Dingley Dell Enterprises Wood Burning Oven Blog

Sealing the gap between the dome and floor of a wood burning oven

2009-05-13T07:27:00.000-07:00

Question :
I have just taken delivery of a small pizza oven (which looks great incidentally). There are two bags of “mix” included, from reading the instructions, it appears that this is to seal between the base & dome – There doesn’t appear to be a mention of this on the pictorial “set-up”. – Should this be mixed and put on the base before putting on the dome, or should this be pushed in to the crack after the dome has been seated, and should this be done immediately, or after the initial small firings. I am also assuming that the two items should be mixed together?

Answer:
We send the patch kit out as a service just to cover all eventualities as I hand make every oven there are sometimes slight discrepancies in the way it fits on the base sometimes there are small gaps and this mix is to fill those gaps if needed in most cases the ash inside the oven will fill the gaps perfectly nothing else needed I am glad you like the oven kind
regards jay

Wood Burning Oven Recipes

2009-05-13T06:07:00.000-07:00

If you have any great recipes we would welcome them here. If however you are looking for some where to start then I recommend Jamie Oliver's latest book cooking at home with Jamie Oliver where he uses a wood Burning Oven.

CARE OF YOUR WOOD BURNING OVEN

2009-05-13T06:04:00.000-07:00

1)We always advise that the dome of the oven be painted with either a standard fence paint or masonry paint from a reputable supplier. You can always get advise from your supplier. 2)Do not let the inside of the oven get wet and never wash out the inside of the oven. 3)We suggest you use the flue cover when the oven is not in use, and close the door. 4)Do not clean out the ashes after every time of use, only clean the ashes after every third or fourth use as a rule of thumb. 5)Keep the oven door as clean as possible. 6)There is no need to brush out the flue, unless it gets heavily caked in soot. 7)You can extend the chimney with 6" stove pipe this will improve the draw on the fire . 8) If you do then seal the gap between the stove pipe and the oven with fire cement.

LIGHTING A WOOD BURNING OVEN

2009-05-13T06:01:00.000-07:00

To make it easy to understand the position of things in your oven think of a clock face the very back of the oven will be at 12 o'clock , the doorway is at 5-7 o'clock
the following directions are for a medium size oven for a large oven follow the instructions but make a fire on both sides of the oven
for a small oven use just 2 bricks and make the fire at the back of the oven

1)We suggest that when lighting your oven you use dry kindling wood , white alcohol lighter blocks from most DIY stores or newspaper We do not advocate the use of any form of coal, petrol, BBQ lighter fuel, gas poker etc.
2) We have found that the easiest way to start your fire is to start with a couple of lighter blocks place them on the floor of the oven 2" in from the wall at 4 o'clock
3) Light the blocks and cover them with tinder dry split kindling sticks no more than 1 cm in diameter 8-10 pieces
4) Pile up some bigger pieces of split tinder dry wood about 2.5cm in diameter 6-8 pieces
5) Stack some 5cm diameter tinder dry wood up against these again 8-10 pieces
6) you will find that the fire now extends in a half circle up against the wall and halfway across the oven .
7) Put 3 standard dry house bricks around the logs enclosing the logs campfire style
8) Put the door in at an angle so that air is pulled directly into the fire but do not shut off the air supply
9) While that is burning chop some various size logs from 1" to 4" in diameter so that you dont have to look for them when you need them .
10) If your oven is dry and your wood is tinder dry then within about 20 minutes you will have the oven over 350% F
10) Using a coal hook start closing the bricks around the fire until they form a straight line down the Right hand side of the oven think of this as a tough of hot coals and fire
11) Keep adding logs and making fire until you get the oven up to 650-700%F you can then start letting the oven slowly cool down to the cooking temperature that you require
12) Top up the fire with different size logs to maintain the oven at the desired temperature

I always put my thermometer at the back of the oven 12 o'clock this gives me the temperature at the hottest part of the oven .

You can make a fire without the bricks but when you are starting out you will find that the bricks keep the oven nice and tidy for cooking with a defined area for the fire and another for the food

Please keep in mind that if you install a flue pipe it will bring the oven up to temperature a lot faster .
oh I nearly forgot 99% of all problems in geting an oven hot or smoke free are down to wood condition
If you can hear the wood hissing on the fire it is too wet and will result in loads of smoke and low temperatures.
Your wood needs to be tinder dry to get the best results so chop and stack it as soon as you get it .

2009-05-13T05:55:00.000-07:00

How big is our medium Pizza Oven
Our Garden Pizza oven is 4ft long 3 ft wide and 2ft high.

