Remember the first time you ever drove a car? Even though you played it cool and were excited to do it, you were also probably a little nervous. If, however many years later, you find yourself in the same mindset when using an outdoor pizza oven for the first time, don’t stress! It’s actually really easy, and not half as hard as learning to drive a car. Just read this how-to guide on the proper techniques for using an outdoor pizza oven.
Build and light the fire
Get a good, strong fire going by using kindling or firelighters to start it. Keep monitoring the temperature and adding wood to the fire to get it nice and hot. You want to get an even spread of fire across the floor of the oven.
Close the smoke control
Now that your oven is sitting around the 350-400 degrees Celsius mark, close your smoke control to keep the heat in. This will keep the temperature consistently high.
Preheat the stone
This is an essential step in getting a crispy pizza base. Preheat the stone for 10 minutes before putting your pizza in. If your pizza stone isn’t hot, your pizza won’t cook evenly and the base might turn out a little floppy. For a perfectly cooked, crispy base, you’ve got to get that stone hot!
Put your food in
Now, it’s the fun part! Place your pizza in the oven and watch with wide eyes as it cooks to perfection. The amazing thing about a wood-fired pizza oven is that it only takes one to two minutes to cook through. After this time, take your pizza out.
Feast!
And now, the really fun part! Serve up your mouth-watering pizza and enjoy with a glass of wine or beer. Prepare some delicious side-dishes too, like roasted veggies which are perfect in your pizza oven, or a Greek salad.
Clean the oven
Wait for the pizza oven to cool down and then clean the oven. Here’s a quick lesson on cleaning your oven:
- Remove the ashes. Use a shovel or a copper brush to scrape them out and dispose of them safely.
- Clean grease stains using a sponge and a mixture of water and vinegar to cut through the grease. Don’t use detergents or cleaning products on your pizza oven because the pizza stone can absorb the chemicals, tainting your food. Don’t use too much water either as this can cause cracking in the stone.
- Remove creosote from the inside of the oven. Creosote presents a fire hazard when it builds up in your pizza oven without cleaning it.
Now that you’re an expert on using a pizza oven, you’ve got to get yourself one to use! Sydney Fire Bricks are one of Australia’s finest pizza oven manufacturers, using first-class bricks and mortar to give you a durable, sturdy oven. Check out the range at Sydney Fire Bricks today!
