoors during wintertime. 

Increase Practicality

Aesthetics outside, having an oven and/or kitchen space outdoors makes mealtimes more efficient and facilitates seamless entertaining. While many designers are opting for sliding glass panels between the kitchen and outdoor living spaces, constructing an outdoor kitchen instead brings your home to the next level.

An outdoor oven can add tremendous value to your home. With more and more focus on cohesive living spaces, the outdoor oven will invite your guests outside and add a value room to your home. 

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Matt Lee is the owner of the Innovative Building Materials blog and a content writer for the building materials industry. He is focused on helping fellow homeowners, contractors, and architects discover materials and methods of construction that save money, improve energy efficiency, and increase property value.

Shiny Bread from the Wood-Fired Oven

There has been  lot of talk lately on the Masonry Heater Association Chat list about bread baking and I thought I'd share some ideas about how I get a shiny bread from a wood-fired oven.
 
My niece traveled to France a few years ago and interviewed a baker there who was using a wood-fired oven - the same one used for generations by his family, and the oldest in France.  The baker said that he put a tray of water in the oven every time he bakes, and that is all he does.  The breads do come out with a nice shine to them.  You might try it and let us know if it works for you. 

I do know of another method which has been used by my Italian side of the family for years  - they make an egg wash, just a beaten egg - and brush it over the loaf before putting the bread in the oven.  Not sure where that idea started, but I use it when I bake egg bread every Christmas in the family tradition.  That may be considered cheating by the bread baking purists, but it sure does make a nice looking loaf of bread. When I find a picture of one I'll post it.  

The photo above is a loaf of egg bread I made last Thanksgiving without the egg wash and it is not shiny - but it sure tasted great anyway!