Help: questions on first fire

[jr07]

Hello everyone. I have now made pizza twice in my new Napolino 70 after curing it and have a some questions.

1. I read somewhere that the dome needs to be white for making pizza. Is this so? Mine is still black in parts and turns half white when I fire it but is not all white
2. For the purpose of firing up and cooking, do I have to start the fire in the middle and then wait until they are coals to move the fire to one side? Or can I start the fire directly on the side of the oven?
3. I created a fire as big as I thought it should / could be and could only get the dome up to 700 deg. I understand that it should go up to 900 deg but I dont want to add too many logs at once for fear of creating too big a fire? Is this the case? Or can the Napolino 70 handle as bif a fire as I can create and thus help getting up there
4. Las night as I was sliding a pizze inside the oven, the dough stuck to the pizza tool and all the toppings went flying into the oven first, making the difficult to pick up and recover. Here I have two questions, a. if food is left behind is it a hazerd to the oven? cheese, sauce, etc. and b. can anyone share any tips on how to avoid this happening?

Thanks!

J

[SableSprings]

Welcome J !

1. Although you note making pizza twice and that you'd cured the oven first, the fact that the dome is not clearing completely (not getting hot enough to burn off all the carbon) is an indication that your insulation has gotten wet. Remember that the ceramic batting used as insulation for these ovens will soak up water pretty quickly. Obviously you can still cook in the oven, but as it dries out it should completely clear. Is your oven under cover or do you leave it outside in the rain? Water is really good at penetrating almost anything...and several of the users on the forum live in tropical climes (like you) and have learned that high humidity over time will also be absorbed by the oven if it's not being used on a regular basis. You simply have to do a couple lower temp firings and as the insulation dries out again, you're right back in business.

2. Most of us start our fires generally in the center and then as the oven heats up and starts to clear, the fire/coals can be moved to the side(s) or areas that are not clearing. Doing lots of pizzas will cool down the cooking floor, so moving the fire/coals between every 4-5 pizzas helps keep the base temps up.

3. Until your dome is clearing completely, I wouldn't want you to try to make a "massive" fire just to achieve an arbitrary temperature reading. Again, I think your inner insulation has picked up some water and it's keeping your temps lower than expected in those areas (that are still black).

4. Feeding the pizza God happens to everyone. The heat of the fire will burn off the food "sacrifice" ...don't worry, there won't be any health hazards here. (Your oven temps are killing any "critters" and your pre-firing for the next pizza party will return everything to a sterilized startup.) Use your metal peel to scrape/push the "remains" off into the fire and/or move the fire/coals over the area of the spill to clear & reheat the area. Use either a light dusting of cornmeal or rice flour on your peel to keep the pizza from sticking. Try not to leave a pizza skin on the peel while loading on the toppings (and remember -- less is more) because the longer the skin sits on the peel the more likely it is to stick. Be careful not to get extra sauce too close to the edges of the pizza skin...if sauce drips off the edge and onto the peel it's almost a guaranteed sticking point when you try to slip the pizza off the peel. Always give your pizza a little shake on the peel to confirm it is not stuck before you transfer to the oven floor.

Be patient...lots to learn about your oven and how to best use it...relax and enjoy!