Making Better Pizza In Your Wood-Fired Pizza Oven
by Tiffany Gonzales
An outdoor, wood-fired pizza oven can transform the way you cook at home. It's so nice to go outside, cook a pizza while surrounded by nature, and then enjoy a delicious meal with your friends and family. However, it can take some practice to really get good at using your wood-fired pizza oven and to start turning out truly delicious pies. Here are some tips to help you make better pizza from the start.
Use hardwood in the oven.
Wood-fired pizza ovens are pretty versatile and can burn basically any wood you put into them. But your pizza is going to taste different depending on the type of wood you use. Make sure you burn a good, solid hardwood rather than a softwood, like pine. Hardwoods burn longer, so the temperature in the oven will be hotter and more consistent. Which hardwood is best really depends on your taste preferences. You may decide you like cherry, or perhaps hickory will become your favorite.
Preheat the oven well.
Wood-fired pizza ovens really need time to get thoroughly hot before you use them. Make sure you start the fire at least an hour before you put the first pizza in. In fact, if you can manage to let it burn for two hours, that's even better. The pizza stone and also the surrounding surfaces of the oven need to be really hot to cook the pizza evenly.
Rotate your pizza.
About halfway through cooking, use your pizza peel to gently turn the pizza around 180 degrees. This way, the back half of the pizza will cook at a similar rate to the front half of the pizza. If the crust seems like it wants to stick to the peel when you try doing this, close the oven and wait a few more seconds for it to cook a little more first.
Finish the pizza on the peel.
When your pizza is done, position it on the peel. Then, hold it against the top of the oven for a few seconds. This gets the cheese closer to the heat source and will allow it to get a little more bubbly and brown on top, making for an incredible pizza.
With the tips above, you can turn out even better pizzas than you're used to creating. After a few practice rounds, you will have a better idea of what works for you.
Visit a home improvement store to learn more about outdoor wood-fired, stainless-steel pizza ovens.
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About Me
I have always been someone who absolutely adores being outside, which is probably one of the reasons I decided to buy a home with a large lot. However, as soon as I moved in, I realized that yard work was a lot more challenging than I had anticipated, which is why I called in a team of professional landscapers. They were amazing to work with and got right to it, and within a few days, the yard was looking amazing. I wanted to create a blog all about creating beautiful outdoors spaces so that other people can help to beautify the world.