Wood for pizza oven?

[savoirflair]

Does anyone in Dept 34 know where we could buy small pieces of (preferably) oak to use in a wood fired pizza oven?

Thanks,

Amanda

[Dog]

Cannot help - but we preheat the oven with cheaper wood and use oak for cooking and bread making.

Did you build the oven yourself?

[savoirflair]

Dog, we purchased a pizza oven in the UK, brought it over in a trailer and have now made a little house for it!  We understood that you could use charcoal in lieu of wood, but on speaking again to the people we got it from, they say that charcoal won't get it hot enough.  We have got lots of pine wood for the indoor wood burner but again have been told we shouldn't use that in the pizza oven.

We contacted a supplier of wood for stoves in our village, as he advertises that he sells oak, but he couldn't help us with small bits.

It's a bit frustrating as now we have finished building it in, we are dying to get to use it!

Amanda

[Théière]

By some bigger bits and chop them up? small axe is only a few euros from a brico and a bow saw the same.

Pine gives a slightly acrid taste

[Dog]

It's not too difficult to split the oak into smaller bits and you don't use much.

Oak gives a lovely flavour and does burn hotter.

Absolute rubbish that you cannot use any wood or charcoal - just start the fire a couple of hours early  - it depends on the size of the oven.

The fire shouldn't be too big - my son left his elder brother who was visiting to get the oven going and when he returned he filled the entire oven and had a great blaze going!

We use about a 500mm 250mm dia log chopped up into bits to get it going add more as necessary.

The oven is up to temperature when the soot on the back wall of the oven goes white.

It doesn't matter too much even if the oven wasn't hot enough - as all that will happen is that it will cook slower.

We are having lasagne cooked in the oven tonight.

Get using it and used to it. Enjoy........

[Quillan]

You shouldn't, unless its very old, use pine in your indoors fire either as it releases some horrible stuff (tar) than can cause your chimney to catch fire (among other things). If you want to burn it then you need to store it in a dry place for 3 years or more then when you burn it the temperature is higher and the tar 'gasses' off and does not stick to the chimney. This is probably why it's not recommended for pizza ovens as your food may come out covered in a microscopic level of tar at worse or just smelling of tar at best.

[savoirflair]

[quote user="Quillan"]You shouldn't, unless its very old, use pine in your indoors fire either as it releases some horrible stuff (tar) than can cause your chimney to catch fire (among other things). If you want to burn it then you need to store it in a dry place for 3 years or more then when you burn it the temperature is higher and the tar 'gasses' off and does not stick to the chimney. This is probably why it's not recommended for pizza ovens as your food may come out covered in a microscopic level of tar at worse or just smelling of tar at best.[/quote]

Thanks Quillan, we 'inherited' the pine and it is definitely at least 3 years old.  I have noticed that it 'tars' up the glass door of the stove incredibly quickly - hope it's not doing that too much to the chimney!  We certainly won't be ordering any more pine but we have such a lot still that we can't just not use it - unfortunately.

Amanda

[savoirflair]

Doh! - never thought of splitting larger pieces of oak up........but on your advice we will get started with the charcoal I think as we've already bought a big bag of it. 

Dog  - one more thing I must ask you (as you sound very experienced with these kind of ovens?) the suppliers said we should build 3-4 smallish fires to start with, and not use it for cooking - to dry it out.  Would you still do that? The oven was kept in our garage all the time before we got round to installing it.

Amanda

[Quillan]

[quote user="savoirflair"][quote user="Quillan"]You shouldn't, unless its very old, use pine in your indoors fire either as it releases some horrible stuff (tar) than can cause your chimney to catch fire (among other things). If you want to burn it then you need to store it in a dry place for 3 years or more then when you burn it the temperature is higher and the tar 'gasses' off and does not stick to the chimney. This is probably why it's not recommended for pizza ovens as your food may come out covered in a microscopic level of tar at worse or just smelling of tar at best.[/quote]

Thanks Quillan, we 'inherited' the pine and it is definitely at least 3 years old.  I have noticed that it 'tars' up the glass door of the stove incredibly quickly - hope it's not doing that too much to the chimney!  We certainly won't be ordering any more pine but we have such a lot still that we can't just not use it - unfortunately.

Amanda
[/quote]

Personally I would buy some more wood (not pine) and mix it sort of half and half. Buy oak and you kill two birds with one stone. [:D]

[pachapapa]

Finland is rich in forest. Forests cover 60% of the area in Finland. Volume of wood in
forests is over 2000 million m3. Pine and spruce are the most common trees in
the forest.

Idem Russia,Estonia,Lithuania,Latvia,etc.

