How to operate the oven
Hello everyone welcome back to this weeks blog! Is everyone excited for thanksgiving next week? I know I am. It seems like time is flying by super fast.. this semester is going to be over in the blink of an eye! Anyways, this week I will be teaching you guys step by step on how to operate the oven while pizzas are cooking. Earlier I talked about how to start the oven but now I am going to actually teach you guys how to operate/ maintain it!
Step 1: Once the oven is up to temp, and you have done the proper preparations to the oven (see this post if you haven’t)http://blogs.uww.edu/woodfiredpizza/2020/10/09/how-to-start-a-wood-fired-oven/ you are now ready to cook pizzas. Once a pizza arrives inside the oven, you’re going to want to wait about 30 seconds before you turn the pizza. You can tell the pizza is first ready to turn by watching the crust rise. You don’t want to try to turn the pizza right away otherwise you will create a hole!
Step 2: Turn the pizza by carefully taking the paddle angled up a little so that your not stabbing the pizza directly underneath, and gently slide the paddle underneath the pizza. Turn the pizza by moving it to the right or left in a circular motion. So other pizzas can fit in the oven at once, move it to the other side of the oven, or bring the pizza forward. Before moving the pizza to the front of the oven make sure the pizza is partially cooked. It might take you a couple turns before you can move the pizza to the front. In general you’re going to want to have a starting spot for all pizzas, then move the pizzas around that spot. This is so that you can fit more pizzas in, and so you can keep that spot hot!
Step 3: Always make sure to add wood consistently throughout the event so the oven doesn’t lose its warmth. I would say it depends on the temp of your oven, sometimes if the oven is too hot you won’t need to add wood for a long time. But if the oven is just right, you want to gradually add a couple pieces of wood every hour. You can tell when the oven needs wood by 1 the pizzas aren’t cooking fast enough (should take 90 seconds to cook the pizza), 2 the coals are turning white, and 3 the oven is losing flames. By using these indications you will be able to be pro at the oven!
I want you guys to understand that everything comes with practice, patience, & failing. Even pros fail sometimes. I have failed numerous times by accidentally stabbing a hole in the pizza. It is important to be gentle while operating the oven! If you turn a pizza too quick or too harshly, you will create a hole. This dough is very gentle and thin so your going to want to be careful!
I hope you guys enjoyed / benefited from my content this week, I look forward to talking to you guys next week! Talk to you soon pizza lovers.
6 Comments
Reynaldo Mayans
Lindsey,
Thank you for making me hungry again. Please let know went you come up with recipe for a nacho pizza. Does a pizza oven work better than the ovens in Pizza Hut? Thank onces again for the lessons. Great job take care and stay save. Happy Thanksgiving .
Sam Meier
Hello Lindsey,
When I worked at a pizza restaurant over the summer, I would see an occasional struggle trying to get the pizza out of the oven. The restaurant that I worked at did not use a wood oven. Judging from what you have wrote about managing a wood oven, it sounds like a lot more work than a regular oven.
Erin Lewis
As a writer, this is immensly good info to know. Don’t mind me while I write my next character as a pizza maker
Anna Lichtie
Wow, I know nothing about cooking a homemade pizza, especially in a big oven like the one you pictured. I liked learning about how to do this and it is neat to hear from someone who has experience in this area.
Lauren Foster
I can’t wait for Thanksgiving because I could really use a break from all of my classes. After reading about pizzas in ovens, I had no idea just how much you had to do while they’re in there, especially with wood ovens.
john
I needed to thank you for this extraordinary article
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