big party...keep it hot

[proprio italiano]

Re: big party...keep it hot

I'm new to the Forum and I wanted to get anyone's thoughts on the concept of moving the fire from one side to the other side of the oven during a long pizza cooking period. I read the Mugnaini instructions about banking the fire from one side to the other before starting to cook pizzas and it occurred to me that this might be a good thing to do as the floor on one side cools. has anyone tried this. any thoughts? thanks. Joe

[proprio italiano]

Re: big party...keep it hot

i grew up in an Italian restaurant and put myself through school making pizzas for my father in a baker's pride gas fired oven. We often had need to put out a large number of pizzas in a very short time. we found that par cooking the pizzas almost until done was a good way to be ready for the onslaught. we would take the pizzas out of the oven onto a standard aluminum pizza tray that was lined with parchment paper. when we needed to reheat, we would slide the pizza on the parchment paper back into the oven until properly browned and cooked. i have done this recently with my Mugnaini Medio oven and it seems to work fine for large parties where you need many pizzas in a short time. the parchment paper prevents the bottom of the pizza from burning as it sits in waiting, gathering moisture. I'm interested to know, if you do try this method, how you fare and if you have any suggestions. Joe

[berryst]

Re: big party...keep it hot

Big parties can be a lot of fun. Our friend are pretty well trained on making pizza now but for a big party It might help to have pizza boss to manage the tipping and keeps holes to a minimum .
Berryst

[dmun]

Re: big party...keep it hot

I wanted to get anyone's thoughts on the concept of moving the fire from one side to the other side of the oven during a long pizza cooking period. I read the Mugnaini instructions about banking the fire from one side to the other before starting to cook pizzas and it occurred to me that this might be a good thing to do as the floor on one side cools.

You shouldn't need to do this. Ovens with too much mass, or a lack of insulation may need you to play games with the fire, but if your oven is well insulated and pre-heated, you should need only to keep an active, flaming, fire on one side to recharge the heat of the floor. If your floor is too massive to get hot in the first place, then no amount of re-arranging the fire will get the results you want.