Does an WBO have to be fully charged?

[TLK]

I want to start cooking things other than pizza but wondering if the oven has to be fully charged (to point where the soot has burned off the top and rocking 900+ degrees). Can I throw a couple of logs in and bring the oven up to [say] 450 and roast a chicken in a Dutch oven? The recipes for non-pizza items don't really say

[david s]

Yes, I do this regularly if roasting or baking. I fire for one hour from striking a match, by which time the soot has begun to burn off the top of the dome, but the sides are still black. The temperature drop off is faster when the oven is not fully saturated, but you don't have to wait ages for the temperature to fall to the required cooking range. My oven walls are only 2" thick, it may be different for a brick oven with 4" walls, but this technique certainly saves both time and fuel.

[RandyJ]

I haven't tried doing this yet but I think David is correct on this. I don't know how fast your oven drops in temp, but if I fully saturated my oven and put the door on it is 2 to 3 days before the temp is right for roasting something. So I might need to try this method some time and see how it works.

Randy

[cobblerdave]

G'day
Yes I do the same as Dave an hour burn then expect a temp drop off.
You can also cook "fire in the oven" as well. A wall of loose stack bricks is enough to prevent the direct heat from the fire from burning the sides of what your cooking. Sometimes the radiant heat from the ceiling is too much as well and say a roast needs a bit of Aluminium foil to protect it. Cooking this way the door is off so it's easy to keep an eye on things.
Steaks can also be cooked directly on the hot bricks as well as soon as the coals are brushed aside.
Search Tuscan grill Forno bravo sell them for there ovens and they work well.
Regards dave