How Long To Reach The Right Temperature? Firing Your Oven Discuss How Long To Reach The Right Temperature? in the Oven Management forums; About how long should I count on it taking to get my oven to the right temperature for cooking pizza? ...

[DimTex]

About how long should I count on it taking to get my oven to the right temperature for cooking pizza? I am using dry oak so I know I can get the fire hot, just wondering how long I should count on it taking?

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Hi Dim,
There are many variables,,, based just upon oven alone, But to that I say It usually takes me anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half....

Mark

[DimTex]

Do folks start their fires in the front, center or rear of their oven? Also, when should you move the wood and coals towards the rear to make room for the pies? Finally where do you take your temperature measurement with a infrared thermometer?

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

I build my fire in the center, I also keep two fire bricks on the side of the oven, as the dome heats up and I add more wood, I put it on the two fire bricks on the side, It burns better when its not sitting in a pile of embers.. It also keeps the dome charged with heat, I brush everything to the side about 15 minutes before i plan to put in a pizza, lets the floor temp balance out and often cool down if it is too hot..

I brush off the floor with my brass brush, then i have a 5 foot, 1/4 inch copper tube flattened on the end, I blow thru it to move any of the residual ash out of the way..

Good Luck And Enjoy
Mark

P.S. There are a tone of youtube videos about cooking and lighting a WFO

[DimTex]

Thanks, and I will look at the YouTube videos

[texassourdough]

I fire hard and fast using juniper and my oven is usually clear in 45 minutes to an hour max. I usually switch to oak for pizza but it really isn't necessary. I basically load the entire oven and I push it toward the back over the first half hour or so and pull coals forward to keep loading the hearth. I use larger logs on the side to serve as supports. When cooking I have an iron andiron to hold the logs off the hearth so they burn better.

[thebadger]

I think it depends on how dry your wood is. I "allow" 2 hours but I would say 1-1/2 hours...

Even after 1 1/2 years I still like to heat it up slow.

Dick

[RTflorida]

Several variables - hearth and dome thickness, amount of insulation, size of oven (smaller will heat faster), type of wood, wodd moisture content and the size of your fires.

I'm with texas on this one.....fast and furious, I can get my oven white in just under an hr, then let it stabilize for about 10-15 minutes.

I start my fires using the "top down method", almost under the flue - but just inside the dome a little. This heats up the flue faster and gets the draw process going...once the small stuff really gets going I begin to throw more wood on and increase the log size with each added log - to 3"-4" max. when it starts to get "scary" I push the fire to the middle, toss in my FB log iron, and proceed to build a truly scary fire ("plasma effect" as CJ would call it).

RT

[Breven]

I don't know about everyone else, but I haven't used my laser thermometer since the first few fires. I noticed that the entire dome gets covered in black soot...the soot starts to burn off starting at the center of the dome and working its way down the walls. As soon as the soot is gone...the oven floor is about 900 degrees. I push the fire to one side, brush the floor, then give it a quick wipe with a damp cloth wrapped around the end of the ash dragging tool that comes with the little ash shovel- and we're ready to cook. No thermometer needed. I also use dry oak, start right in the center. Go big...real big if you want to heat it in an hour.