Curing with lump charcoal?

[Dave T]

I have a new FB oven and am under time pressure to finish the cueing process in time to have the oven ready for a pizza cook for my son's birthday party. The firewood I have is all soaking wet, and I'm having a hard time getting it to burn in the oven. I have a ton of lump charcoal that I use for bbq in my Komodo smoker. Is there anything wrong with using the lump to cure? I remember reading somewhere that you shouldn't use charcoal in the FB oven, but I can't imagine why not. After all, lump is basically burned wood, basically the same thing that the firewood burns down to before becoming ash. So is it ok to cure with lump? And actually - why not just use lump instead of wood when cooking pizza?

[Gulf]

That subject has recently came up in a discussion. ( Has anyone used charcoal in their WFO?) And, in that topic Forno Bravo replied with their opinion, here. So, it is OK to use it, but you will also need some dry wood to later get the dome to clear and reach the pizza cooking temps that your oven is capable of.

[Dave T]

Thanks. I saw that. But what does clearing the dome mean? Clear it of what? If seems like in that thread they are confusing coal and charcoal. Two different things! And would lump not get the WFO just as hot as wood? I've gotten my Primo smoker over 1000 degrees F with lump.

[Gulf]

"Clearing" the dome is called "Carbon Burn-off" in Forno Bravo's Pizza Oven Glossary.

Carbon Burn-Off

When the inside of the dome of a pizza oven reaches about 650F, the black soot, or carbon, begins to burn off, giving the impression that the oven dome is turning white, or clear, You can see the detail of the dome interior, and know that you oven is nearly ready for cooking pizza and that it has reach a stage where it will continue to hold heat for other types of retained heat cooking. With Forno Bravo and Pompeii ovens, this takes an hour of less, depending on the oven model.

There are a lot of uses for lump charcoal in a WFO. But, It is going to get very expensive and take a very long time for the firing, if you depend on lump charcoal alone.

[Dave T]

Ok, thanks.