15 Surprising Ways to Utilize Your Pizza Oven

I’m admittedly stingy when it comes to kitchen gadgets. I’ll only buy a nifty appliance if I know I’m going to get a lot of use out of it and/or if the price justifies its value. And I can confidently say that a backyard pizza oven checks both boxes.

It was one best investments I’ve ever made — and that’s not something that I say lightly. I’m a self-proclaimed pizza snob who grew up within driving distance to New Haven, Connecticut — one of the pizza meccas of the U.S — and worked professionally in a pizzeria. So it’s fair to say that I take pizza seriously. Not only does this appliance allow me to make perfect, thin-crust pizzas in a matter of minutes, but I’ve also found that there are so many foods that I can cook in it — which is why I would recommend it for die-hard pizza enthusiasts and hobbyists alike. Here are some of my favorite things to cook in my pizza oven and what you need to know before you try them yourself. 

If you’re new to pizza ovens, let me tell you one thing: They take a while to cool down. Luckily, you can use that window to toss a sweet treat into it and make use of its residual heat. 

If you cook a dessert in your pizza oven while it’s cranked up at its normal temperature, you’ll risk burning it to a crisp (pun intended). But, if you hit the temperature sweet spot at around 350 degrees Fahrenheit, you can easily pull off an apple or a berry crisp or cobbler. You can also try your hand at a pie, though it takes considerably longer and you’ll need to rotate it often to ensure that it cooks evenly. 

I’d recommend baking both of these desserts in a sturdy cast iron skillet, seeing as how pizza stones or the bottom of the oven will be hotter than the metal around it. If you cooked your dessert in a glass pan, it may shatter when it comes into contact with the hot stone. 

If you have leftover pizza dough, consider turning it into a flavorful focaccia. This spongy, soft bread is known for its subtle crunch and dimpled appearance, which can be studded with different herbs, veggies, and more. Plus, all you need to do is bring your pre-made dough up to room temperature, let it slack, and then stretch and dimple it with your oil of choice. 

Focaccia is the perfect starter for your meal. You’ll want to make it in a cast iron skillet for several reasons. For one, it will pull away from the sides more easily (provided that your skillet is properly seasoned). It’s also safer to use cast iron in a pizza oven than glass or a thin aluminum pan (which might warp, depending on how hot your stone is). Focaccia usually needs to bake for 20 to 25 minutes at around 400 degrees Fahrenheit; you can tent it if you notice it starting to get a little too brown. 

Pizza is not often thought of as the “healthiest” of foods — even though tomatoes are considered vegetables. Luckily, if you’re running your pizza oven anyway, you can also use it to whip up a side of roasted veggies to serve with your pie. Though, you’ll need to be careful about which vegetables you use and how you cook them, as not all of them are the same. 

Some vegetables can be charred — like eggplants, red peppers, or tomatoes — while other veggies are better off cooked in the residual heat of your oven — like zucchini and squash. I would recommend cooking all of them in a cast iron grill pan, as you’ll get the beautiful marks from the bottom of the pan and won’t have to worry too much about the pan overheating on the floor of the oven. Try to stay around the 400 to 450 degrees Fahrenheit range for most vegetables and keep an eye on them to ensure that they don’t get too toasty in the oven. You may also want to rotate the pan as they’re cooking to ensure an even cook. 

Flatbreads are notoriously difficult to make in a home oven because they’re traditionally cooked at high temperatures for short periods of time. Naan, for example, is cooked in a tandoor oven between 700 and 900 degrees Fahrenheit for about a minute, which helps seal in the moisture and leaves its characteristic leopard spots. It’s nearly impossible to mimic that same temperature in a home oven, simply because most don’t go that high. 

But your pizza oven does. You can make naan, pita, and other flatbreads in it. You can use your peel to slide your bread into the oven, which will keep your fingers safe and away from the heat. Naan needs to be cooked at a high heat setting — well over 500 degrees Fahrenheit — until it starts to blister. Top it with melted ghee or garlic and serve it with your favorite homemade curry recipe. You can also try your hand at pita, though you’ll want to make sure that you turn the heat down in the oven before you put them in, as this type of flatbread tends to burn more quickly than you’d think. 

Basque cheesecake is a flavorful and unique Spanish dessert. This type of cheesecake features a charred crust and slightly smoky flavor, with a familiar, sweet, and creamy center. 

