BBQ Bites- Charlie Oven

Charlie Oven can do just about anything in the live-fire firmament. A BBQ, smoker, charcoal oven and pizza oven, this outdoor cooking all-rounder is now a big player in the al fresco dining world.

Launched at the London food festival Meatopia just two years ago, Charlie Oven, weatherproof and hand-built in Nottingham, was inspired by the charcoal ovens used by professional chefs in restaurant kitchens.

“It was born out of a love of baking bread and the search for the perfect rise. We bought a commercial oven and fell in love with this style of cooking during lockdown. The first thing, other than bread, we cooked in the oven was fish. The dish tasted like it came from a Greek taverna. We couldn’t believe how easy it was to use and how the charcoal flavour came through so strongly in the food. It was flavour that we had never managed to create at home until then,” said CEO and co-founder Tara Quick.

“It was that dish which set us on the path to create an outdoor oven so that others could enjoy cooking with fire in a way that is easy and so versatile.”

Quick says the Charlie Oven, all bright colours and bright ideas, essentially harnesses the energy from live fire in a way simple to control. “It’s one of the most sustainable ways to cook, incredibly fuel efficient and made in Britain.”

Other products have since been produced, including a tabletop oven called Cheeky Charlie, a range of planchas and the launch of a Professional Series oven, designed to meet the heavy duty demands of a commercial kitchen.

“Another exciting development is our new capsule collection of outdoor kitchen units. This is a mix and match range of items, all on castors, which have the same rugged design and materials as the oven,” said Quick.

Charlie Oven also runs masterclasses in Richmond, Surrey, with top chefs demonstrating the oven’s capabilities, such as Bart van der Lee, a MasterChef: The Professionals 2020 finalist, and his fish and seafood feast.