I fire up the oven for about an hour with oak wood. The oven temperature reaches greater than 800 degrees ( my temperature lazer sensor highest reading, I assume the temperature is close to 1000 degree).
I move the fire to the back of the oven and continue adding logs.
The top of the pizza is cooking fine. But the bottom of the pizza is not cooking well it stays doughy!!
Any recommendation? Or thought of what I might be doing wrong?
Do you think covering the oven floor with pizza stones would solve the issue?
Note: the oven floor is constructed following the instructions provided.
Thanks
What I usually do, is just prior to the cook, I’ll pull coals forward and cover a good portion of the cook surface for a few minutes, then brush them back and add the pie to be cooked. I’ll do this again after cooking maybe 4 or 5 pizzas. The crust of the pizzas tends to “soak” up the heat from the cook surface. Another thing I have read and learned is to try and keep your pizza in the same spot as you turn it, thereby not soaking up the heat in a different spot. Don’t know if it’s right but it works for me. Good luck. Hope this helps.
In addition to Brad’s excellent advice, I’d suggest maybe not moving the fire all the way to the back. Shift it to one side, add your dough to the other side and let it soak up the heat from the coals you just moved. Then move your fire to the other side and repeat.
In a barile-style oven that will give you the advantage of convective heat sweeping over your top while red-hot bricks radiate heat into the bottom.
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I’ve also found the side to side method to work best. Amazon has a brush that helps move everything left to right, vs forward and back. Every pizza starts with a hot (700 ish) deck.
99% of the time, it works everytime…
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I had trouble getting the floor hot enough, and noticed moisture seaping through the joints under the base when firing the oven. I also noticed even with the metal door in place rain would find its way into the joint between the hearth and firebrick. My wife and I made this cover with Sunbrella fabric using a bungee cord through the hem and grommets that are hooked over screw heads underneath. It has rubber garage door gasket molding glued to the back where it touches the brick edges. It isn’t too pretty but after heavy rains I can take off the cover and the brick is completely dry. Now the floor gets up to 750+ without a problem and stays hot for the 5 pizzas others have talked about. I do move the coals from side to side if cooking more. If you can’t get the floor hot enough or keep it hot after moving the coals you may find the firebrick has moisture taking your heat away. Good luck.
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I would also suggest not to get your pie too wet with sauce. Try one without sauce and see how that goes.
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Thanks everyone! Next time I fire up the oven, I will try these suggestions and report back to this forum.
Excellent point! One wrinkle I’ve incorporated is brushing the disc with olive oil. I do mean “brush,” not soak. It keeps the sauce from seeping into the dough too quickly, but not so much that they are completely separated.
For sure, though, try a white pie. Brush on olive oil, your preferred herbs, cheese (with some space between the shreds), and for the experiment nothing else. See if your crust gets its bottom bake on under those conditions.
Finally, try docking your crust. Perforate it with an inexpensive dough docker like this one. You’ll keep down the yeast bubbles, and you’ll encourage heat to flow up and through your wet dough rather than being trapped by a smothering wet flour blanket.
Keep us posted!
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