CAN YOUR PIZZA OVEN DO THIS?
An Outdoor Oven that Smokes, Roasts and Makes a Pizzaiolo Out of You!
This week, we’ve got something great cooking at W4D! In fact, it’s so hot, it’s SMOKING!!
We are so excited to partner with our friends at Ninja Kitchen to offer a FREE NINJA WOODFIRE 8-IN-1 OUTDOOR OVEN—a $400 value—to one of our paid subscribers!
*Paid subscribers are automatically entered to win. If you are not a paid subscriber and would like to be entered to win, upgrade to paid by Tuesday August 15, 2023 at 11:59pm PDT. Void where prohibited. Continental U.S. only.
EK: One thing that Anthony and I do when we’re not working on What’s 4 Dinner? is consult with food, beverage, and housewares companies. We help them develop new products, test the products, create brand stories, and develop recipes and content for them.
One of the companies that we’ve both worked with for years is SharkNinja (which just went public!). Over the years, Anthony has helped produce 7 (and counting) infomercials for new products.
AU: And you may have even caught Elizabeth as an on-camera host, too!
AU: Working on new products and making sure that they will be workhorses in the home cook’s kitchen is one of our favorite things to do—it combines all of our experience and applies it to cool new products. (Plus, it’s kind of fun to see what’s coming to stores before anyone else!).
EK: This winter, we found ourselves working on the new Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Oven. It has many functions from a low-heat dehydrator to a high-heat pizza oven, plus it’s a smoker!
This oven does it all (which is why they call it the “8-in-1” oven), but after testing it for two weeks, my two favorite reasons for owning it are making Neapolitan-style pizzas and smoking chicken.
If you’ve been a reader of #W4D since the beginning, you know that Anthony is the king of Neapolitan-style pizza 🍕. This electric “pizza oven” makes a Neapolitan pizza in about 3 minutes and there is no need to turn the pizza…
AU: Part of what we do when we work with brands is to really “poke holes” in the products presented to us… Does this machine really deliver on the promises on the outside of the box?? As a pizza-making hobbyist, I was dubious about whether this oven could get hot enough without any flame, and whether the pizza would truly be as good as one that comes out of a traditional pizza oven.
EK: The other thing that this little outdoor oven does so well is smoking chicken (or any other meat for that matter). It does an amazing job with boneless skinless chicken breasts and boneless skinless chicken thighs.
AU: The larger point here is that we were both shocked at HOW CONVENIENT the Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Oven makes cooking outdoors. No need to build a fire, or light a gas grill… you just plug it in, and turn it on. Boom. Outdoor cooking seven days a week at your fingertips!
EK: Because Anthony is the pizza king and I am the smoking queen, he is making pizza and I am smoking chicken using boneless skinless chicken pieces…
NO-TURN PIZZA, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?
AU: I love making pizza at home, and I’ve done it almost every which way you can imagine: in my home oven, in an outdoor pizza oven, in a skillet, on the grill—you name it!
EK: As I mentioned, you are “Tony the Pizza King!” In all seriousness, you make the best pizza! The night you taught me to make pizza using your outdoor pizza oven, we ate some of the best pizza that I have ever eaten anywhere in the world!
AU: Wow thanks!! Like I said earlier, when I was asked to test out a new Ninja outdoor oven, they told me it was a pizza oven that required NO TURNING. I was skeptical to say the least…
Most outdoor pizza ovens use a flame located on one side of the oven (or in an Ooni’s case, an L-shaped flame on the side and back of the oven), and then utilize an arched or domed ceiling to direct the flame over the pizza (or anything else) being cooked in it. This means that you typically have to rotate your pizza as it cooks, so that it cooks evenly.
When Ninja sent me the Woodfire 8-in-1 Outdoor Oven, the team swore I could make pizzas (even Neapolitan-style ones!) without any turning. I immediately had to take it for a spin.
AU: I made my go-to pizza dough (check our entire W4D Pizza Primer if you’d like to do the same), and topped a pie with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and basil for a simple Margherita pizza.
The Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Oven has 5 different Pizza settings (Neapolitan, Thin Crust, Pan, New York-Style, and Frozen), so you can customize your pizza night any way you’d like it. I chose the Neapolitan setting, which fires the oven up to 700ºF! I launched the pizza onto the preheated pizza stone, and watched as the clock counted down. I’m a pizza watcher, because I usually have to turn my pizza, so this was a real test in patience for me to not peek every 30 seconds. When the timer beeped, I opened up the oven to reveal this…
AU: A perfectly-cooked pizza!! I usually like mine a lil more well-done, but that’s all a matter of preference, and for a maiden voyage, I’d say the Ninja Woodfire No-Turn Pizza was a roaring success!!
