They say that it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good and such is the case with British company, Orchard Ovens.
Because Preston, Lancashire-based Orchard Ovens, has experienced a spike in enquiries about its Cucina oven, which is a special oven, one designed to be installed at the heart of a kitchen and creating a wide variety of wood-fired cooked foods in doors.
Orcard Ovens now views the Cucina as the immediate future of wood-fired oven ownership in the UK, due to the credentials required of any indoor oven.
Orchard Ovens says more diligence is being shown by indoor oven seekers than is normally the case with those looking for an outdoor oven.
Hardly a second thought is ever given to money wasted on so-called outdoor pizza ovens, which fall apart due to poor quality and the fact that they are constructed using inappropriate materials.
Anyone installing an indoor oven is fully aware that they can't afford to fit an oven not fit for purpose.
The fear of having to renew their entire kitchen, not just the wood-fired oven, disrupting design, layout, worktops and surround, is leading to the new boom at Orchard Ovens, where authentic, artisan-built woodfired ovens have a reputation when it comes to their lifespan.
Notably, astute homeowners, making the right choice, are often of Italian descent.
One is Luca Ferrazzano, who is now a resident of Bristol but originally hailing from Naples, the spiritual home of pizza, where pizza has protected UNESCO status. Such is the guardianship over Neapolitan pizza that severe rules govern its cooking and promotion.
It's fairy to say that Luca had previously struggled with British made pizza ovens. He found them too unreliable for a financial investment and not authentic enough to match his high native Italian standards. Unfortunately he also found them to be just about incapable of cooking anything, unless the weather was absolutely perfect.
After further consideration this led him to investigate indoor pizza ovens as an option and, wanting an oven that wouldn't see him mocked by visiting Neapolitan relatives, he turned to Preston-based Orchard Ovens.
Orchard Ovens is the only UK supplier of top-notch Tuscan Valoriani ovens, including the Cucina, a ready-built oven that can be fitted quickly inside an indoor kitchen, once the correct flue arrangement is installed.
The Ferrazzano family had the Cucina fitted by the Orchard Ovens’ team and is now wowing his friends who had no idea it was possible to have an indoor woodfired pizza oven.
And Luca’s relatives from Naples can't detect any difference between its pizza and that enjoyed in a downtown Naples pizzeria.
Obviously using only traditional ingredients plays an important part, but the oven ensures accurate cooking of food, due to the best insulation and best construction materials. There are no issues with cold spots and no problem in retaining heat.
Luca has realised that, unlike other ‘pizza ovens’, the Valoriani ‘Cucina’ is superb, with no temperature differential between the top of the oven and the bottom. In others he'd previously tried, users either have to burn the pizza’s top or bottom and compromise on this.
But now, regardless of what the British weather brings us, sun, rain or snow, his Cucina pizza oven can be fired up and, thanks to its massive versatility, used for a wide variety of dishes, from curries to Lancashire hotpots and bread to shellfish, steaks and even chips and Yorkshire puddings.
Orchard Ovens’ director, Andrew Manciocchi, says, “We couldn't have a better recommender of the Cucina oven than a native of Naples, for whom oven authenticity and quality are obviously crucial.
“Luca is one of a number of customers who decided the way forward, in an era of climate change and wet summers, is to install an indoor, rather than outdoor, woodfired pizza oven. The shift in thinking we've seen this summer is notable, so we shall be going all out to supply Cucina ovens right through the late summer, autumn and inot winter. These will be in situ in time to cook up wood-fired festive treats for Christmas, providing lots of joy.”
To find out more about the Cucina (£3495), which comes in a wide variety of colours and for which installation can be quoted, call 01772 250000. More information can be found at www.orchardovens.co.uk