Piedmont Natural Gas in Charlotte North Carolina recently renovated their test kitchen and installed a Wood Stone Mt. Adams 5′ Dual Gas-Fired Oven (WS-MS-5-RFG-IR). The newly renovated facility has state of the art A/V technology, a full prep kitchen, and a great staff. Piedmont Natural Gas is conveniently located just minutes from the Charlotte/Douglas International Airport and is a great place to take customers who want some face time with Wood Stone equipment but can’t make it to the factory in Bellingham, WA.

This kitchen is open and available to anyone that wants to use a Wood Stone oven for menu development, training etc. Wood Stone’s Regional Sales Manager, Phil Eaton, frequents this location and coordinates the visits. Contact Phil to schedule your Wood Stone test kitchen visit today!

Wood Stone had the chance to cook some local spot prawns and Yokeko oysters during a test kitchen visit in a Bistro 3030. For the Spot Prawns we heated a stainless pan in the oven until it was hot, added extra virgin olive oil, minced garlic, and red pepper flakes. We gave that ten seconds in the oven to sizzle then threw in about ten prawns. The heat from the top and bottom cooked the spot prawns in about a minute. We added a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of kosher salt, and put them on the plate, peels on for more flavor.

The oysters were baked with creamed spinach ala Rockafeller, but oops, we forgot to put on the bacon and breadcrumbs! They were delicious without! The second batch got the royal treatment, but the breadcrumbs browned faster than the oysters heated, so we recommend adding them halfway through the cooking.

- Brent Pyeatt, Wood Stone Kitchen Coordinator