How hot can it go Heat Management Discuss How hot can it go in the Oven Management forums; Hmmm, 2 pieces of oak every 10 minutes - that sounds like a big fire (which is good). How thick ...

[maver]

Hmmm, 2 pieces of oak every 10 minutes - that sounds like a big fire (which is good). How thick are the oak pieces? Also, again, how often are you firing lately? I find that if I fire a few times a week it heats faster than when I have gone several weeks (like currently). Marc

[PizzaArthur]

The oak pieces are maybe 2"-3" x 16-18"....I do get a big fire going. I've only make pizza in the oven 3 times in the last 3 weeks then nothing for several months. I think it's just due to lots of wood.

[james]

And a great oven.
James

[david s]

Try a hair dryer for a turbo boost. 90 sec pizzas no worries,
David Sewell

[david s]

I took my oven from 400 C to 500 C very quickly using this method and it burnt away the coals considerably leaving more room.

[arevalo53anos]

Some pictures about it.
Luis

[david s]

I built a 3" port on the side of my oven, originally to accomodate a gas burner. But why use gas when you can have wood for free. I pick up fallen hardwood when I take the dog for a walk. This timber is collected from parks by council workers and put through a gas guzzling chipper, so you do everyone a favour. The hair dryer technique is good near the top end of your firing, but its probably easier to sit back and open a beer and wait for your heat to spread.

[noosab]

Well, late last fall, after reading a number of messages in this forum, I wrongly concluded that hotter was better. I got the floor temperature to about 1050 and the dome to about 1200F. according to my Harbour Freight thermometer (I get a 90 second pizza when it shows between 750 and 800 on the floor and not over 900 F. or so on the dome). The first pizza with the 1050 floor was far too burnt on the bottom after 20 seconds to be edible. We tried 15 seconds for the rest of them, 4 or 5 more I believe. They were not very good. The bottom was done in most places with burnt spots here and there. We tried 10 seconds but the bottom looked undone and the toppings did too. I won't try anything like that temperature for pizza again.
Earl

[maver]

Even at 900 for the hearth it's pretty dicey trying to avoid badly burned crust. It's interesting that the sides burn faster than the bottom though - I think it's the radiant heat from the coals that does it. 850 is about as hot as I want it (that's hearth readings with an IR thermometer), and I prefer 750-800.

[david s]

Yes, we seem to burn the bottoms of our first pizzas too. Like the first pancake is usually a bummer when cooking in a pan. I always blow the ash away with a length of copper pipe, rather than using a damp mop, because I felt it seems a shame to cool the floor after all thee hard work to get it to temp. But now I'm going to try the mop which should take the burn off that first pizza. The Romans have been doing it this way for hundreds of years. I'm sure they've got it right.