Since the Basque cheesecake requires such a hot oven, you’re best off making it in a pizza oven rather than a conventional one. Since Basque cheesecake is crust-less, it is usually baked in a spring-form pan. While you can use this type of pan for your pizza oven, it needs to be rated to withstand a very high temperature. 

Your infrared thermometer should read between 600 and 800 degrees Fahrenheit before you shut the heat off and slide your cheesecake in. It will take about 45 minutes to bake and you’ll need to allocate several hours after that for it to properly chill and set. While it is a time-consuming dessert, tasting the smoky, charred undertones against the creamy, sweet center is well worth it. 

There is something really beautiful about a perfectly-cooked steak, topped with a piece of compound butter. And, using a pizza oven is one way to ensure that you get the perfect caramelization on the outside of your cut, whether you’re making a ribeye, T-bone, or New York strip. 

Pizza ovens run hot, which allows you to get a beautiful sear on your steak. The best pan to cook your steak in is none other than a cast iron skillet; it has great heat retention, and its nonstick capabilities will ensure that your steak comes off the bottom seamlessly. The bottom of your oven should read upwards of 900 degrees Fahrenheit. Once this temperature is reached, you can slide your cast iron pan (or grill pan) into the appliance for a few minutes so it can heat up. From there, bring down the temperature (you don’t want to burn your steak to a crisp), and slide your seasoned cut of choice in. The exact cook time is dependent on the thickness of the steak, which is why using a meat thermometer is a good tool to check for doneness. 

The pizza restaurant I worked at was known for two things: its wood-fired pizza and its wood-fired wings. The wood imparts a delectably smoky flavor on the chicken, and the oven’s impressive heat develops the perfect char on the exterior of the wings — all while locking in that juiciness and flavor. 

You’ll want to shoot for an oven temperature of between 400 and 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Toss your marinated chicken, whether you’re opting for classic Buffalo wings or an Asian-inspired Korean dry-rubbed variety, into an oven-safe pan and slide them into the oven. It can help to preheat your pan ahead of time, as this will give the wings a head start on charring. I’d also recommend holding off on adding extra sauce until the wings are mostly cooked through; these sauces often contain sugar, which can over-caramelize if left in the oven for too long. 

You may not have thought to cook your meatballs in a pizza oven. I personally love this cooking method because the heat from the oven caramelizes the sugar in the sauce and makes for a sweeter bite. Plus, it gives the meat (or in my case, the meatless meatballs) a smoky and complex undertone. 

You don’t need to cook your meatballs at a high temperature to give them a great flavor; about 350 to 375 degrees Fahrenheit should do the trick. Bake the meatballs solo with oil first, then add your sauce and cook them again briefly so that the flavors can meld together. The first go-round will seal the moisture in and give the meat a charred flavor, while the second will be just enough to cook the sauce and caramelize (but not burn) its sugars.

Baked cheeses, like Brie and Camembert, can be a show-stopping addition to your charcuterie board. While most folks opt to bake these cheeses in the oven, you can turn to your pizza oven as an alternative. The pizza oven will give your soft cheese a melty, gooey bite, inciting oohhs and aahhs when you run your knife through it.

All you need to do is unwrap your cheese and slice off the rind on one side of it. This will prevent it from sticking to the bottom of your cast iron pan. Coat it with your seasonings and bake it away at 700 degrees Fahrenheit. It will need to be rotated about halfway through the cooking time so that it melts evenly. It should be bubbly and crusty when you pull it out, and if you’re lucky, you may even get some charred spots, too. Add your favorite toppings to your cheese and enjoy it while it’s still melty and warm. 

Steak isn’t the only protein you can cook in your pizza oven. Using this appliance to cook lamb chops is a smart idea because the heat will caramelize the exterior perfectly. And since you’re not cooking them for too long, you won’t have to worry about the meat drying out. 

The ideal temperature to cook lamb chops in your pizza oven is around 575 degrees Fahrenheit. Cook time will vary depending on how you like your lamb cooked, but you should shoot for anywhere between three and five minutes. The difference between a medium and a well-done lamb chop at this temperature oven is a matter of minutes, so this is one food that you’ll need to babysit by your oven as it cooks. 

Your lamb chops will come out of the oven with a beautiful, smoky flavor and perfectly crisp coating. Pair them with mashed potatoes or veggies — the latter of which we also recommend cooking in your pizza oven. 

Hot dogs are typically not a food you would make in any oven, let alone a pizza oven. But, if you want to get an excellent, crispy skin on the outside of them, then you may want to try cooking them in your pizza oven.

