Controlling Temperature in your Wood Fired Pizza Oven
The charm of a wood-fired pizza cannot be overstated. The smokey aroma, the perfect crust, and the authentic taste make it a heavenly delight. However, it's not all about the recipe; mastering your wood-fired oven is an art in itself. If you are a proud owner of a wood-fired oven and want to cook the perfect pizza, this guide will help you with starting the fire and controlling the temperature of your pizza oven.
Fuel types for wood fired ovens
Wood Pellets
Source: Wood pellets are compacted sawdust or wood shavings, often by-products from lumber and wood processing industries.
Advantages: They have a consistent size and moisture content, resulting in a predictable and steady burn. Pellets produce less ash, require less storage space, and are environmentally friendly due to their origin from waste materials.
Usage: Some wood-fired ovens are specifically designed to burn pellets. These ovens often have an automatic feeding system, making the cooking process smoother.
Wood pellets are also a cost-efficient option. Overall, pellets cost less than gas and other solid fuels for the amount of heat and length of burn time you get. A large Ooni bag provides up to 12 hours of cooking.
Kindling
Source: Kindling refers to small pieces of dry, easily combustible wood or other materials, ideal for starting a fire.
Advantages: Kindling ignites quickly and helps establish a strong base fire. It's essential for efficiently starting fires in larger wood-fired ovens where large logs can take longer to catch fire.
Usage: Begin with kindling to ignite the fire, then add larger pieces of wood to build and maintain the desired heat.
Joe Formisano founder of Delivita “The choice of wood is crucial in maintaining the desired temperature in your oven. Always use dry hardwood with a humidity level below 20%. The ideal wood choices are beech or ash. However, try to avoid oak as it's a dense wood and takes more time to ignite.”
Wood
Source: Traditional logs or chunks are commonly sourced from various types of wood. Beech and ash are among the popular choices when ease of ignition is a primary concern.
Advantages:
Beech: It's a hardwood that's known for burning hot and clean. Its moderate moisture content ensures it catches fire reasonably quickly, producing a steady flame and consistent heat.
Ash: Often praised as one of the best firewoods, ash has a low moisture content even when green. This characteristic makes it one of the easier hardwoods to ignite. Ash also burns steadily, offering a good heat output without requiring frequent refueling.
Usage: For those looking to quickly start a fire without the hassle, beech or ash can be an ideal choice. These woods not only catch fire more easily than some other hardwoods but also maintain a consistent burn, ensuring efficient heating of the oven.
“Use wood dried to below 20% moisture content, ideally closer to 15%. This ensures a clean burn with minimal smoke.”
Sustainability
Think about sustainability! Wood is a natural resource and as wood fired cooking increases in popularity, it’s more important than ever that we only burn wood from sustainable sources. Sustainability means more than just coming from a sustainably managed woodland though, it also means considering the road or boat miles, the packaging, and the energy source used for kiln drying. Paul & Heather who founded Love Logs source firewood exclusively from sustainable British woodland and are completely plastic free.
Starting the Fire
First, let's discuss how to light up your wood-fired pizza oven. Using the recommended method by DELIVITA, begin by constructing a Jenga-like structure with your kindling in the middle of the oven. Place an eco-lighter in this structure and top it off with a 10cm diameter piece of hardwood.
After 20 minutes, add an additional piece of hardwood, which should ignite quickly, bringing the centre of the oven to approximately 350 – 400*C. At this point, you can push the wood into the back of the oven. Always remember to cut the wood logs before placing them in the oven. Fresh cuts enable the flame to catch quicker. Also, avoid wood with bark as it generates black smoke.
A traditional brick oven might take up to 2 hours to reach the right temperature, whereas a modern stainless steel oven like an Alfa Forni can get there in a matter of minutes. No matter how different they are, all ovens have this in common: you must give the entire structure enough time to heat before you start cooking. Even if the required air temperature has been reached, the oven floor may not yet be hot enough to cook on.
“Think about the fire triangle when running a wood fire. Fire needs fuel, oxygen and heat to burn, with oxygen just as important as fuel. This means building and adding to your fire in a way that allows airflow into your fire at all times. With fuel management, less is more - if you’re struggling to get a clean fire, don’t add more fuel thinking that will always solve the problem!”
A must have tool is Delivita’s Prod & Blow – this allows you to place the wood into the back of the oven, the other function is that if the flame of the wood goes out you can simply blow through the handle to give air to the wood which will re-ignite the flame.
Controlling the Temperature
Once you've ignited the fire, moderating the temperature is crucial. Top up little and often when using hard fuels. For example, Ooni recommends getting the pizza oven stone up to a high temperature, then letting the flames drop a bit to ensure a well-cooked base without burning the toppings.
Smoking
In the world of BBQ, crafting delicious dishes like smoked fish stands out as a favourite among many. Morso offer some top tips to smoke food in a wood fired oven.
The key to perfection is heat distribution. Start by arranging the embers around the edge of the Forno in a half circle, ensuring a consistent, even heat. Next, position the Morso Tuscan Grill inside the Forno. Sprinkle a touch of smoke dust over the nearest embers to add that authentic smoked flavour. To complete the setup, secure the Forno Door and top off with the Smokeeper smoking cap.
Paul from Love logs adds “Different species also have different smoke profiles. Fruitwoods like apple and cherry are brilliant for smoking as they produce a lovely delicate smoke, whereas beech produces a stronger smoke profile so is better for wood oven and open fire cooking, with a clean flame.”