Any advice on getting more bottom heat

[lenneest]

I have a larger 48" oven. Granted, I have been cooking in cold weather, but not happy with the bottom of the pizza. I want more bottom heat. I can cook a pizza in three minutes, or less, but it is too much top heat. You can feel the crisp crust crack when you push a pizza cutter through it when it is done right. Oddly enough, I found more success in a commercial deck oven than in the oven I just built in attaining that. I suppose you have to move the coals after every couple of pizza's, which I find is a pain. Has anyone had better success with this..

[dmun]

Re: Any advice on getting more bottom heat

Question one: Insulation. How much of what kind of insulation is below your floor? How thick is your floor and what material?

Question two: Dryness. You say your oven is new, it can take a month or two to drive off residual moisture, particularly if you use vermiculite concrete, which soaks up a LOT of water. Is this the possible problem?

Question three: Fire size. Some new oven users, after their curing fires, are afraid to build the scary big fires that are needed to soak the heat into the firebricks. Do you fire your oven to the point where you burn off all the carbon every time?

Question four, Fire management. Do you have active flame going up the side of the dome while you are cooking pizza? It seems slightly counter-intuitive, but the floor heat is recharged by the flame from above.

Question five, How big a pizza are you making in weight and diameter? Three minutes is a long time in a wood fired oven.

A lot of questions, but if we know more, we can help more.

[Johnny the oven man]

Re: Any advice on getting more bottom heat

Also, how high is the dome internally? If too high, very hard to get heat into the cooking surface

[Xabia Jim]

Re: Any advice on getting more bottom heat

David, good points, let me hyjack your thread a bit too

Question one: Insulation. can you add more under the hearth now?

Question two: Dryness: of the wood too, I assume that you've got dry wood and are getting a hot fire

Question three: Fire size. Are you giving the floor enough time to heat up? And are you moving the fire around for heat management? Do you have actual temps....by an IR gun?

Question four, Fire management. Good point, are the flames licking over the center of the dome? There was a discussion of a fire caddy to move heat around (Neil?) that might save time moving coals and cleaning up.

Question five, How big a pizza are you making ...and how thick, is the crust thick? are there too many ingredients? Wet sauce?

A lot more questions, but if we know more, we can help more.
XJ

[Mojoe]

Re: Any advice on getting more bottom heat

Spread the coals as your oven increases in temperature, when you get to temperature spread the coals and allow your oven to stabilize. You could be throwing the pies in too quick.