Charlie Oven  Avis 74

I ordered my Charlie after several chats with Tara who was so helpful at every stage. I needed delivery to the south of France and eventually delivery took place but was delayed by French customs and the delivery agent. Was it worth the wait....I think so. I have only really got to start using it as we needed a patio laid at our house to give us a level area.
Charlie certainly gets attention and people are fascinated by its design and attractive looks.
Good charcoal is key and here I use Big K which can be used a couple of times and retains and produces good heat.
I am only really setting out on the journey of usage but in the past few days greek spatchcock chicken with lemon and oregano potatoes, pizzas in minutes with easily achievable 400 degrees, veg chilli, beautiful Black Sea Bream like you would have at a top notch restaurant. I wish I lived in the UK because I would definitely go on a cooking day/weekend.
Yes they cost quite a bit but it truly is a great product so well designed and a real feature.
In future I would like to see an Charlie Oven cookbooks of recipes in publication. I know the recipes are online but that would be great.

“I have had my Charlie oven for three weeks and I need to report on this marvel!

I am a keen cook with a passion for baking bread and pastries. I love outdoor cooking despite the Cumbrian weather.

Pre-Charlie I had the following outdoor kit.

A fabulous firebrick wood fired oven with sandstone surround, cast iron door and steam system. Capable of baking 12 loaves of bread – if you have a whole day to spare.
Gas plancha and BBQ grill.
Large wood pellet smoker (electric).
Large kettle charcoal BBQ with rotisserie.
Gas pizza oven
Japanese Konro grill with Asado attachment.

I am about to sell the gas pizza oven, but with the exception of my precious wood fired oven I have already sold everything else!

Why?

The first test of my Charlie was to bake bread. I had made a batch of loaves which I intended to bake in my commercial deck oven, but I kept one loaf to bake in the Charlie. Quickly reached 230 degrees and held that temperature. A perfect bake and apart from the very pleasant slight hint of smoke no difference from the loaves baked in the commercial oven. Timing much the same.

Next cook was two 1.5kg porterhouse steaks. I purchased the Parrilla v grill as I knew from using the Asado it would stop flare up. The problem with the Konro Asado is that it only works well on a warm day without a lot of wind (a rarity in the Lake District).

Perfect results again. The steaks were thick enough to grill with the door closed other than when turning them. A wireless probe thermometer is a must.

Whilst the steaks were resting, I threw some asparagus and broccoli (lightly coated with olive oil) on the Parilla. Grilled with the door open because they were done in a few minutes. Charred, cooked, but still crunchy was how my wife described them.

Next was two small chickens cooked at mid height with a chunk of apple to generate smoke. On a higher rack was a dish of Lyonnaise potatoes (thank you Charlie for a great recipe) and at the end I again char grilled some asparagus and broccoli. Faultless and the chicken was not over smoked and very moist.

Time to try pizza and I made the dough following the excellent New York style recipe from Charlie.
The Charlie took marginally longer to reach 380 degrees than the gas pizza oven but was much faster than my traditional wood fired oven. What I liked. Not having to carefully check that the pizza was burning or having to turn them. Baking time was around 4 minutes. As good a pizza as I have ever baked.

Now for my first failure. I had decided to slow roast a hanging leg of lamb for dinner on the evening after I had baked pizza for lunch. I am used to BBQ’s cooling down quickly and foolishly thought that if I closed the Charlie vents it would cool down to 120 degrees in 2 to 3 hours. Not a chance. After one hour it was down to 250 degrees and after another hour down to 200 degrees which it maintained for the next hour.

So, the lamb was cooked at 200 degrees for 2 hours. Even with the vents closed Charlie held that temperature for the whole of the cooking time. The lamb was perfect, light smoke and still moist. The downside. The vegetables in the roasting tray below the lamb and close to the coals became carbon so no gravy base!

I am writing this during Easter, and my last cook was the day of storm “Dave”. A six kilo turkey, roasted at 180 degrees as per the Charlie recipe. A quick dash outside to put the turkey in, avoiding the flying garden furniture. Again the temperature probe was a must, as I could monitor the cooking on my phone. Moist turkey breast, a rarity.

I shall not miss all the ugly outdoor cooking kit, and I have no doubt the Charlie will do a perfect job. My wood fired oven is a lovely feature, but I doubt I will use it again. I will continue to bake bread in my commercial oven only because I bake large batches of loaves and appreciate the automatic steam function for sourdough.

