Oven struggles - bottom of crust terrible

[david s]

Re: Oven struggles - bottom of crust terrible

Big fire + 2 hours = thermal success. After reading, sounds like you are not saturating the oven with heat, especially since the dome in not clearing. Do not be afraid of the fire going up the chimney - that is good. The oven can take it.

Sorry Chris, but I can't agree. Fire going up the chimney is wasted fuel and means that your oven chamber is overloaded. The flame should only ever be just licking out the oven door. Apart from risking damage to the flue pipe attachment, the stainless steel will discolour (minor problem), it will create more smoke (bad emissions), temp rise will be actually less because the atmosphere in the chamber will be reducing rather than oxidising (the equivalent of running an engine on an over rich fuel mixture). Finally you risk damaging the refractory because it is the 500-600 C range where there are significant delicate chemical and physical changes that take place in the refractory and temperature fluctuations exacerbate the problems creating many small cracks and maybe some bigger ones. Wood firings are notoriously difficult to control in terms of fuel regulation, don't try to see how hot you can get it unless you don't mind damaged refractory.This applies more to unsintered castable refractory than fire bricks, but also applies to mortar, which is not pre-sintered.

[C5dad]

Re: Oven struggles - bottom of crust terrible

Big fire + 2 hours = thermal success. After reading, sounds like you are not saturating the oven with heat, especially since the dome in not clearing. Do not be afraid of the fire going up the chimney - that is good. The oven can take it.

[lwood]

Re: Oven struggles - bottom of crust terrible

You will know when you clear the dome. Just build a big fire and keep it going hot until all the black is gone. It doesn't happen all at once, a black line will move across the dome. Then test with a therm. or semolina. The black burns off at around 650 -700F. I think the semolina goes around 850F in 2 or 3 sec.

[pizzafun]

Re: Oven struggles - bottom of crust terrible

thanks for the tip!

[1willisrobbins]

Re: Oven struggles - bottom of crust terrible

hi pizzafun
hope it works better for you.
Jusnt an FYI try to find semolina flour, not corn meal, they both look really similar, yellow and coarse, but because corn has a high sugar content ( ie corn syrup) it will caramalize then burn (fire) with a very bitter taste. I had to go to cooking school to learn that. its not obvious. The grainy stuff under pizzas at a pizzaria is almost always semolina flour. when semolina hits the stone it should carbonize but not flame up leaving a more neutral carbon taste...unfortunatley corn or semolina don't have anything to do with why your crust isn't browning quickly or evenly...but when you do get the crust perfect go with semolina ;-)

[pizzafun]

Re: Oven struggles - bottom of crust terrible

thanks.
I will test again & advise.
I do know last time I did pizza the corn meal from the peel did catch fire. But the crust on the bottom did not cook very well.

[pizzafun]

Re: Oven struggles - bottom of crust terrible

Just found out from Forno Bravo that Yes I do have floor insulation in my oven(ceramic).
& Yes it is dry.

[david s]

Re: Oven struggles - bottom of crust terrible

Your oven is still black. All the black should be burnt away to cook pizzas at the required temp. 5mins is too long. Try throwing 1/2 tsp of semolina onto the middle of the floor. It should turn black in 3 secs. 4secs = floor not hot enough, 2 secs= floor too hot. Maybe your oven is still too new, contains moisture and still needs longer gentle fires to finish eliminating water.

[pizzafun]

Re: Oven struggles - bottom of crust terrible

Hi everyone...
Thanks for your suggestions.
I have a infrared thermometer.
I don't know anything about insulation. I will have to ask Forno Bravo.
The tops of pizzas cook in 5 minutes.
I will build hotter & bigger fires & place the fire where I will cook the pizza.
I will move the fire & pizza from side to side.

[Laku]

Re: Oven struggles - bottom of crust terrible

From the picture it seems your oven isn't hot enough, it hasn't burned clear.

[deejayoh]

Re: Oven struggles - bottom of crust terrible

The Harbor Freight IR thermometer works just fine up to 1000F and it's often on sale for as little as $24.95. plus 20% off if you play your cards right.

[1willisrobbins]

Re: Oven struggles - bottom of crust terrible

hi,
I broke down and bought a laser infrared thermometer...FB sells them as do other companies but all are about $100...It is truly invaluable since guaging the temperature at the extreme temps required in WFO cooking by sight or feel is basically just guessing...the IR thermometers tell you within 2 degrees how hot any surface is...your floor should be 750 - 800 degrees when you put your first pie in...Attached picture is a pizza after 15 seconds in my Primavera70...You should see the crust start to 'spring' almost instantly...check out the pizza cooking video on FB's web page...it shows how hot and fast a pizza cooks...also the "top down" fire video is very helpful.
Good Luck

Re: Oven struggles - bottom of crust terrible

You are not building large enough fires, so the cooking floor is not hot enough. The dome and the floor should both reach 800F+ during firing and then they can cool down for baking.
Hope this helps =)

[Capt]

Re: Oven struggles - bottom of crust terrible

I will echo what the others have said, it is great advice. I build my fire on the flood where I plan on cooking, then move the coals to the back left and place the pies where the fire was.

[Les]

Re: Oven struggles - bottom of crust terrible

HELP!
I have practiced 3 days now. The top of the pizza is cooking fine. The bottom of the pizza is not cooking enough.
Suggestions???
I have an Andiamo 70.
thank you!

We need to know the temp of your floor. That number is HUGE on whats happening while cooking.