Wood fired Pizza

[jhuyser]

Okay slightly off topic but bought wife a Members Mark wood fired pizza oven last year for christmas.. First 3 runs on it went off spot on, now the last 2-3 runs pizza is a little doughie.. Anyone have have any suggestions? Last go around i let the fire die down a hair, as the previous cook it was getting outside crust done but not the center dough in middle of pizza.. I can not figure out how i did it so right the first several times and now it is doughie..

 

[jhuyser]

im thinking i need to close the damper a little bit from time to time to get the floor hotter

 

[Shiz-Nit]

Do you start your fire in the middle and when hot rack the coal bead over to the side and then brush the ash off?
Or do you start the fire on the side and just leave it?

The bed where the pizza will be cooking should be HOT.

 

[Moose]

It sounds to me that it's likely your oven was not as hot as it was the first few cooks when everything turned out fine.

Do you have an infrared handheld thermometer so you can get a temp reading on the bottom/floor of your oven? If not, I can't recommend one highly enough. It will tell you if you're in the ballpark or not when it comes to your pizza oven's temperature.

I cook my pizzas with a stone temp of 625-675 degrees. That seems to be the sweet spot for the dough I use.


Hope this helps!

 

[jhuyser]

Do you start your fire in the middle and when hot rack the coal bead over to the side and then brush the ash off?
Or do you start the fire on the side and just leave it?

The bed where the pizza will be cooking should be HOT.

I start it in the middle of the oven then move over to the back corner once I have a really good fire going

 

[jhuyser]

It sounds to me that it's likely your oven was not as hot as it was the first few cooks when everything turned out fine.

Do you have an infrared handheld thermometer so you can get a temp reading on the bottom/floor of your oven? If not, I can't recommend one highly enough. It will tell you if you're in the ballpark or not when it comes to your pizza oven's temperature.

I cook my pizzas with a stone temp of 625-675 degrees. That seems to be the sweet spot for the dough I use.


Hope this helps!

Just bought one to try and figure out my stone temp

 

[Moose]

Just bought one to try and figure out my stone temp

You won't regret it!

I had a conversation with my niece who has really gotten into breadmaking this last year, who complained about a similar problem cooking pizzas in her convection oven. I asked how long she preheated the stone before cooking, and it turns out she was putting the pizza on after only about 15 minutes!

I suggested a one hour preheat and an infrared thermo, and her pizzas have been turning out perfect ever since.