So you’ve gotten yourself a glorious, shiny, new pizza oven… And the excitement is real!
But you’re mustering up the courage to fire up your oven for the first time.
You don’t know how to use a pizza oven yet… And you want to ensure your first pizza night goes off without a hitch.
We understand completely. And don’t worry… We’ve got your back.
Not only do we partner with two different pizza oven manufacturers for our outdoor kitchens… We’ve also got a team chock full of pizza oven owners (including yours truly).
So in this article, we’re pulling from our experiences in every direction… To bring you the most streamlined guide on how to use a pizza oven
By the time you’re through this beginner’s guide… You’ll feel plenty confident about churning out your first pizza pie.
So let’s begin.
Let’s Set Some Ground Rules
First things first, let’s lay out some ground rules.
Before you dump wood into your oven and get it lit… There are a few other things you need to set the stage first.
Ensure You Have a Proper Oven Surface
It might seem to go without saying… But we’ve seen some pretty sketchy pizza oven setups, and it’s worth clarifying.
Make sure you have a sturdy and safe table for your pizza oven!
No wood tables (1,000°F ovens and wood don’t mix!)… And no teeter-tottering tables allowed.
The last thing you want is a scorching-hot meteorite of an oven to topple over and cause a fire!
A solid metal or concrete stand is exactly what you need. Nothing more, nothing less!
Prep Your Prep Area
So much prep! But it’s so key, dear reader.
When your oven is roaring-hot, it takes only 60 – 90 seconds for your pizza to bake… And you’ve got to be ready for anything. (Quick reflexes are a must!)
So to ensure your reaction time is as quick as a mouse trap snapping shut… You’ve got to have everything you need immediately available to you.
And we mean this in more ways than one.
Firstly, put a prep table right next to your pizza oven. While you could prep your pizzas inside, and haul them out each time… It’s really not worth it. (Ask us how we know!)
You’re making a mess in your house… You’re rushing to get the next pizza ready… Your guests are taking their sweet time to put toppings on… It’s a whole ordeal.
Circumvent all that frantic energy with a prep table right next to your oven.
You won’t have to hunt people down, run around like a chicken with its head cut off… Or worry about burning that precious, precious pizza.
And on that note… Also get that mise en place going (a fancy French term for having all your ingredients set up).
Have your dough balls covered on a sheet pan… Big bowls for cheese and toppings… And already-opened jars of sauce (with a spoon!).
As we said, be ready for everything. And that also includes…
Use the Right Kind of Wood
Wood is wood… Right?
Well, not quite.
Your pizza oven isn’t picky about the kind of wood it eats… But it does have some strong preferences.
In short, stay away from putting softwoods in your oven (pine, spruce, etc.). These are resinous woods that get your oven sticky… And impart some unwelcome, bitter, camphorous flavors to your pizza. Yuck!
Otherwise, as long as it’s hardwood… You’re good to go.
Oak, hickory, cherry… Doesn’t matter.
Hoping to get a specific wood smoke flavor in your pizza?
Well, unfortunately, that’s a bit of a myth. Your pizza cooks so hot and so fast… There’s not enough time for your pizza to get infused with smoke flavor.
Point is, no need to spring for the scarce and pricey stuff if you were hoping for pecan-infused pizza.
Get hardwood… Chop it up into small pieces… Keep plenty of it nearby… And that’s that.
Have the Tools of the Trade Available
Of course, you’ll also need to have plenty of pizza cooking tools on hand. Namely:
- An Infrared Thermometer
- Pizza Peel
- Turning Peel
An infrared thermometer is essential to ensure your oven is heated to the right temperature. But it’s not only important when you first start baking!
Every pizza will cool down your oven a little bit… So keep that thermometer handy to keep track of temperatures between bakes, as well. (No one likes a soggy pizza!)
As for the pizza peel and turning peel… They often get confused, but each tool serves an important purpose.
Your pizza peel is wide and designed for you to be able to pick up your prepared pizza… And launch it into the oven.
The turning peel is smaller… And designed for quick turns of the pizza during baking for an even finish.
Both are simple, yet essential for a perfect pizza pie.
Expect Mishaps... And Course Correct!