Hot dogs are not as thick and juicy as some of the other proteins on this list, like steak or lamb chops, so you’ll need to be careful with how long and how hot you cook them. Hot dogs can go from perfectly fine to burnt-to-a-crisp in a matter of seconds, so you’ll want to be confident in your pizza oven cooking abilities before you fire up those Nathan’s. 

400 degrees Fahrenheit is the heat ceiling for cooking hot dogs, so you’re better off cooking your dogs in the residual heat of the oven rather than cranking up the heat. Crosshatch your hot dogs to increase the surface area and maximize the char, or leave them as is. You’ll only need to cook your hot dogs for about 10 minutes, rotating partway through the cooking time. Your hot dogs should be between 150 and 160 degrees Fahrenheit when you pull them from the oven. 

Can you cook a whole Thanksgiving turkey in a pizza oven? Well, I suppose that would depend on the size of the oven. If you’re working with a smaller model, probably not. But, if you can spatchcock your bird and flatten it so there is enough clearance between the top of the oven and the turkey, then by all means go ahead. 

You’ll want to cook your turkey uncovered for the first 15 minutes or so between 500 and 600 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, cover your turkey and cook it for several hours; the exact length of time will depend on the size of your bird, so be sure to take an internal temperature reading before you remove it from the oven. It should read 165 degrees Fahrenheit, and should rest before it’s carved so that the juices have a chance to reabsorb into the meat. 

If you want something a little smaller, or are looking for something you can enjoy outside of the holiday season, consider roasting a chicken in your pizza oven. It follows a similar process, though you’ll want to cook it at a much lower temperature — 375 to 425 degrees Fahrenheit — and for less time. 

Bananas Foster is a dessert is about as tasty as it is beautiful. Traditionally, it’s made by flambeing bananas in a caramel sauce with alcohol so that the bananas develop a tantalizingly charred and oaky flavor. If you are still learning the ropes of how to properly flambe the tropical fruit, try cooking them in a pizza oven instead of on the stovetop. 

When you flambe the fruit, you need to be mindful of the spurting flames coming from the pan. A pizza oven offers a more hands off alternative that will still give you that same flavor — just in a more contained format. But you’ll still need to keep an eye on it as it cooks, as the sugar in the caramel can go from toasty to burnt rather quickly. 

The oven should clock between 400 and 500 degrees Fahrenheit before you start. Cook the caramel sauce first, only leaving it in the oven long enough so that the sugar develops a nutty aroma, but not so long that it smells acrid and looks burnt. Once you get the sauce to that point, you can add in your bananas and cook again until the fruit softens. The last step is the most exciting one: adding in the rum and flambeing. You may need to readjust the pan after you add the spirit to ignite the rum, so make sure you have a pair of tongs or a heat-proof utensil to intervene as necessary. Once the flames start to die down and the alcohol has cooked off, you can pull the pan from the oven and serve the dessert with ice cream. 

I love corn on the cob, served dripping with butter and covered and salt. If you love the charred, nutty flavor of grilled corn, you are guaranteed to love corn made in a pizza oven. There are several ways it can be prepared, though if you’re just trying it for the first time, you may want to strip the cobs of their flammable husks and silks first. You don’t need to parboil the cobs ahead of time; just add an ample coating of oil to prevent them from sticking to the pan before cooking them for about eight to 10 minutes. Corn can withstand a higher cooking temperature than other items on this list, so feel free to bake it at around the same temperature that you would cook your pizzas at. 

I use charred corn a lot in my recipes, whether it’s in a salad with mayonnaise, avocado, and sliced tomatoes or in a creamy and cheesy pasta dish. The corn boasts a great flavor, and it’s all thanks to the blast of heat from your pizza oven. 

I hate to break it to you, but you can’t roast your s’mores in a pizza oven. I mean, you could — but you would also have to clean burnt marshmallows from your pizza stone, which I doubt is anyone’s definition of a fun time. But the good news is that you can make a simple and sweet s’mores dip instead. 

This dip encapsulates all of the things you love about s’mores, from the toasty marshmallows to the rich chocolate, and bakes it in a cast iron skillet. Once it comes out of the oven, you can scoop it with graham cracker pieces, or opt for plump strawberries, crunchy pretzels, or some other dipping vessel. 

The chocolate doesn’t take long to melt and the marshmallows may cook faster than you’d think at this temperature. You’ll only need to cook your cast iron skillet dessert for a couple of minutes, or until the mallows brown, before removing it and serving it warm. It’s a great after dinner treat, especially when you are running your pizza oven anyway.