EK: Not only that, it’s easy enough to master even for a Neapolitan novice like me! As many of you know, I co-wrote Pizza on the Grill with my friend Bob Blumer. Grilled Pizza and Neapolitan-Style Pizza could not be further apart. Even though I am an expert in grilling pizzas, the Neapolitan technique is so different. The no-turn feature of the Ninja Outdoor Oven’s “Neapolitan Pizza” setting makes it doable for a beginner and easy for an expert.
AU: But the real proof was whether or not it had that elusive “Leopard Spotting” on the bottom of the pizza. This would be an indication of a properly heated pizza stone, and a properly cooked bottom crust… She sure did!
AU: Now, in the heat of the Summer, I find myself using the Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Oven for everything from baking cookies to roasting (and smoking!) meat… all without heating up my house!
But I think it really sings when you make pizzas in it. The features that are packed into this oven really make it user-friendly for all skill levels. You can make a basic Margherita, like I did earlier, or you can flex your pizza-making muscles with something a little fancier…
Perhaps a farmer’s-market-inspired pie??
AU: For this pie, I stretched the dough onto the peel and topped it with some thinly sliced red onions, a little olive oil, and some whipped feta cheese. Then, I made it rain with some baby tomatoes—mostly Sungolds, which are my favorites—and some fresh basil, of course. When the pie is finished baking, I drizzled a little Zab’s Hot Honey over the top (Chili-Crisp would be great, too).
When I tell you I could eat this everyday for the rest of my life…
SMOKED CHICKEN IN A SNAP!
EK: The outdoor oven is great for smoking a whole chicken, but it is the best piece of smoking equipment for smoked boneless skinless chicken pieces. I like to smoke the chicken and use the meat for tacos, salads, casseroles, soups or any meal where cooked chicken is the protein.
AU: Agreed… that little smoke flavor makes everything tastier! And if it’s not a heavy-handed smoke, I even save the carcass/bones to make broth. It’s great!
EK: And because my very favorite smoked chicken salad is Anthony’s version of Wolfgang Puck’s chicken salad from Ma Maison, that’s what I made. If you are curious, read all about it in the link above.
The thing about smoked chicken is it is not beautiful on its own. That is why it’s best used as an ingredient and turned into a delicious chicken salad or a smoked chicken club sandwich, tacos, or even topping a baked potato. There are so many things that you can do with smoked boneless skinless chicken, but be forewarned that serving it on its own is not the prettiest dish.
EK: Think of the smoke in the Woodfire Outdoor Oven (WOO) as a seasoning. What I mean by that is the kiss of smoke that the food gets from the pellets (in the integrated smoker box) will flavor the food while the electric heat of the oven actually cooks the food.
Smoking chicken pieces in the WOO is very easy. All you need besides the chicken, is a little olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Some smokers instruct you not to use any oil because the oil attracts the smoke, but if you do that, your chicken pieces will be very dry. Also, salt very lightly because the smoke flavor intensifies the salt. Remember that you can always add salt but it’s near impossible to take away.
You want to use the rack and the pan that comes with the oven and I line it with foil to make the cleanup easier. I leave the pizza stone in the WOO and I place the pan on top of the pizza stone.
The great thing about using the Smoking feature is that you don’t have to preheat the oven. Fill the outside smoker box with Ninja Woodfire pellets, and set the oven to “Smoker.” Place your food in the oven and press start—the pellets will ignite. You’re smoking!
EK: For boneless skinless chicken pieces, I like to smoke them at the pre-set temperature of 250°F for an hour and then raise the temperature to 300°F for 30 minutes. You can play around with it based on the size of your chicken pieces.
Chicken pieces are relatively small so it’s difficult to smoke them well in a larger outdoor smoker. However, the cooking space of the Ninja Woodfire Oven is compact enough that the chicken stays moist, and is infused with the perfect amount of sweet blue smoke, so that the smoked flavor runs through and through.
One note: Because there is no skin on boneless, skinless chicken pieces, the top layer of the chicken will become dark and smoky.
EK: A lot of the smoked flavor is in this top layer, so I chop it up and mix it into the chicken salad. The moisture in all the mix-ins and the dressing soften it and it acts as a flavor enhancer.
I can’t recommend making Anthony’s Chicken Salad enough! It is one of the most satisfying chicken salads that I’ve ever eaten—both luscious and hearty. If you can wait, it is best if you let it chill in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours or overnight so the flavors can get all comfy with each other.
A FINAL THANK YOU!
Thanks again to our pals at Ninja Kitchen for supporting #W4D and giving us this fun workhorse of an outdoor oven to give away to one of our loyal paid subscribers!!
*Paid subscribers are automatically entered to win. If you’re not a paid subscriber and would like to be entered to win, upgrade to paid by Tuesday August 15, 2023 at 11:59pm PDT. Void where prohibited. Continental U.S. only.