6
fires should be small to gently season and break in
the oven.
In order to reduce the possibility of moisture col-
lection, it is recommended that the oven be treated
with a water sealer after completion of the exterior.
WARNING: Do not start a fire in a unit that
has been exposed to excessive
moisture.
To protect from moisture, keep the oven door in
place when the oven is not in use.
5.1 Selection of Wood
Any cured wood that is suitable for smoking meats
can be used in pizza ovens. Hickory, pecan and
mesquite wood are good. Oak is good for heating
ovens and generating a bed of coals. Flavored
wood such as apple and cherry fruitwoods, soaked
in water, can be used for smoking when the cook-
ing starts.
Charcoal and natural lump charcoal are also an
option for cooking along with fruitwood chips for
flavor.
Avoid use of green uncured wood as it will have a
much stronger smoke flavor which can be over-
bearing, and will produce more soot and oils.
Caution: Do not use paper, trash, synthetic logs,
or wood treated with petroleum or other
chemicals.
5.2 Starting and Keeping a Fire
It takes time and experience to learn the nature of a
wood-fired oven. There are a lot of variables af-
fecting cooking such as type and quantity of wood,
ambient temperature, size of oven and the dish be-
ing cooked.
Recommended length of wood sticks is 12-18
inches for these ovens. Stores selling BBQ supplies
will have smoking wood in chunks or cut smaller
for smokers and wood fired ovens.
Just like the oven in your home or an outdoor gas
cooking appliance a wood fired oven will require a
certain amount of cleaning and maintenance after
usage.
Wood fired ovens are designed to retain heat and
therefore will produce a certain amount of smoke
spillage out of the front opening of the oven and
leave soot, creosote or smoke stains on the face of
the ovens exterior. This spillage and staining is
common on all brands of wood fired ovens without
power vented chimneys. The degree of staining
will vary depending on type of wood used for
cooking, how cured the wood is, amount and
length of usage, wind direction and speed along
with several other factors that will vary with each
application. This adds character and gives an au-
thentic old world appearance to your oven but the
staining can also easily be removed with a wire
brush and water or by using a masonry cleaning
solution for soot and smoke that can be purchased
at most hardware stores, home improvement stores,
specialty fireplace retailers or on the internet.
Fire management tools are shown in Figure 14.
Figure 14. Fire Management Tools
The sequence for building a fire is as follows:
Build a fire in the center of the oven floor
and develop a good a bed of coals. The
size will depend on what is to be cooked
and the quantity.
Heat the oven to 350° to 600°F. This may
take as much as two hours. Heating above
800°F is not recommended.
When desired temperature is reached, push
the fire and coals to the rear of the oven.
Use one of the tools shown in Figure 14.
Insert pizzas on a pizza pan and cook di-
rectly on the oven floor.
Add wood as necessary to maintain de-
sired temperature. If cooking several piz-
zas, it may be necessary to pull the fire
back to the middle and rebuild it to reheat
the floor.
5.3 Cooking
If the oven has been exposed to moisture 48 hours
prior to use, build a small fire and heat the oven to
250-300°F for two hours before increasing the heat
to cooking temperature. An easy solution is to burn
an 8-10 pound bag of match lite charcoal and let it
burn completely. This will slowly dry out the mois-
ture that the oven has absorbed.
