How to heat
Baking bread, pizza, or a delicious traditional dish in a wood-fired oven requires precise heating conditions. My Barbecue offers you the best tips for success!
What type of wood should I choose for my pizza oven ?
The success of wood-fired cooking will depend on the proper use of the raw materials.
Beech and oak are the most popular woods because of their high density. Our experts recommend starting with oak to raise the oven temperature and then stabilizing the fire with beech.
Hornbeam and olive wood are also species perfectly compatible with cooking over a wood fire.
The varieties to avoid are the resinous ones which crack and impart a taste to food.
How do I turn on the oven?
1 – Like a barbecue, prepare your fire in layers:
Layer number 1: place newspaper, twigs and dry grass.
Layer number 2: add cut-up crate, thin wooden crate planks, small branches…
2. Turn on your oven
Layer number 3: place the split logs preferably and regularly check that the flames start well.
3 – Keep an eye on the embers
To raise the temperature, slightly open the oven door; this will promote combustion.
How do I check the oven temperature?
Wood-fired ovens are often equipped with a thermometer. To be even more precise, there are two solutions when putting a pizza in the oven:
1- Use a kitchen thermometer;
2- Do the flour test: throw a pinch of flour into the oven and close the door for 30 seconds.
White flour = oven not hot enough.
Brown flour = temperature reached, it's time to bake!
Burnt flour = oven too hot. Cool the baking stone by spreading water on it. Then repeat the flour test.