Of course these peoples never burn pine; they just smack each others bums with birch twigs all winter to keep themselves warm.[:)]

[Quillan]

[quote user="pachapapa"]

Finland is rich in forest. Forests cover 60% of the area in Finland. Volume of wood in
forests is over 2000 million m3. Pine and spruce are the most common trees in
the forest.

Idem Russia,Estonia,Lithuania,Latvia,etc.

Of course these peoples never burn pine; they just smack each others bums with birch twigs all winter to keep themselves warm.[:)]

[/quote]

Oh how nice it must be to be so superior to everyone else, its just a shame you forget to read what people have said. Where has anyone said not to burn pine under any circumstances? Of course you can burn pine but you have to know how to use it. I am sure these countries you mention don't just cut down living pine and throw it on a fire in their house (actually having lived in Norway for a few years I know for a fact they don't). They have been burning it for ages, just like you said, but they know how to prep it first which means storing it for a few (like 3 or more) years before you burn it. So, as you probably know, pine takes a long time for the water to evaporate. The less moist wood is, the hotter and cleaner it burns, the hotter it burns the more chance other chemicals such as tar, in the case of pine, have of turning in to gas and being burnt off. The lower the temperature the tar stays in the same form and coats the chimney, glass doors in the case of insert type fires, etc. In a gas form its quite inflammable which is why when people burn a hotter wood after using pine they can have fires in their chimney. But then rather than think it out properly your just happy to pass yet another sarcastic comment. Am I p*ssed off with you for your stupid comment so bog off and post them elsewhere or just don't post at all unless you have something to contribute. And its a good night from me [:P]

[pachapapa]

In finland the first choice for firewood would be birch. My own first preference would  be quebracho colorado.

A moisture content of 15-20% is optimal; hardwoods like oak dry slower than softwoods like pine.

[Salty Sam]

[quote] Am I p*ssed off with you for your stupid comment so bog off and post them elsewhere or just don't post at all unless you have something to contribute. And its a good night from me [:P][/quote]

Well said, and it's a good night from me too.[:D]

[Théière]

Oh boy I am glad I went to bed early [blink]

Some of the mentioned pine forested countries do smoke their meat over pine but it does have a bitter after taste IMO so they can keep it, I prefered Oak, Maple or Hickory.

[Chancer]

In all the time I have been on this forum I have always admired your reserve and unemotional postings Quillan, that one was very unlike you.

Is there some previous between you two?

[Dog]

[quote user="savoirflair"]Doh! - never thought of splitting larger pieces of oak up........but on your advice we will get started with the charcoal I think as we've already bought a big bag of it. 

Dog  - one more thing I must ask you (as you sound very experienced with these kind of ovens?) the suppliers said we should build 3-4 smallish fires to start with, and not use it for cooking - to dry it out.  Would you still do that? The oven was kept in our garage all the time before we got round to installing it.

Amanda
[/quote]

I didn't mention this as I presumed your oven must be ready made and concrete.

Ours is handmade from simple red tiles (I can never remember the name of them) refractory cement, clay and straw on a stone base filled with sand.

When first built they are obviously quite wet and you need to have a few small fires over a week to dry the oven out slowly. Even then cracks appear in the clay which are just filled in.

It cost about 100 euros to make but I reckon we were robbed on the price of the refractory cement as it was very expensive.

 

[Dog]

Problems with tar from a pizza oven are unlikely as the small amount of exhaust gasses pass over the roof of the oven and so go nowhere near the food.

The pizza cooks from residual/stored  heat built up on the floor of the oven plus radiant heat from the fire.

The only time the pizza would go into the flue gasses is if you lift it up in the oven on the paddle purposefully to put the pizza into the hot gasses escaping to brown the top of the pizza.

It's nothing like a wood burner where large quantities of wood are burned.

From warming the oven to cooking takes maximum of 3 split logs.

PS Did you get long and short paddles plus a copper brush on a pole to clean the floor of the oven?

PPS Can give you are recipe for pizza dough if you would like it. We like thin crispy bases.

PPS For a rich pizza use tomato on the base add cheese and toppings then retomato for a seriously rich pizza. Though my favourite is an onion & garlic pizza.

[Quillan]

[quote user="Chancer"]

In all the time I have been on this forum I have always admired your reserve and unemotional postings Quillan, that one was very unlike you.

Is there some previous between you two?

[/quote]

No, but it just annoyed me. Somebody is asking for help and then we get a stupid post which has no relevance what so ever. Anyway its another day so we can all move on, hopefully. [:D]

[Théière]

[quote user="Dog"]

PPS Can give you are recipe for pizza dough if you would like it. We like thin crispy bases.

[/quote]

Yes please Dog, getting hungry just thinking about it, must be lunch time [:)]

[savoirflair]

[quote user="Dog"]

PS Did you get long and short paddles plus a copper brush on a pole to clean the floor of the oven?

