what makes wood-fired cooking so great?

[wayno1]

Okay- I am going to ask a very simple question.... What is it about wood-fired cooking that makes the food cooked in it so great? Why risk burning down the neighborhood?

Is it the smoke from the fire?

Is it the high temperature?

I have heard the argument of charcoal vs. propane for grilling. Is it a similar argument?

[dmun]

Re: what makes wood-fired cooking so great?

It's all about heat. Professional cooks have at their disposal raging amounts of heat which just don't exist in the home kitchen. Have you ever tried to broil a steak under a standard gas stove broiler? I call it the beiger. It so happens that a few sticks of wood amplified by a brick dome can create an amazing concentration of energy. There might be a subtle smoky effect, but at pizza or steak temperatures a stick of wood will burst into flame with very little smoke.

[heliman]

Re: what makes wood-fired cooking so great?

Further to dmun's succinct response, it may be worthwhile downloading one ore more of the excellent free FB eBooks (available on this site) as they provide details of the whole cooking process, including the theory of the superior cooking abilities of wood fired ovens. A really good read for sure...

[davidmiclon]

Re: what makes wood-fired cooking so great?

There is no big secret to this, at least not a world's best-kept secret. A wood-fired pizza oven heats up and cooks our meals a lot better because of the heat stored in the dense walls. This heat radiates across the dome very evenly while the floor of the oven is slightly cooler than the top under which we place our meals. When the oven gets really white hot inside, for certain type of pizza the baking temperature can be far above 300?C - 572?F or 350?C - 662?F and maintained by keeping a continuous small fire going.

[trockyh]

Re: what makes wood-fired cooking so great?

All I know is we cooked our first ribeye in the oven a couple weeks ago. Best tasting steak we've ever had. They we did hamburgers with just some cheese on top nothing else. They were wonderful! I might be selling my gas grill.

Tom

[wayno1]

Re: what makes wood-fired cooking so great?

Thanks for the responses! I am going to cure my new oven next week. After the snow blows out of here!

[Spunkoid]

Re: what makes wood-fired cooking so great?

In addition to the high temps that the WF oven can achieve, I think there are 3 other factors that influence the cooking flavors.
1. Very even heat once the oven is up to temperature, or when you let it cool to a temperature specific for whatever you are cooking...
2. The inside of the oven holds more moisture due to the insulation and even heat. the roast and turkeys that I have cooked are noticably juicier. I think in part that with a conventional electric or gas oven, there is not as much insulation and the oven is constantly turning itself on and off to maintain the temperature. This increase in heat dries out the meat more. When I open the door on my oven while cooking a roast, etc. I feel the increased humidity inside the hot oven.
3. The wood smoke adds to the flavor.

[FIREANDFLAMES]

Re: what makes wood-fired cooking so great?

To me its the feeling of a simpler time when good food took time and effort to make (made with love). The flames also touch my primative side.
Its a great way to get the family involved when its so easy to go off and each of us do our own thing. Plus it tastes yummy!

[heliman]

Re: what makes wood-fired cooking so great?

Seems like the list is endless!!!