You have carefully chosen your new wood fired oven, you brought it home, installed it without any problems and now you can\u2019t wait to start cooking pizzas<\/strong> worthy of the best Neapolitan tradition.<\/p>\n However, before starting, some doubts begin to arise: how do I light the wood fired oven the very first time? How much wood will it take to cook 10 pizzas? How will I know when the oven is ready?<\/p>\n These are all valid questions, particularly for those who are beginners and would like to know immediately the tricks and methods for not burning pizzas<\/strong> or for churning out fragrant and well-cooked loaves of bread.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This article will try to clarify and clarify any doubts so that this wonderful cooking tool will no longer have any secrets in order to help make your dinners with friends even more special.<\/p>\n The important thing when it comes to wood fired ovens is not to be in a rush<\/strong>, take the right time to experiment, carefully prepare the lighting and learn how to better manage both heating and cooking.<\/p>\n With practice you will be able to cook, grill and roast dishes that are always different and flawless.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In this article, therefore, we will see:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Let\u2019s start!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> Once installed, the wood oven can be used immediately.<\/strong><\/p>\n For example, Alfa ovens are immediately ready for use thanks to the Forninox\u2122 Technology<\/a><\/b><\/strong>, which combines the cooker hob with the stainless steel structure.<\/p>\n Basically, all you need to do is:<\/p>\n In just three steps the oven is immediately ready to be lit, but how do you light a wood fired oven for the first time?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lighting a wood fired oven should always take place gradually<\/strong>, by creating a light flame with little wood.<\/p>\n In this way, the temperature of the oven is able to gradually increase, you simply need to ensure that the thermometer on the side of the oven reaches 300\u00b0C.<\/p>\n In doing so, the structure of the oven and the refractory materials will be able to get used to the heat<\/strong> slowly, adapting and perfecting the respective positioning, subsequently guaranteeing high performance in terms of cooking.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In order to be able to make fragrant bread and pizza, or roasts and vegetables both rich in flavour and cooked to perfection, you first need to learn how to light the fire correctly.<\/strong><\/p>\n Before proceeding with the lighting, what you will obviously need is small wood or very dry twigs<\/strong> that will help you start the flame.<\/p>\n Remember never to use chemical fuels<\/strong> to speed up the time and facilitate the lighting of the fire, otherwise the food will be irremediably contaminated with these substances which are harmful to one\u2019s health.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Once you have the wood, you can place <\/strong>the wood holder<\/a> in the centre of the oven and start creating the so-called \u201ccastelletto (little castle)\u201d <\/strong>using dry twigs or straws, on top of which you can then place small pieces of wood.<\/p>\n You can see how to do it in this video<\/a><\/b><\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When ready, you can light the fire and leave the oven door ajar to facilitate combustion<\/strong>, thanks to the greater influx of air flowing into the cooking chamber.<\/p>\n When a nice flame is ready, you can add larger pieces of wood so as to get a lively fire.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Upon reaching the right temperature, use a pizza peel<\/a><\/b><\/strong>, to move the \u2018castelletto\u2019 to the side paying attention mainly to two things:<\/p>\n How to know if the wood fired oven is ready A few minutes after lighting, the oven reaches a temperature of 250\u00b0C, burning the dark soot found inside the cooking chamber.<\/p>\n This is the moment when you can start placing<\/strong> the dishes you prefer into the oven.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Obviously, the quality of the oven will make a difference<\/strong> regarding the time it takes to bring it up to temperature and on how much wood you need to use.<\/p>\n Thanks to the Forninox\u2122 Technology and the high quality of the materials used, Alfa ovens<\/a><\/b> require little fuel because the time required to reach high temperatures is minimal.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> If you\u2019re just starting out you will probably not be able to tell if the wood oven is ready just by looking at the cooking chamber.