David Squire has a pizza base in one hand and a blowtorch in the other. In the hot sun, the blue flame from the torch is almost invisible, but the waves of propane-powered heat it is giving off make the view of the green Cheshire countryside behind it ripple. The torch is there to provide ignition for the main attraction - Squire's £7,500 Italian outdoor oven.
He sets the flame to the wood inside the cast-iron and brick structure, and it is instantly alight. The pizza base (dressed with sun-dried tomato paste and mozzarella) is placed inside with a long metal paddle. After one minute of small talk, it is removed again, cooked to perfection. "Having eaten in a number of restaurants in Italy," Squire says, handing slices to friends who have come for a garden party, "I began to understand the difference between real pizzas and fakes. I asked a number of chefs how to do it better and they all told me you have to have a wood-fired oven. The quest began there."
Finally, he came across Orchard Ovens, which imports them direct from Tuscany. Squire and his wife, Joanne, found a local firm who could supply bricks for the oven surround in the same colour as the house - once a coach house for the Georgian manor next door. The oven itself cost £1,500; it was the surrounding structure that stacked up the price. It took about five days to install. "We needed a few days to get used to it - I was trying to get it going with just a little fire, when what you need is a really big blaze," says Squire.
The good news is that smoke production is low so long as you use seasoned timber, but God help you (and the local bird life) if you use green wood, which will give off clouds of acrid smoke. Apart from that, though, any environmental impact from these ovens will be minimal, say Friends of the Earth.
The tricky part of cooking in an outdoor oven is that, although a temperature gauge will tell you how hot it is inside, you can't turn the heat up and down at will. The temperature is controlled by the amount of wood you put on the fire and by how wide open the door is - the wider it is, the more oxygen enters, meaning bigger flames. So it is simple to cook pizzas, which take a short, sharp shock, but cooking slow-roasted meats or complicated dishes is not so easy.
There is nothing like cooking a traditional Italian dish such as porchetta (pork belly) in the traditional Italian way. The clay fabric of the oven also retains heat well - Squire likes to cook his bacon and eggs in the oven when it is still hot from the previous night's dinner. The heat retention also means it's great for baking bread.
And they're all at it. In his recent book Jamie's Italy, Jamie Oliver writes: "If you do fancy getting yourself a wood oven, even the small ones are good value - try doing your Sunday roasts in them - it gets you out in the garden."
Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin have just had one installed, too. "The oven's not only simple and fun to use," gushes Gwynnie, "but also brings the authentic taste of Italy to your home. It's the perfect family experience."
For those of us who do not host Channel 4 cookery shows or command $20m per movie, there are less expensive options. Janet Rogers, in Durham, has a freestanding, cast-iron stove that she bought for £200 from chimnea.co.uk. "Last week we used it for my daughter's birthday party," she says. "We had 30 13-year-olds and they all made their own pizzas. They had a lump of dough each and they had to roll that out and choose their own toppings. Then we put them in the oven. They loved it."
The stove, like all the best ovens, is wood-burning, infusing the food with a rich, textured, smoky flavour. "We have masses of wood from the garden," Rogers says. "We've got apple trees, so the smoke has a nice smell. But the oven is very heavy, so you have to decide where you want it, because once it's there, it's not moving."
The chimnea - a tall, Mexican exterior oven - is traditionally shaped like an elegant, tapering vase. Cast-iron models start at around £40, but traditional clay designs can be even cheaper. Not only do they cook food, but they have an added use as an outdoor heater, enabling you to enjoy the last of the setting sun.
Jane McGee, who lives in the countryside outside Glasgow - not an area known for its balmy climate - was recently given one (from Natural Heating) as a present. "I use it almost any time I'm in the garden," she says. Chimneas generally cook the food on a grill above the fire compartment, which is open on one side, allowing the heat to be directed out efficiently to wherever you are sitting. "In the winter you can go outside and sit in the hot tub with the fire beside you. I've even had it going when it's snowing."
Surely, if anything shows a very British stoicism about the weather, it is lying in a hot tub while your margarita turns crispy at the edges and snowflakes fall all around.
Facts at a glance
Brick ovens can be freestanding or built into the wall of a building - planning permission unlikely to be required.
Wood is generally the best fuel, giving the food an aromatic flavour; some ovens also take charcoal. Orchard Ovens sells six ovens, all handmade in Tuscany. Prices range from £999 to £1,999, plus installation (0870 055047,
orchardovens.co.uk). Freestanding cast-iron ovens tend to range from £100 to around £1,000.
Chimneas come in many materials and sizes, including clay, cast iron and copper. Clay models tend to start at around £40; copper designs are closer to the £150-£200 bracket (01292 670406,
chimnea.co.uk; 01698 821111,
naturalheating.co.uk).
