Temperature measurement

[GianniFocaccia]

Nice job, Bob! It's nice to know one can follow Forum Members' experiences and guidance to make great results happen. How long did it take to roll out the dough and dress the pizza? I understand if one lets the oven equalize a bit prior to cooking pizza there is a lesser change of scorching the bottom and the floor will recharge a bit faster for a second round.

John

[Lburou]

Originally Posted by azpizzanut

Hi All,

We cooked our first pizza and bread today. I have an IR thermometer and used it in combination with the cleared dome to give me an idea of when to put on the pizza. After the fire burned down I raked coals over the oven floor, then went in to spread out the dough and dress the pizza. I pushed the coals to the rear of the oven then went inside to bring out the pizza. It came off the peel just fine and began cooking right away. It was easy to see the dough puff and I easily knew when to turn the pie with a small round peel. After another minute I could see the topping bubbling and the cheese begin to brown. One more turn and it was done to perfection. For this cook I used the advice of forum members and the IR to confirm temps. After we ate, my wife formed a loaf of no-knead bread dough and let it rest for 20 min. Then into the oven it went. I used the WAG method to determine the proper temperature, but also relied on forum members guidance that bread can go in the oven after pizza. It worked like a charm. I sprayed about 20 squirts of water into the oven to steam it up for a crispy crust. 30 minutes later we had a nice golden loaf that smelled wonderful. I hope it is this easy every time.

Cheers,

I'm jealous that I'm months away from the first bake in our oven

[Tscarborough]

I used the infrared gun constantly when I was learning the oven, but only use it to show guests the temp now.

[azpizzanut]

Hi John, Lburou,

It didn't take long to roll out the dough and dress the pizza. The dough had spring-back so gave me a hard time getting it right. I ended up putting it on the peel and stretching it by hand. It didn't go directly in the middle of the oven but more towards the front so I could turn the cooked portion to the less hot front bricks. No scorching at all that way. Judging by the huge conflagrations I see in some photos my fire was adequate to clear the dome without being like the gates of hell. A pizza and loaf of bread is all I wanted tonight so didn't make the effort to do more with the fire.

Lburou,

You'll get there eventually. I thought my build was going slow at first but came together pretty well the past few weeks. We have "no burn" days in our area due to stagnant air in the valley (an inversion layer that you can often see in the distance). I had to wait for a good day to put fire in the oven. It is funny, I had everything ready for three days including kindling, lighter and split wood, just waiting. LOL. Like a kid waiting .........

Cheers,