Outdoor Ovens? Is that a thing?


 
J

JJ Johnstone

New member
Outdoor Oven? You mean an Electric Smoker? LOL.

Jokes aside, Turkey Day is coming up and we never have enough oven capacity for all the baking going on. And that's with Tom in the WSM. Plus our tiny kitchen gets stupidly hot with the oven and stove running all day.

I was thinking "Why can't we bake outside?" But outdoor ovens apparently aren't a thing, except for pizza ovens which are a current fad. The problem there is that those are tiny and meant to run at stupid hot temperatures. I need something I can throw a pie or a green bean casserole in at 350 - 400F.

Anyone have any thoughts?
 
JJ Johnstone said:
Outdoor Oven? You mean an Electric Smoker? LOL.

Jokes aside, Turkey Day is coming up and we never have enough oven capacity for all the baking going on. And that's with Tom in the WSM. Plus our tiny kitchen gets stupidly hot with the oven and stove running all day.

I was thinking "Why can't we bake outside?" But outdoor ovens apparently aren't a thing, except for pizza ovens which are a current fad. The problem there is that those are tiny and meant to run at stupid hot temperatures. I need something I can throw a pie or a green bean casserole in at 350 - 400F.

Anyone have any thoughts?
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My wife has a toaster oven outside in an old grill. I removed the gas burners. The cabinet underneath is used for storage. It gets used year round unless it’s pouring rain
 
BPratt said:
My wife has a toaster oven outside in an old grill. I removed the gas burners. The cabinet underneath is used for storage. It gets used year round unless it’s pouring rain
Click to expand...
Gas grills can work like an oven using indirect heat too
 

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We are thinking of getting a Masterbuilt gravity charcoal smoker. Specifically for Turkey Day.
Planning a Brisket & Turkey.
Wife will own the kitchen and I will own the outdoor cooking space.
 
Pellet grills, for all intents and purposes, are wood fired convection ovens. My wife has baked pies, cakes and bread in my Traeger, and you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between them and baked good done in the kitchen oven. Better temperature control and virtually no smoke flavor once you get up to baking temperatures.

Just about any outdoor cooking appliance can be used as an oven as long as you can cook indirect, keep a fairly tight rein on temperatures and run a clean fire.
 
Just about any gizmo you have will work for a turkey. So long as you can get the temp of the appliance up into the roasting zone for the skin. 325-450F. Gassers, pellet pushers and kettles all do a fine job at that.

Only issue for baking pies, bread etc. is that your grill is usually going to be smoky and greasy since it most often is used as a meat cooker.
 
Don't know if you have a gas grill, but I refer to my Genesis as the Weber Outdoor Oven. It seems to be able to hold temps quite well. I've done a few turkeys in it, starting on the Performer for an hour or so to get some charcoal flavor on it, then finishing in the Genny, which allows me to focus on other dishes and not worry about fire/heat control.
 
JimK said:
Don't know if you have a gas grill, but I refer to my Genesis as the Weber Outdoor Oven. It seems to be able to hold temps quite well. I've done a few turkeys in it, starting on the Performer for an hour or so to get some charcoal flavor on it, then finishing in the Genny, which allows me to focus on other dishes and not worry about fire/heat control.
Click to expand...
I have been thinking off and on about a gas grill, and I potentially could do a natural gas hookup for it. On the other hand, I haven't done that much grilling lately. I'm not sure if a gas grill would turn into brilliant motivation to cook more, or just be a couple thousand dollars of regret.

Bob / Jim, interesting thought about using an "any gizmo." I wasn't really thinking that a charcoal-fired device would be the right choice, but now I'm kind of tempted to try out Apple Pie a la BBQ. I've got WSM in 18" and 22", plus the ol' snake method works pretty good in the Performer. Really, it's a lot of cooking capacity if I actually use it all.
 
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JJ Johnstone said:
I have been thinking off and on about a gas grill, and I potentially could do a natural gas hookup for it. On the other hand, I haven't done that much grilling lately. I'm not sure if a gas grill would turn into brilliant motivation to cook more, or just be a couple thousand dollars of regret.

Bob / Jim, interesting thought about using an "any gizmo." I wasn't really thinking that a charcoal-fired device would be the right choice, but now I'm kind of tempted to try out Apple Pie a la BBQ. I've got WSM in 18" and 22", plus the ol' snake method works pretty good in the Performer. Really, it's a lot of cooking capacity if I actually use it all.
Click to expand...

My Genesis was a few years old when I bought it and I paid $300 (EP model with side burner). Timing is rough with Thanksgiving rapidly approaching, but a used Genesis can be a great bargain if you're willing to be patient. A gas grill is a nice option when the weather gets sketchy.
 
I've used my gas grills as oven's.
JJ Johnstone said:
I have been thinking off and on about a gas grill, and I potentially could do a natural gas hookup for it.
Click to expand...
You might be able to pickup a used gasser for not that much $$$. If you don't use it much you aren't out much.
 
Our kitchen at our summer house is not that large so when we have company (and that is often) a large portion of our meals are made outside.

You could bake most anything outside in a large Dutch oven like the settlers did and use a temp gun to help control the heat.

I’ve been told that my Blackstone can bake biscuits, bunz or muffins using the steam cover thing.
I put an elevated grate on my kettle for $25 and it kicks out pizza.
S&S makes a really nice stainless griddle pan w/ rack that supposedly can bake ok but I only use it as a fancy drip pan.
We do a lot of shellfish steam bakes (with Mr. modified turkey fryer) on our deck when we have parties
The list of options is quite large when you start including WSM’s and gasser’s.
I even want to get one of those portable butane burners.

Our place is not that big, but is about a perfect small to medium type party location.
We just get a bit creative to make it work

As far as an electric oven?
I would only run one (even a temporary one) that has a ground fault circuit interrupter on the power supply even on a sunny day.

When I build my out door kitchen it will have a roof and an up to code electrical system.
 
A couple of years ago my oven computer died just before Thanksgiving. My Webers saved the day as well as my pellet pooper. Anything that wasn't cooked on the stove was cooked outside. Everything turned out fine, just not quite as easy as an oven.
 
JJ — what part of the country do you live in?

Any of us could do a quick scan of FBM and CL and point out a good deal on a used gasser for you.

Couple hundred bucks. And just get one with an lp tank. Easier to find and easier to sell if you don’t like it or want to invest in the gas hook up.
 
Best of the lot IMO is a Family Q. Does everything from low and slow upwards. Have cooked cakes, pavlovas, almost every type of roast (incl turkey), pineapples, and of course steaks and the like. I also have a Genisis Gold but the Family Q is my go to.
 
Andy Kaminski said:
Our kitchen at our summer house is not that large so when we have company (and that is often) a large portion of our meals are made outside.

You could bake most anything outside in a large Dutch oven like the settlers did and use a temp gun to help control the heat.

I’ve been told that my Blackstone can bake biscuits, bunz or muffins using the steam cover thing.
I put an elevated grate on my kettle for $25 and it kicks out pizza.
S&S makes a really nice stainless griddle pan w/ rack that supposedly can bake ok but I only use it as a fancy drip pan.
We do a lot of shellfish steam bakes (with Mr. modified turkey fryer) on our deck when we have parties
The list of options is quite large when you start including WSM’s and gasser’s.
I even want to get one of those portable butane burners.

Our place is not that big, but is about a perfect small to medium type party location.
We just get a bit creative to make it work

As far as an electric oven?
I would only run one (even a temporary one) that has a ground fault circuit interrupter on the power supply even on a sunny day.

When I build my out door kitchen it will have a roof and an up to code electrical system.
Click to expand...
 
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