Great video, Paul. I agree with you 💯%. I always use the retained heat from my Ooni Karu to make bread. Its delicious. Also have made pasta al forno, roast chicken and mussels sautéed in white wine. My next project is to make a parmigiana melanzane.
I learned the hard way about thermal mass, early into the ownership of my SC60+Gas. When I light her up, she'll hit 450C in 30 minutes, all over the floor. So I'd cook a pizza, but it would always be woefully undercooked. Eventually I figured out that the first pizza was pulling all of the energy out of the oven, because it hadn't become saturated. Now I always allow it to pre-heat for 60 minutes. Haven't had any issues, since.
I hope some day you'll do a video and discuss the temperature management using the door and the chimney damper. Also, I find the floor loses too much heat between pizzas when I cook multiple ones (3-4). Any thoughts?
Paul, if there is no taste benefit to using wood, what are the benefits of baking pizza and bread with wood instead of with gas? Does your comment about there being no taste transfer of the wood come from the Neopolitan Pizza technical book you have referenced before, from some other reference, or from personal experience?
I don’t know if there is a taste benefit or not but there is no transfer of flavor from the burning wood. They discuss it in the scientific book La Pizza Napoletana but I’ve also read about the research in some of the forums. Wood and gas burn differently and produce different amounts of humidity as they burn. These differences may have some effect on the taste. I feel like wood fired pizza tastes better, but I don’t have a gas oven, so, I can’t do a direct comparison. For me, building and managing the fire is part of the art - it’s a part of the process I enjoy.
Noooo don’t close your chimney ever…. The door is really only used for keeping things out of the oven or baking bread. What kind of oven are you using? Unfortunately oven makers go cheap and don’t know how to build ovens, they have no thermal mass and use the wrong material. My Terraforno oven holds the heat fantastic because it’s made properly. Ovens like this shown won’t really ever cook properly because it doesn’t have the thermal mass needed, but hey the affiliates sure get paid! What a joke, you couldn’t even show the bread you were cooking? SUPER SUS MAN….
Just sweep the ashes out with an oven brush. The high temperature cooks off anything that hits the floor. After the oven is heated up and you are ready to bake wrap an old towel around your turning peel, dampen it a little with water and wipe down the deck where you will be launching your pizzas. This is just to get any soot off that the brush left so you don't get it into you dough. Not good for you.
Bellissima pizza e bellissimo pane...super like video ciao
Grazie mille, Vincenzo! Gradisco i tuoi commenti e sono contento che ti è piaciuto il video!
FANTASTIC!! ❤️
Awesome info about temperatures and oven 👍
Grazie!!!
Great video, Paul. I agree with you 💯%. I always use the retained heat from my Ooni Karu to make bread. Its delicious. Also have made pasta al forno, roast chicken and mussels sautéed in white wine. My next project is to make a parmigiana melanzane.
Sounds great!
I learned the hard way about thermal mass, early into the ownership of my SC60+Gas. When I light her up, she'll hit 450C in 30 minutes, all over the floor. So I'd cook a pizza, but it would always be woefully undercooked. Eventually I figured out that the first pizza was pulling all of the energy out of the oven, because it hadn't become saturated. Now I always allow it to pre-heat for 60 minutes. Haven't had any issues, since.
Thanks for the comment and great story. I've talked to several people who figured that one out the hard way! I'll bet your pizza is delicious.
Great video, great info. How long did it take you to preheat your oven? Thanks
I can preheat in about 2 hours if needed but I prefer to do it slower, about 3 hours. It heats the deck better. Great question, thanks for that!
I hope some day you'll do a video and discuss the temperature management using the door and the chimney damper.
Also, I find the floor loses too much heat between pizzas when I cook multiple ones (3-4). Any thoughts?
Paul, if there is no taste benefit to using wood, what are the benefits of baking pizza and bread with wood instead of with gas? Does your comment about there being no taste transfer of the wood come from the Neopolitan Pizza technical book you have referenced before, from some other reference, or from personal experience?
I don’t know if there is a taste benefit or not but there is no transfer of flavor from the burning wood. They discuss it in the scientific book La Pizza Napoletana but I’ve also read about the research in some of the forums. Wood and gas burn differently and produce different amounts of humidity as they burn. These differences may have some effect on the taste. I feel like wood fired pizza tastes better, but I don’t have a gas oven, so, I can’t do a direct comparison. For me, building and managing the fire is part of the art - it’s a part of the process I enjoy.
This is correct. The cook time is too short to impart any flavor from the wood.
Should I have my chimney closed at all times and oven door open ? I can’t seem to get my pizza base crispy at all
Noooo don’t close your chimney ever…. The door is really only used for keeping things out of the oven or baking bread. What kind of oven are you using? Unfortunately oven makers go cheap and don’t know how to build ovens, they have no thermal mass and use the wrong material. My Terraforno oven holds the heat fantastic because it’s made properly. Ovens like this shown won’t really ever cook properly because it doesn’t have the thermal mass needed, but hey the affiliates sure get paid! What a joke, you couldn’t even show the bread you were cooking? SUPER SUS MAN….
How did you get the middle of the oven clean from the ashes?
Brass brush, and maybe a slightly damp towel on a brush if you really want to clean the ash off.
If you’re familiar with Vito Iacopelli, his very first video showed exactly how to clean the oven!
The ash is bad for you. Best to clean.
What is the ideal oven floor temp for pizza
Between 800 and 900 F (~450 C). The deck temperature will vary as you cook because the dough pulls heat out of it.
How do you clean a wood pizza oven
Just sweep the ashes out with an oven brush. The high temperature cooks off anything that hits the floor. After the oven is heated up and you are ready to bake wrap an old towel around your turning peel, dampen it a little with water and wipe down the deck where you will be launching your pizzas. This is just to get any soot off that the brush left so you don't get it into you dough. Not good for you.
Was that a big ass snake early in the video?😮
Gotta wonder when the cook doesn’t show the product….. SUS!