***FIRE*LIT or OUT***

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

hi all
I've been cooking for over a month now, I have cooked my pizza's with and without the fire lit and with the fire pushed to the back of the dome or the side. Im getting pretty good and prefer to cook with one or two small logs on the side. How do you all prefer to cook ? Just really looking to confirm my techniques or improve them

Thanks

Mark

[Ken524]

My pizza's definitely cook better with a live fire on the side.

[dmun]

You really want a bright fire burning when you cook pizza. The flames up the dome recharge the heat of the floor, and give you more uniform results.

Fire to the side has the advantage of being able to see the pizza edge on the hottest side, so you can know when to rotate. With the fire in the back, you loose flexibility (it's cooler up front) as well as visibility.

[Les]

Mark - I tend to keep the fire (small) pushed around the sides and back, but I'm still learning. By the looks of your results, I wouldn't change a thing.

Les...

[texassourdough]

Looks like you are on the right page!

I like good flames on the side. My first pizza event I shoved a pizza right into the fire with the fire at the back. It was a bit embarassing! That should put your dome up in the 1000 degree range which is preferred by many of us.

While I have an infrared thermometer, I measure the hearth by throwing a small amount of semolina or flour on the hearth. At the right temperature it will take about 3 seconds to turn brown (instantly - like one, two (still white/yellow), three (brown). Much less and the hearth is too hot, much longer and the bottom won't cook properly with a good fire.

Hope that helps! (but you are doing fine.)(My ideal would be a bit more flame OR a bit more time. I like my speckled caramelization just a hair darker, but... that is my taste and not necessarily yours!)
Jay