Now, you might start thinking to yourself… “Man, this is all getting a little too fussy for my taste.”
We hear you. But once you get your ideal setup, your favorite products, and other ducks in a row… Most of this will become automatic over time.
And most importantly, if this is your first pizza making experience… Have a backup plan in place.
Pizza making may look easy. But there’s a lot of moving parts in play… And a lot that can go wrong.
Point is, it’s likely that something will go wrong during your first bake. So be prepared for this reality… And be ready to order takeout just in case!
There’s few things more frustrating than putting all your eggs into one basket… Only to find you don’t end up with anything edible at the end.
Moral of the story?
Don’t expect perfection… Have grace with yourself… And try again (it will get easier!).
And now that our “ground rules” are setting into a firm foundation… Let’s get into actually using your wood fired pizza oven.
Need a Home for Your Wood Fired Pizza Oven?
How to Use a Pizza Oven Like a Professional
1. Get Your Pizza Oven Roaring
First things first. Get your outdoor pizza oven ready and raring to go.
Lighting your pizza oven can be a little tricky… But with some finesse and know-how, it’s not that tough.
Ultimately, there’s a million ways to start a fire… And just about all of them will work for this purpose, as long as it’s chemical-free.
For us, we like to shave some tiny pieces off of a hunk of wood… Get them lit up… And slowly add larger and larger pieces, until a good fire is rolling.
It takes some time, but it’s reliable.
And once your oven is nice and hot… Get the stone preheating to around 600°F – 650°F or so.
This is generally recognized as a well desired temperature for pizza baking… And in our experience, that’s been the case for us.
Next…
2. Set the Stage
Time for that mise en place, folks!
Double check to ensure that you have everything you need readily accessible.
Like we mentioned earlier… Get your pasta sauce out, dusting flour, dough balls, bowls of cheese… You get the idea.
Don’t forget to keep your tools and extra wood handy, too!
3. Prep Your Pizza Dough
Your pizza stone is plenty hot… And your first satisfying bite of homemade pizza is mere moments away.
So get your dough out… Roll it out… Toss it up in the air if you’re feeling brave… And form a nice, meaty crust on the outside edge.
Pro Tip: Make sure you put plenty of flour on your countertop! You want your pizza to slide around and move freely.
Sticking and tearing dough is one of the top pizza-related frustrations. So when in doubt, sprinkle more flour.
For a true Neapolitan pizza… Load it up with pizza sauce made from San Marzano tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, and fresh basil.
Or if you’ve got a flair for the adventurous… Toss on some BBQ rib shreds, pork belly burnt ends, or even brisket!
That’s the glorious thing about pizza. You can make your own pizza… However you want it.
Tomato and mozzarella… Arugula, goat cheese, and prosciutto… Ham and pineapple… There are no rules.
No matter your preference, you’re well on your way to the best pizza of your life.
4. Check the Temperature
After you’ve prepped your dough… It’s time to see if your oven has successfully preheated.
If it’s a lower temperature than 600°F… It’s easy enough to wait a while.
But what if you’ve overshot it? What if your oven floor is way too hot?
It comes down to patience here, as well.
Thankfully, teeny little wood burning oven fires wane quickly… So it won’t take long for that temperature to start to plummet.
Trust us, your patience will be rewarded.
And when that pizza oven is at the correct temperature… Push the wood off to the side, and make room for your pizza to bake. (Or the back, depending on how your outdoor oven is designed.)
But once that home pizza oven of yours is good and ready… It’s off to the fun part.
5. Launch Your Pie
Get ready for lift off!
Shimmy that stunning pizza of yours onto a (well-floured!) pizza peel.
Carefully carry it over to the opening of your pizza oven… And slide it in.
There’s no big secret here. It just takes time and practice to get a feel for it.
But if you take your time and keep it gentle… You’ll probably do alright.
And once the bottom begins to cook after a few seconds… You can use a pizza turner to nudge it into a more central location of your oven.
Speaking of turning…
6. Turn, Baby, Turn
Most wood fired ovens are designed with convection in mind… But there’s no getting around the fact that your heat source is located on one side of the oven.
So to keep that searing high heat from scorching your dough… That’s where the beauty of the pizza turner comes in.
