The Kings Wood Fired Pizza Oven Thread

[Immortality]

The bigger it is and the more volume it has means more BTU's required to heat it to a certain level. All those bricks require heating.

 

[losh1971]

I built my first one similar to Russell a famous pizza maker in Willunga SA. We did his class after that I built my first.

 

[Immortality]

How much wood and how long does it take to get the oven up to temperature?
I've known and met many fans of home made wood ovens that seldom get used, mainly because of time and cost, but also from poor quality design and build.
I saw a portable oven on one occasion, cinderblock and concrete slab? design, about 40-50 years old in it's 3rd incarnation and had been used commercially too.

We've had a really wet summer here, real crap weather and as I haven't finished all my renovations out the back using it in wet weather is a PITA unfortunately.

Cool set up and all but my eyes keep getting drawn to the background.

You inspired me, I'm going to attempt to do concrete bench tops. The original plan was to tile but given the location and surroundings concrete will be harder wearing me thinks. I'd like to try polishing the concrete though so it shows the aggregate which might get interesting.

 

[marty351]

1000 degrees Celsius? What was he burning? Any hotter and you'd have an ironworks.

 

[Immortality]

Not sure TBH.

 

[Hole Denn]

Nope not in a pizza oven. The hardwoods on their own don't get hot enough. I've had pizza ovens for years. I can't get enough heat using hardwood. I use a bit of hardwood for the show burn and coals but the main heat comes from wattle. In a wood heater yes hardwood all the way. Wattle is not good as it gets too hot.

Losh wattle is a hardwood called blackwood like the furniture wood, its very dense tight grain/heavy and the reason we don"t use it in a combustion heater as the main wood is that it goes black and smokes as it burns, yes it gives of a hell of heat but you need a lot of coal under it to keep it burning as its slow and black and smoke.

To cut down time for your oven, try burning light pine just to get flames and heat into bricks/walls quickly, then use the hardwood on top for higher heat and longer temps for cooking.

Oven should be up to temp in an hour if you use a mixture of pine/blue gum and then your wattle for heat/coals.
When we used to cook (winter) bread and meals in the backyard made brick oven we used to burn kindling/pine in oven and bring in the hardwood coal with a shovel from the other fire we had in a steel wheel barrow/stainless dryer bowl, to keep up heat/temp constant.

 

[losh1971]

Not sure what wattle you have where you are but wattle is a soft wood here. Yes it's acacia family but it's a soft wood very light and easy to split. If left in the weather it rots within 12 months.

 

[Dylan kingswood]

Wattle on my propeety unsure the name but its a white colour inside and burna hot and instantly and veey soft similar to pine also i think it may be cherry wattle which is red inside and to burn aimilar to gum needs to be a bit green but burns awesome dry it gets a bit to hot

 

[losh1971]

Both my ovens have needed several hours to get a solid heat. The bloke who taught me about brick pizza ovens said his takes hours to heat up and he had been in business for years when I was living in Willunga. I have had pizza ovens for years so I know a bit about them @Hole Denn . You need to remember that you also need to heat the brick base. In my experience this can not be done in an hour or two.

 

[Hole Denn]

Not sure what wattle you have where you are but wattle is a soft wood here. Yes it's acacia family but it's a soft wood very light and easy to split. If left in the weather it rots within 12 months.

Yes well done Losh, Tassie strikes again
Did a bit of research and it seems Tassie has a lot of mimosa wood part of the acacia/wattle group and yes your wattle is soft/ter than the mainland.
From web @ Although classified as a hardwood, the wood from the mimosa tree is about the same density and hardness as pine.

I was mainly referring to the Cootamundra/blackwood wattles which are common here and NSW/VIC. Both these and other proper acacias are very heavy and dense, the blackwood grows like a weed all through Adelaide hills to down south. Once a year I go up to Upper Sturt and collect/clear them from friend’s properties for firewood, which I mix with SA plantation bluegum, works well in my heater and oven.

Coming from SA you should remember those leg size black burnt twig trees with sneezy yellow flowers all along the roadsides and reserves, that”s the hardwood acacia blackwood that was used to make expensive blackwood furniture/kitchens, it burns shithouse but gives off more heat than redgum and is so dense and almost no moisture inside you only need to wait a month to dry completely to burn.