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I've learnt a thing or two this weekend. We made pizzas Saturday night and Sunday lunch. Saturday night was a struggle. The pizza bases burnt more quickly than usual, as if the floor was too hot.
Also, for whatever reason, the dough was wetter than normal, even though I used the usual recipe, which made sliding the peel under the uncooked pizzas more difficult and the bases did not crisp off nicely before starting to burn. Not my best pizza night at all, although the guests thought it was all wonderful, but I know it was not my best effort!
On Sunday morning, I opened the oven door. The oven was at 340C on Sunday morning, so still nice and warm. I scraped out the ash and built a new fire. Interestingly, the oven held it's heat even better than I though it would, as it was a cold night, and the dome cleared earlier than I thought it would. So, after the dome cleared I set about moving the coals to the one side of the oven and swept the floor and left it, adding a bit of wood to keep a flame going, until we were ready for lunch.
In the mean time, I took last night's left over dough which was still wetter than normal and worked through a bit more '00' flour and left the dough balls on the bench to come to room temperature.
By the time we were ready for lunch, the dough balls had relaxed nicely and was a much nicer consistency and, due to the longer waiting time, the oven floor temperature was perfect. It seems I need to prep my floor earlier before starting cooking and not immediately before cooking. Lunch was much less stressful than the night before! Goes to show, even after many pizza parties, there's still lots to learn.
I'm almost tempted to make a small fire every night to keep the oven from getting cold! It all seems to work so much better.
Also, for whatever reason, the dough was wetter than normal, even though I used the usual recipe, which made sliding the peel under the uncooked pizzas more difficult and the bases did not crisp off nicely before starting to burn. Not my best pizza night at all, although the guests thought it was all wonderful, but I know it was not my best effort!
On Sunday morning, I opened the oven door. The oven was at 340C on Sunday morning, so still nice and warm. I scraped out the ash and built a new fire. Interestingly, the oven held it's heat even better than I though it would, as it was a cold night, and the dome cleared earlier than I thought it would. So, after the dome cleared I set about moving the coals to the one side of the oven and swept the floor and left it, adding a bit of wood to keep a flame going, until we were ready for lunch.
In the mean time, I took last night's left over dough which was still wetter than normal and worked through a bit more '00' flour and left the dough balls on the bench to come to room temperature.
By the time we were ready for lunch, the dough balls had relaxed nicely and was a much nicer consistency and, due to the longer waiting time, the oven floor temperature was perfect. It seems I need to prep my floor earlier before starting cooking and not immediately before cooking. Lunch was much less stressful than the night before! Goes to show, even after many pizza parties, there's still lots to learn.
I'm almost tempted to make a small fire every night to keep the oven from getting cold! It all seems to work so much better.
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