Preparing a pizza oven is an important step in producing great tasting pizzas to ensure they are evenly cooked top and bottom. Skipping this step will result in hours, if not days, of effort gone to waste. In the process of lighting your oven, we will assume that when it comes to cooking your pizza, that we will use the right-hand side of the oven. This is important to note as we prepare the oven.
To light a wood-fired pizza oven, you will need:
- Wood: You will need dry, hardwood logs that have been seasoned for at least 6 months. Avoid using softwoods like pine, as they burn too quickly and can create too much creosote in the chimney.
- Kindling: You will also need smaller pieces of wood or other materials that can be used to start the fire. These could include paper, cardboard, or twigs.
- Fire starter: You can use a fire starter like a firestarter cube, newspaper, or a small piece of dry kindling to help get the fire going.
- Temperature gauge (that came with the oven) or a Infrared Thermometer Non-Contact Digital Laser Temperature Gun
- Long handled scraper (helps to keep the hands and fingers well away from the heat) – I have lost a few hairs in my experience.
To begin:
- Gather your materials and place them near the oven.
- Clear the oven of any debris or ashes from previous fires.
- Place a few pieces of kindling in the center of the oven floor.
- Arrange the dry logs around the kindling, leaving a small opening in the center for the fire starter (quick fire starters or use old paper/cardboard)
- Place the fire starter in the center opening and light it.
- As the fire starts to catch, gradually add more logs to the fire.
- After 30mins, using the long handled scraper, slowly push the wood and coals to the right handside of the oven
- After a further 30mins, push the hot wood and coals to the left handside of the oven and this time, slowly add wood to maintain a radiant heat
- The oven is ready when the inside of your oven turns completely white – this is when the oven is ready to use
- The total time to heat which may depend on the size of oven and how you managed the heat is about 2 – 2.5 hrs
Remember to always use caution when starting and maintaining a fire and be sure to follow all local laws and regulations regarding outdoor fires.
I will be preparing a video tutorial on this which is coming soon.