PPS Can give you are recipe for pizza dough if you would like it. We like thin crispy bases.

PPS For a rich pizza use tomato on the base add cheese and toppings then retomato for a seriously rich pizza. Though my favourite is an onion & garlic pizza.

[/quote]

1.  We were supplied with one 'pile' which I presume is what they call a paddle - but I would say it is quite short.  No copper brush on a pole.  Are these essential do you think?

2.  Would love a recipe for pizza dough!  Moi aussi re. very thin crispy bases.  Yummm!

I'm so pleased to have found you on the forum Dog - I can see me asking for your advice again (hope you won't mind)

Cheers,

Amanda

[Gluestick]

Amanda:

Don't as yet have my bread oven as it is a forward project.

There is copious data on the net concerning wood-fired bread ovens, sourdough and artisan bakers. My thing is bread: I also make pizzas from the ground up.

I always use Italian Grade 00 organic flour for pizzas: as do Italians!

One factor over wood which confuses is it depends whether the oven is a "White" or a "Black" oven. Black Ovens burn the fuel in the baking chamber itself: and cook from residual heat. White ovens keep the combustion separate from the cooking area. Rather like old bread ovens in old Farmhouses.

The long wooden thing is called "A Peel".

Now this, is a wood-fired Oven![:)]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVEKVc9K8LA

Same oven being loaded: baker using a long Peel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoqgCl0bUnc&feature=related

A few resources.

http://sourdough.com/links

http://www.heatkit.com/html/bakeoven.htm

http://www.sonoma.com.au/

And Wood:

Beechwood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year.
Chestnut's only good, they say,
If for long 'tis laid away.
But Ash new or Ash old
Is fit for a queen with crown of gold.
Birch and fir logs burn too fast
Blaze up bright and do not last.
It is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
Elm wood burns like churchyard mould,
E ' en the very flames are cold.
But Ash green or Ash brown
Is fit for a queen with golden crown.
Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke.
Apple wood will scent your room
With an incense like perfume.
Oaken logs, if dry and old.
Keep away the winter's cold.
But Ash wet or Ash dry
A king shall warm his slippers by.


Oaken logs, if dry and old,
Keep away the winter's cold
Poplar gives a bitter smoke
, Fills your eyes, and makes you choke
Elm wood burns like churchyard mould
, E'en the very flames are cold
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread -
Or so it is in Ireland said,
Applewood will scent the room,
Pearwood smells like flowers in bloom,
But Ashwood wet and Ashwood dry,
A King can warm his slippers by.


Beechwood logs burn bright and clear,
If the wood is kept a year
Store your Beech for Christmas-tide,
With new-cut holly laid aside
Chestnut's only good, they say
If for years it's stored away
Birch and Fir wood burn too fast,
Blaze too bright, and do not last
Flames from larch will shoot up high,
And dangerously the sparks will fly...
But Ashwood green,
And Ashwood brown
Are fit for Queen with golden crown.

[Mpprh]

Just a reply to the original question ...

Where in Herault are you ?

One of the guys who does the nightly Pizza van run around the villages is a friend. He buys his wood in Castries from someone who used to be our neighbour.

Problem is that the neighbour has sold up and moved.

If you want to email me at contact@the-languedoc-page.com I'll find out the source.

Peter

[Mpprh]

An update :

Contact details :

http://www.woodyflam.com

Du lundi au vendredi :

de 9h à 12h

et de 14h à 18h

Le samedi :

de 9h à 12h

WOODY FLAM

386, Rue Bandido

ZA Les Cousteliers

34160 CASTRIES

Tèl : 04 67 700 666

Fax : 04 67 873 885

contact@woodyflam.com

Peter

[savoirflair]

[quote user="Dog"]

PPS Can give you are recipe for pizza dough if you would like it. We like thin crispy bases.

[/quote]

Still waiting for your recipe!

[Dog]

Sorry been busy - must be the recession we have loads of family and friends visiting 14 here at the moment and more arriving...

We are having pizza tonight and the recipe is....

This is for 5 people adjust for more or less. If you have to much it will freeze but better fresh.

750gms plain Flour

Threequarters of a pint of water

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 tablespoon of yeast

1 teaspoon salt

1 table spoon sugar

We make the dough in the breadmaker and leave for a couple of hours somewhere warm to let it rise.

I have just made my favourite topping -

Sliced large onions x 4

One small piece of star anise

Throw in sauce pan with olive oil and leave until slightly brown

Push onions to side turn up the heat and add a good slug of cider vinegar or onion vinegar and burn it off moving the onions about.

Add garlic, chillies and black pepper to taste - loads for me please...

I like this good and thick on a pizza with or without tomato and blue cheese.

Be prepared to relive Petomaines greatest moments as things can get lively at 5am.