Time to Heat a Wood-fired Pizza Oven
I’m frequently asked, “Doesn’t it take a long time to heat a wood-fired pizza oven?” The answer is “yes and no.” On average it takes an hour and a half for the oven to reach 900 to 1000 degree—temps that give you phenomenal pizza in 90 seconds. However you don’t have to wait for pizza temperatures to start cooking.
Just light a fire
It takes only 15-20 minutes to establish a strong fire and generate cooking heat. Unlike Betty Crocker watching the temperature gauge until it’s time to open the oven and slide in a cake, you can begin cooking immediately while the heat from the fire saturates the oven’s thermal mass. We roast foods the way you would in a broiler or on a grill.
For example when we throw a pizza party at our house, as soon as the fire is established we put in small pans with sausage, stuffed mushrooms and other appetizers. We’ll roast veggies and crisp bacon that will top the pizzas. Pulling everything out of the oven is a show. Watching temperatures peak over 1,000 is irresistible. Everyone wants to check the temperature with the laser thermometer gun. All the while they are snacking on gorgeous foods as they come out of the oven.
Cook while during the time to heat a wood-fired pizza oven
When asked about the time to heat a wood-burning pizza oven, I’m excited to talk about all the ways these ovens warm, grill, broil and roast long before they hit 1,000 degrees. Dave and I both use our wood-fired ovens for everything, not just pizza. This is part of the magic of wood-burning ovens.
A few uses for the time to heat a wood-fired pizza oven
We use the time to heat a wood-fired pizza oven all the way to “pizza temperatures” to roast veggies and cook appetizers.
Bacon-wrapped stuffed jalapenos and roasted figs with goat cheese made delicious appetizers as the oven continued to absorb heat.
Quick-fired snaps peas, Brussels sprouts or sautéed mushrooms make easy vegetarian snacks to serve guests while you heat a wood-fired pizza oven.