Finally, the service from Charlie ovens was excellent and the recipes are a great addition.”

A really fantastic cooker and we use it all the time. Just love our Charlie oven

I purchased a Cheeky Charlie (the table top variant) together with a number of accessories. Communication with Neil and Tara has been excellent throughout, the oven is fantastic, I really cannot recommend it highly enough. For comparison I also have a Kamado Joe Big Joe, a Whistler gas grill and had a Gozney Dome. The Charlie is the best built and can easily do the jobs of all the other bbq I own! The family are all big fans of the pizzas we made recently!

My Charlie oven is without doubt the best outdoor cooking kit I’ve ever bought ……. By a billion miles. The build quality is fantastic and I use it for everything. It gets used 4 or 5 days a week from steaks to pizzas to bread to full roasts. It’s changed the way I cook completely. Utterly brilliant

Charlie Oven products are of great quality and built to last. Online ordering is easy and what ever you order is well packed and delivered in a timely manner.
Keep up the good work!

Great product. Once you buy it you will use it more than your kitchen oven!

Amazing quality and service. I find the company amazing to deal with and feel very privileged and grateful to have one of their ovens and all the bells and whistles that make it sing

Just purchased a Charlie oven for my husbands big birthday, Tara and the team were amazing making sure all went to plan.
Great product, exceptional service would highly recommended.
Thank you all!!!

I love cooking with our Charlie oven It bakes, roasts, sears, smokes. The flavours are enhanced and some of the best results are from the simplest ingredients - baked potatoes are out of this world, but it’s with meat dishes that it comes into its own- especially slow cooked lamb and beef - I’m constantly inspired to try different recipes “al la Charlie”!

I have been really impressed, not only with the charlie oven but with the company and the delivery service. Amazing

Fabulous oven from a really brilliant company with top rate customer service...!

I have had my charlie oven now for about a month.
From the moment i ordered the service has been outstanding.
My beautiful oven was delivered on time and Tara kept in touch all the way and had been really lovely to deal with very professional and i could not be happier.
I ordered my Charlie oven in time for a big feast i do annually at the house for all the boys and the results were great.
Fantastic Iberico pork with a roasted pepper salsa, excellent spatchcock juicy poussin with a bravas sauce. juicy lamb chops and also slow cooked shoulder of lamb and lots more dishes cooked in the oven.
It's so easy to use you are ready to go in 20 minutes and nothing tastes better than a charcoal grill, i advise you to buy a quality charcoal as that gives the right burn and also flavor to your food, i purchased charcoal from charlie and it is excellent.
Funds allowing i will buy the island to match next year as that looks the part.
Finally thank you tara and i love my oven could not be happier.
Thank you
Jez

Brilliant customer service, fantastic service.

I have had the Parrilla V rack for a few weeks now and have used it for grilling steaks, burgers, lamb chops and lobster tails - all cooked beautifully. Flare-ups are a thing of the past and fattier cuts like lamb chops render beautifully. I would recommend that anyone buying a new Charlie oven consider this rack option when specifying their new oven.

The Charlie is everything that was promised and more! Looks fantastic & easy to use.
Excellent communication from Tara.
Really looking forward to our Masterclass!

Bought the new kebab grill and it is amazing. The build quality is second to none and clearly alot of thought has gone into the design! I've used it every day since it arrived with amazing results. Can not recommend this company and it's products highly enough. They're not cheap, but the quality means they're great value

Exceptional customer service (I had a minor query about the oven door and I had back and forth answers straight away on a Sunday that answered my query straight away). The oven is beautiful and so easy to use. I have a big green egg and whilst I love it, the Charlie is so much easier as you have direct access to the fuel (for easy refill if needed) and you can light it and close the door straight away and that’s it, no waiting for ten mins and closing it. Highly recommend. The results are wonderful. Great for smoking.

I didn’t rush into buying my Charlie and had a LOT of questions that Tara responded to promptly and knowledgeably. Delivery was fantastic with superb help at my end as it’s a heavy item.
I’m still finding my way around it but could not be more pleased with the build quality and the food I’m producing is off the chart with flavour. Check out all the videos online for info and recipes.
Obviously it’s a big purchase but if you are hesitating taking the plunge then I would urge you to go for it. Take your outdoor cooking life to the absolute next level and fully expecting to give my indoor cooker a rest for every dry day we get.
The Charlie Oven is the best thing I’ve ever bought for myself and I know I’m going to using it for years to come.