EP 19-30 | How to Fire Up a Wood-Fired Oven and Start Cooking | Step-by-Step Guide
Nothing's better than sitting around a wood-fired oven after a long week. It’s an awesome way to relax, hang out with friends and family, and whip up some healthy, budget-friendly meals. But before you can start cooking, you need to know how to start the fire the right way and ensure the oven is ready to go.
Alright, let's get started. First, we need to make sure we have properly dried wood. Wet or green wood just won’t cut it. We're kicking things off by splitting some dry wood to get our wood-burning oven ready. In this video, I'm using acacia, but if you're a subscriber, you already know that my favorite firewood is olive. Olive wood burns hotter and longer, which is perfect for cooking. Plus, it gives a wonderful, subtle flavor to everything you cook.

Our next task is to clean the oven following our last fire. Let the oven rest for at least 8 hours or overnight to ensure the bricks cool down gradually. Once the oven is cool, use a brush or scraper to get rid of any ashes and debris left on the cooking surface. Okay, next step, we're gonna slide these logs inside the oven. I’m using the log cabin technique. Start by placing large logs as if you’re constructing a log cabin. Make sure to leave enough space in the center for proper airflow and kindling. This gap will ensure that air can circulate, feeding the fire and helping it grow. Once you have it arranged, add some kindling—small sticks, dry leaves, or paper—and place it at the bottom of your log structure. Once everything is set up, carefully light the kindling. As the kindling catches fire, it will ignite the larger logs, creating a robust and steady fire. This method not only helps in getting a big fire started quickly but also ensures that it burns evenly and efficiently.
Next step: let the fire slowly build inside the oven. My larger oven, with a cooking surface of about 50 x 50 inches, takes around 1 to 2 hours to get ready for cooking pizzas. On the other hand, my smaller oven, 30 x 30 inches in size, heats up much faster, usually within 30 to 40 minutes. This difference allows me to reduce wood consumption by as much as 80%. That's why it's essential to carefully plan your cooking needs and explore different oven options before purchasing or constructing a wood-fired pizza oven.
It's been a couple of hours since we started the fire, the internal temperature is around 900 degrees Fahrenheit. and now it's time to prepare the oven. As you can see, the coals have burned down nicely, and we're going to spread the coals evenly across the oven floor, leaving a clear space in the center. This method ensures that heat is distributed evenly throughout the oven, creating an ideal cooking environment. It's crucial for achieving consistent and delicious results in wood-fired cooking, And with these steps complete, our oven is ready to cook pizzas, roast meat, chicken, or whatever you desire. Thanks for watching, and be sure to subscribe so you don't miss tomorrow's episode at the same time!


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►All recipes cooked in the wood fired oven. The same recipes can be cooked as well in regular kitchen Gas or Electric Ovens .
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