How To Light Your Wood Fired Pizza Oven

By Nora Seabolt


While it is entirely true that modern microwave ovens can also be used to make pizza, it is also true that they cannot impart the kind of texture and flavor to it that conventional techniques do.In the conventional sense, pizzas are supposed to be made in ovens that use wood for fuel and are made up of bricks.This is precisely why a wood fired pizza oven can still be seen in many houses.

It is worth mentioning that it can be quite difficult for an individual to not only set up such ovens but to also use and maintain them.Fortunately, the right kind of knowledge and skill set can offset these flaws.Lighting the oven is one of the most crucial aspects of making pizza the conventional way.Lighting is important because only through pre heating will the batter get the right amount of heat.The following are some tips pertaining to pre heating.

In order to use the traditional oven appropriately, you need to understand how its heating system works.For instance, you should know that such ovens depend on the batter being heated in three different ways.The first is conduction where the heat is transferred through the bricks.The second is radiation wherein the heat is reflected from the dome above onto the batter.Finally, the third is convection i.e. heat travels through the air to the batter.

Therefore, in pre heating, the temperatures inside the brick oven are raised to their highest before being reduced and maintained at the optimum levels.You should also know that when the brick oven is at its hottest temperature, a curing of its surfaces takes place.The oven surfaces are cured from the heat that is sterilizing them.You would now just have to brush the ashes inside the oven away with the help of a metal brush.

The type of wood being used to light the oven is also very important.The wood that is used should be entirely organic in nature.The wood should not be contaminated with paint, glue or any kind of chemicals because these can vaporize and cause harm to a person.

It is highly recommended that you use soft wood to begin the lighting process.The fact that soft wood ignites easily and gives off more heat is the reason why it is preferred.Hard wood can be added once the oven is heated enough.The dimensions of the wood being used need to be focused upon as well.No sliver should be thicker than your little finger.

As the lighting process requires air to be properly successful, the door to the oven should be left open.You can boost your efforts to pre heat the brick oven by actually ensuring that just the right amount of air is inside it to support the fire without suppressing it.You can start the pre heating process with the help of newspaper or other common fire starters.Hard wood can be added once the intensity of the fire grows.Using a butane torch should make lighting the fire easier compared to using a matchstick.




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