Building a Woodfire Oven
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You might be asking what’s so special about a woodfire oven. Just imagine, sitting round a wood fire on a cool night enjoying the breeze and sound of children at play, gazing at the stars and marveling at the wonderful smells emanating from the wood fire oven sitting right in the middle of the garden. Wood fire ovens are becoming very popular for their aesthetic appeal as well as for the wonderful aroma of smoke flavored food that can be prepared only in a traditional oven.
If you like to entertain outside, a woodfire oven is just your thing. It could be a family get together or a small gathering of friends, to a large party, all enjoying themselves while dinner is being cooked on a wood fire. Being more versatile than traditional ovens, most anything can be done on a wood fire from frying to grilling and from baking to smoking.
Wood fire ovens come in a variety of materials such as steel, copper, brick, stone and stucco. While steel and copper ovens are the least expensive, brick, stucco or stone tend to cost you more, especially if you are hoping to install one by getting the services of a professional. If you are a DIY enthusiast, you can certainly try to get a wood fire oven in dismantled form and have it set up at a much lesser cost. Although the steel and copper ovens do not have the same appeal as the more traditional stone or brick ones, they do look attractive and if price is an issue, these ovens would be best option for you.
To help you learn how to use a wood fire oven, here are a few tips:
1.Before you start to use your wood fire oven you have to learn how to cure it. You do this by lighting fires that gets increasingly longer and hotter. This has to be repeated about 6-7 times.
2.Once your oven is cured and ready, use about 6-8 pieces of wood and other kindling to build a fire in the center of the oven.
3.When the fire starts going, add another 2 or 3 pieces of wood. The wood should be dry so as not to smoke before catching fire and should also burn easily. Continue to add wood for about 20 minutes.
4.Within that time, the central point in the fire will start turning white and expand outwards which means it has reached the desired temperature for cooking. The heat at this point reaches around 700 degrees F.
5.Once the oven is ready, you can start baking or let the temperature cool down a little to roast or grill. The oven purchased by you will come with the necessary temperature charts for the various types of cooking.
Once dinner is finished and cleared up, the fire would keep you going while you have a sing song or even simply relax watching the fire as it glows and dances in a myriad of colors.
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