<\/p>\n However, there are two tools that can help you identify the temperature<\/strong>:<\/p>\n Usually, in fact, the oven surface is about a hundred degrees less than the temperature found in the vault. Knowing the exact temperature of the hob will prove to be particularly useful information if you want to cook plate pizza.<\/p>\n When the oven has reached the correct temperature for the dish you intend to make, you can start cooking.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> Probably,one of the reasons that prompted you to buy a wood fired oven is precisely because of the unmistakable aroma that the various types of wood are capable of conveying to dishes<\/strong>, especially dishes that require lengthy cooking.<\/p>\n Each type of wood has its own peculiarities and is capable of releasing different scents<\/strong>, for example: oak wood is perfect for giving a delicate aroma to fish, while maple wood is ideal for giving an extra edge to roasts.<\/p>\n Beech and oak wood are a good option<\/strong> since they are wood with good heat yield<\/a><\/b><\/strong>, they do not interfere with the taste of the dough, they burn slowly and they do not release the smell of resin during combustion.<\/p>\n Chestnut wood should be avoided when cooking pizzas<\/strong> as it tends to crackle during cooking, producing small pieces of charcoal that could end up on the dough.<\/p>\n The wood you use, regardless of the type, must always be dry<\/strong>, of good quality and free from soil residues. In fact, if it\u2019s not dry, it generates an intense white smoke and will not produce a flame.<\/p>\n Furthermore, the fire must be lit towards the bottom of the oven, making sure that there is the right amount of air inside the combustion chamber so that the flame can stay alive<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> In this article we have seen how to light the wood oven for the first time, however we would also like to provide some suggestions on how to obtain excellent results and always make well-cooked pizzas.<\/strong><\/p>\n Remember that a wood fired oven works in three different ways:<\/strong><\/p>\n A correct combination of these three elements will allow you to adapt the cooking parameters to the type of pizza you intend to make.<\/p>\n For example, in order to cook an excellent Neapolitan pizza you need a slightly lower temperature than the vault, otherwise you risk burning the base even before cooking the heart and the crust.<\/p>\n A pan pizza, on the other hand, requires a greater thrust from the bottom so as to heat the pan and make the base of the pizza crispy.<\/p>\n The procedure for lighting a wood fired oven for pizzas<\/a><\/b><\/strong> is essentially the one described in the previous paragraph.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Depending on the size of your model, simply turn on the oven 15 or 30 minutes before starting to cook the pizza<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The time needed to reach the ideal temperature to cook your pizzas is linked to the speed used by the refractory surface of the oven to heat up. If the surface is not hot enough, in fact, the pizza will cook in the upper part, since the top of the oven is quicker to heat up, yet it would remain raw at the base.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In general, the ideal temperature to cook pizzas is 500\u00b0C for the vault<\/strong>, which will take about 10 minutes to heat up, and 450\u00b0C for the surface<\/strong>, which will take about 30 minutes.<\/p>\n In any case, the use of a laser thermometer is always the best way to know the actual surface temperature of the oven.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.alfaforni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/alfa-forni-foto-fb231-imglv_2100578.jpg\")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/h2>\n
What to do when lighting your wood fired oven for the first time<\/h2>\n
\n
How to light a wood fired oven<\/h2>\n
\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.alfaforni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/5-minuti-alfa-forni-pizza-ovens.jpg\")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>How to tell if the oven is at the right temperature<\/h3>\n
\n
Vuoi scoprire qual \u00e8 il forno pi\u00f9 adatto alle tue esigenze?<\/h2>\n<\/div>
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.alfaforni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/anteprima-download-it.png\")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/h2>\n
What kind of wood should be used for the pizza oven?<\/h2>\n
What is the best type of wood for cooking pizzas?<\/h3>\n
How to light a smokeless wood oven<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.alfaforni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/alfa-forni-foto-gv201-imglv_2100430.jpg\")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/h2>\n
How to heat the wood fired pizza oven<\/h2>\n
\n
How long in advance should the wood fired oven be lit?<\/h3>\n