How to Put Out the Fire in a Wood-Fired Pizza Oven

Traditional wood fired oven pizza fresh baked brick

From learning how to make dough to baking bread, roasts, and other food in your new wood-fired pizza oven, using it requires more knowledge than using your traditional indoor oven.

It is tempting to set up your new pizza oven and start making pizza as soon as you can light a fire. However, it is worth your time to learn more about your new pizza oven and how to use it correctly to ensure it lasts a long time.

Why is it important to properly handle a wood-fired pizza oven?

Learning how to use a wood-fired pizza oven is essential to creating mouthwatering, customized pizzas and other great food. We recommend reviewing the owner’s manual to familiarize yourself with the pizza oven. We also recommend the following tips:

Best Wood for a Wood-Fired Pizza Oven

You do not want to use just any type of wood in your pizza oven. You want to use dried hardwoods that have been well seasoned. Hardwoods burn longer and at higher temperatures.

You can also experiment with different types of hardwoods, such as apple, peach, cherry, pecan, etc., to add different flavors to your foods. For example, if you want to add hickory flavor to your pizza, you want to use hickory wood.

Most importantly, you should never use resinous-type woods like pine, cedar, spruce, etc. These woods can damage your pizza oven and make your food hazardous to eat.

How to Put Out a Fire in a Pizza Oven

The best way to extinguish a fire in your pizza oven is to stop feeding the fire about 10 to 15 minutes before the end of your cooking time. After you finish cooking, spread the embers over the cooking surface in the oven.

The heat from the embers will naturally clean the oven and burn off any sauce or food spilled onto the cooking stone. If you want the embers to go out faster, close the oven door. Once the fire has completely gone out and the oven is cool, you’ll want to clean it.

You never want to leave ashes and burned wood in the oven, as they will collect moisture and can damage your oven. You should also never use water to put out the fire, as this, too, can damage the pizza oven.

What should I do with the ashes after the fire is extinguished?

Remove the ashes using a brush and ash bucket. Then you can spread the ashes in your flower beds or vegetable garden. Hardwoods contain nutrients that are good for plants.         

What else should I do to clean my pizza oven?

wood-fired pizza oven

After removing the ashes, use a brush and wet cloth to wipe down and clean the cooking surface. You can use a soft cloth with mild soap to clean the external surfaces. Next, rewipe the exterior surfaces with a clean wet cloth. Last, dry them off.

By using these tips, your pizza oven will be ready to use the next time you want to make pizza or other great-tasting foods.

Why a Fontana wood-fired pizza oven?

Fontana wood-fired pizza ovens are handcrafted in Italy using artisanal practices that have been used since 1978. Our pizza ovens provide heavy-duty construction, innovative designs, maximum insulation, precise temperature control, and unparalleled performance.

Discover the benefits of making pizza in a wood-fired pizza oven today. For more information or help choosing your new pizza oven, please feel free to contact us at 877-842-9822.