Watch your dough like a hawk… And use the pizza turner to gently nudge your pie in a clockwise or counterclockwise fashion.
You’re essentially acting as a manual rotisserie, ensuring the crust is evenly cooked all-around.
After a minute or two of cooking time… Your crust should be crispy, beautifully blistered, and ready to escape from the oven.
7. Peel it Off, & do it Again
Take that trusty pizza peel of yours and pull that piping hot pizza out of the oven!
Ideally, the countertop is right there so you can drop off the pie in one swift motion… There’s no reason to risk dropping your stunning, fresh pizza!
Once it’s safely sitting on the countertop, slice that baby up and enjoy… Or if you’re hosting a party, serve it up and do it all over again!
They say repetition is the key to mastery… And we can’t think of anything better to practice. (Who could say no to more pizza?)
Well, there you have it. The steps for how to use a wood burning pizza oven.
Even after taking some time to study… You may have some lingering questions that haven’t been answered.
Make Pizza Nights a Breeze
Still Have Questions?
How do You Cook Pizza Evenly in a Pizza Oven?
It’s all in the turning. Every 10-20 seconds, give that pizza of yours a nice eighth or quarter turn with your pizza turner.
Keep a close eye on it, watching for browning or burning. Also slightly lift up the pizza with your peel to see how nicely the bottom is browning.
Once you’re satisfied with the browning and char… Pull it out of your oven.
How Long do Pizzas take to Cook in a Pizza Oven?
If your ambient oven temperature reaches that classic 900°F… It’ll only take a minute or two for your pizza to cook.
But if your pizza oven is at a lower temperature, it can take 4-6 minutes for a complete bake on your pie.
Watch it constantly, and you’ll be just fine.
How do I Make Crispy Thin Crust Pizza in a Wood Fire Oven?
Ah, the coveted crispy crust. In order to get the texture just right, there are three things you need.
- An uber hot oven (900°F) to rapidly form and crisp your crust
- A high-hydration pizza dough recipe to compensate for the searing-hot heat
- Thinly-rolled dough to avoid the formation of a fluffy and airy crust
These are the general rules… But it will take some tinkering over time to get it exactly the way you want it!
And now that you’ve mastered how to use a pizza oven… What’s the next level to tackle?
Take Your Pizza Oven Game to Another Level
Whether you’re working with an Ooni oven, Gozney, brick pizza oven, or even another brand of portable pizza oven… There’s one thing that takes your pizza making experience to a whole ‘nother level.
Rather than having to fret and fuss about the logistics of pizza oven tables and prep tables… Always be properly set up for your next pizza party with the help of an outdoor kitchen.
It’s the easiest (and most reliable) way to ensure you’ll get full value out of your pizza oven.
Because let’s be honest with ourselves…
How many times have you (or will you) want to make a fresh pizza… Only to decide against it because getting the oven set up is too much of an inconvenience?
There’s no shaming here, we’ve been there too.
But with an outdoor kitchen… You can cut straight to the chase, and focus on the joys of pizza baking.
Your pizza oven has a permanent and aesthetically pleasing resting place… You’ll have counter space for prepping and firing pizzas… And possibly even a bar top for serving.
And that’s just the pizza oven.
With an outdoor kitchen… You unlock the potential for a whole host of other stainless steel cooking appliances. (Gas or propane grill, charcoal grill, pellet grill, or power burner, anyone?)
The options are only limited by your imagination.
And speaking of imagination… Who could help you dream up an unbelievable pizza oven setup like this?
That’s where we come in. Our custom DIY outdoor kitchen system is effortless from start to finish… And an absolute joy to use when you have it in your backyard.
Our islands are made from high performance concrete… Which is plenty safe and sturdy for your oven to sit on!
Our pizza oven stands even come with wood storage! (No need to fumble for a log mid-bake.)
And if you don’t already have a favorite pizza oven… We partner with both Alfa and Coyote for their gas fired and wood fired ovens.
So if you’d like to have the convenience of gas sometimes… A hybrid or gas oven might be the ticket.
But first… Start playing around with your outdoor kitchen design!
Our free online 3D design tool is the perfect place to start.
And from there… We’ll be in touch.
