Can an oven be too hot for Pizza

[david s]

Re: Can an oven be too hot for Pizza

I suggest you don't try overfiring your oven. At 500- 600C (you do the conversions) all kinds of inerestings things happen to refactories. Research kiln firings if you really want to find out. Firing quickly in this range, both increase and decrease in temp results in cracking. Potters always take this temp range slowly to avoid problems. Slow is 100C/Hr
The trouble with wood as a fuel is that the heat it generates is difficult to control. I have had this exact problem firing a wood fired kiln trying to bisque fire pottery. I also had the same problem with my first wood oven when I tried to fire it really hot and used a hair dryer for forced air induction. Now it's slow and steady for me and safe for my oven materials.

[scottz]

Re: Can an oven be too hot for Pizza

I know the first time I used my WFO, being way too excited, I moved the fire to the side and straight away put the pizza on the the bricks. I have never seen a piece of food turn into fire so quickly!!! Bloody funny!!! Now I always more the fire to the side, brush the ash into the fire and wait about 20 mins for the floor to cool while keeping a good fire going. I then use the flour test on the floor and when its ready to go...in they go.

[RTflorida]

Re: Can an oven be too hot for Pizza

Don't know how I missed this thread.
enz, you are the man. 1600F? Keep going, you will be making glass soon. I hit an unconfirmed 1450F the first time I burned citrus. Being an idiot I threw logs on like building a bonfire (which I usually do with oak and hickory).
My old IR was rated to 1100 and went into error shortly after the 1450 reading. Honest to god, the heat was so intense I was certain something/everything was going melt or burn away. I know firsthand how fast a log will burt into flames at that temp.
Watching that pizza go up in flames had to look pretty cool......but sad at the same time.

RT

[Spunkoid]

Re: Can an oven be too hot for Pizza

This winter on a cold and dark night, I light up by WFO, started with a small fire and slowly built it up to a big hot fire. This let the stove warm up slowly so I would not have cracking issues...
I let the big hot fire burn down a bit, then pushed all the coals off to the side. The bottom of the oven was glowing and red hot. It took several minutes for it to cool to the point where it was dark.
Lesson learned.... make sure you let the oven floor cool for a least 15 minutes after you move the fire over, otherwise you will burn the bottom of your pizza.
Especially in colder weather, I will add a stick or two of wood to the fire on the side, even when I have a deep bank of coals. The flames lick over the top of the dome and back down the other side. My pizzas will cook in about a minute. I have time to put them in, wait about 20 seconds, turn them, then get ready to take them out. Crust browns nicely on the side, cheese browns on top, and the crust is baked just right. If I am a little slow, the edge of the crust will start to blacken....
He who hesitates is lost...

[dmun]

Re: Can an oven be too hot for Pizza

Now I know you can get a pizza oven to 1600 F and yes it's too hot to cook pizza.

We are, after all, using the identical materials that potters use to build wood fired kilns. There's no reason you can't take them up over a thousand degrees, but I'm surprised you can do it without a forced air blast furnace effect.

[heliman]

Re: Can an oven be too hot for Pizza

Ha enz I believe has provided the definitive answer to this question.

If there is any confusion still out there ... YES - a pizza oven can be too hot to bake pizza (or any other bread for that matter)!!!!!

Still sniggering BTW - great story!!

Rossco

[kebwi]

Re: Can an oven be too hot for Pizza

Man, I might have to try that just for the entertainment.

[enz]

Re: Can an oven be too hot for Pizza

I have to add a funny story here.

My three year old got a hold of my thermocouple reader and switched the units to C. I not knowing this got the oven and read 520 degrees. Massively under fired? I loaded a bunch of wood in the oven and got it up to 875 degrees. It would have to do. When I put the first pizza in it was like a storm cloud came over it. It blackened from the outside in towards the center and at about 10 seconds it burst into flames.

At that point my buddy asked if I really wanted the reader in C and we all had a good laugh. Now I know you can get a pizza oven to 1600 F and yes it's too hot to cook pizza.

[heliman]

Re: Can an oven be too hot for Pizza

Pizza in my WFO often burns when I have added an additional log or two of wood. I have learned to read the fire over time and aim at getting quite a consistently good charring effect underneath. I also make the dough quite wet which also seems to help.

To answer your question, yes I believe the oven temp can definitely be too hot but over time when you learn the workings of your particular oven this shouldn't be a problem. I rather start with a lower the temp and increase it as necessary than trying to get it too hot to begin with. I am a "back" fire man BTW!!

Rossco

[texassourdough]

Re: Can an oven be too hot for Pizza

There is a simple test for evaluating the temerature of the hearth. Toss a quarter or eighth teaspoon of semolina or flour on the hearth and count by second. It will sit for some time and then suddenly turn black. If that time is around 3 seconds the hearth is about perfect temperature. If it turns in one second it will burn the bottoms before the top can bake - at least for conventional doughs but I doubt even 80 percent doughs can withstand that heat!

If it takes more than say five seconds the hearth has cooled a lot and you probably should rake some coals over the hearth to recheat it a bit.

[david s]

Re: Can an oven be too hot for Pizza

Wood fired pizza is a bit like the first pancake (never the best one) some folk use a damp cotton mop to clear the floor of ash and this cools the floor a bit. I usually treat the first pizza as a bit of a test and the bottom usually burns a bit, by the third pizza the oven iscooking just where I want it.

[dmun]

Re: Can an oven be too hot for Pizza

I agree with Ken: I find that moving the fire to the side as it burns down, well before time to cook, reduces the burnt bottom problem. There's still lots of heat in the floor bricks as long as you keep small wood burning on top of the bed of coals.

[vintagemx0]

Re: Can an oven be too hot for Pizza

I put a pie in only a few minutes after pushing the fire off to the side and sweeping the hearth clean. The bottom burned badly. I've since then waited about 30 minutes after moving the fire (maintaining a live-fire on the side) and have not had that happen since. This is a slightly different problem than explained above, but one to consider.

Ken

[shuboyje]

Re: Can an oven be too hot for Pizza

I agree there are variables that effect this. I use an 80% hydration dough and hate when my hearth drops bellow 900F. Using a more traditional dough it takes a good balance to have everything cook evenly at these temperatures, but it is doable in my oven at least. I've used as low as 60% hydration without burning

[texassourdough]

Re: Can an oven be too hot for Pizza

The proper temperature for the oven is a mix of many things. In general the thinner the crust and the sparser the toppings the hotter you can (and should) bake it. Conversely, thicker crusts and more toppings need lower temps and longer cooking times. If you try to bake a conventional (say Pizza Hut) pie at 900 degrees it will burn on the outside long before the center is baked so you will get burned and raw dough. Most of us seem to shoot for around 750 (with a range from 700 to 800) on the hearth and say 850 to 950 for the dome. That will give you about two minutes for thin crusts to bake.

Good Luck!
Jay