What are our wood burning ovens made from ?
Each of our wood burning ovens are individually hand made on a wire mesh frame from expanded clay and refractory cements.Back to top

How many parts are there to one of our small outdoor pizza ovens?The smallwood fired pizza Oven comprises of. 1)The oven Dome 2)The oven Floor 3)4X Terracotta floor tiles 4)Oven Door 5)Chimney Lid Back to top

What other items do we need for our refactory clay pizza oven
You will need 1 A Peel , a flat shovel for getting Food into and out of the pizza oven 2 An wood burning Oven thermometer so you know how hot the pizza oven is 3 A coal hook , so that you can move burning logs around inside the wood burning oven . 4 some kind of stand to put the oven on.Back to top

How heavy is our woodfired pizza oven The dome of the oven weighs about 130 kg and can easily be moved by 2 people the base of the woodburning oven weighs about 100 kg and can easily be moved by 2 people .Back to top

What does the pizza oven need to stands on ?You can build your garden oven oven into or onto anything that can not burn, We would recommend that you use four 2 inch x 2 ft paving slabs as the base for the pizza oven to stand on you can build below the slabs using any method of construction you wish from wood to rock .Back to top

How high should the pizza oven be off the ground the floor of the wood fired pizza oven should be at elbow height this will mean that you do not have to stoop too low to see into the wood oven and you will be able to have a good peel action.Back to top

How long does it take to get the pizza oven hot ?If the oven is dry when you start then you can start cooking pizza's in about 20 minutes. If the oven is wet when you start it may take up to 2 hrs to get hot .Back to top

Your pizza oven looks quite basic compared to others we have looked at Why .Many imported ovens are made of terracotta and need a lot of insulating to protect them from the U.K Weather, and yet the functionality of the oven is exactly the same, other than a coat of cupernol each winter you will not need to do any other maintenance to one of our Pizza Ovens .Back to top

Some Pizza ovens we have seen are covered with vermiculite and other insulators will they work better than your oven ?The most important thing about any wood burning Pizza oven is the shape. and the type of cooking you want to do, Some of the more elaborate ovens take a lot longer to heat up than our oven. and then they also retain the heat for longer, when we designed our oven we took into consideration that most people who use a wood burning oven in England recreationally decide at about 11 or 12 o'clock that the weather is good enough to cook lunch outside , they then do not want to wait 3 of 4 hrs for the oven to heat up before they start cooking. by the same token when they have finished cooking there is no need for the oven to stay hot for 8hrs or more , wit this in mind we have made our oven to heat very fast and still maintain a good heat for up to 3 hrs .Back to top

Can I cover or and build over my Pizza oven ?Of course many people have purchased one of our ovens and then gone on to build an Italian style with full insulation and a little roof. this would give you all the benefits of a very expensive Pizza Oven.Back to top

How many people can the Roman oven cook for ?I have cooked for just myself as well as large parties, the most people i have cooked for at any one sitting was about 85 This was a pizza Party at the Tatton Park flower show, and I cooked for about 3 hrs .I also cooked a quarter of a pig at a game show and had about 45 guests so really as a domestic pizza oven you really can have a fantastic party.Back to top

How fast can you cook a pizza ?If you have he oven up to temperature you can pull a fresh thin crust pizza out of the oven every three minutes easily. I tend not to cook thick pie pizza as it is so much slower.Back to top

Where should the fire be in the oven?This is a matter of your own preference, on our large and medium sized ovens I always have my wood fire fire on the right of the oven just in from the door,this way I can add logs very easily ,the oven is then very hot at the back and cooler on the side opposite the fire. Some people like to have the fire right at the back, more difficult to maintain the fire but more effective for cooking 2/3 pizza at a time.in our small oven i always put the fire at the back . Back to top

How Hot can the Pizza Oven get?The best temperature for cooking pizza is about 450 deg the the clay that we use is rated to 1300 deg so it is almost impossible to over fire the oven, I have had a customer phone me saying that the thermometer did not work he said that he had a huge fire going for about an hour and the needle had not moved , it was found that when the oven cooled a bit the needle came down from 750 deg .Back to top

I have seen ovens buried in the ground can i do this with one of your Garedn Pizza ovens ?Yes you can , although we would recommend that you first cover it with some insulation and a waterproofing layer of plastic otherwise it really will take a long time to get hot .Back to top

Can i use the wood burning Pizza oven as a smoker ?The Pizza oven makes a fantastic hot smoker . simply heat the oven to your desired temperature, put the food that you want to hot smoke int the oven , put wet smoking chips onto the fire and seal the door and chimney , hey presto fantastic smoked food.Back to top

I see that your oven has the chimney at the front while others have the chimney in the middle what is the difference ?All authentic pizza ovens will have the chimney at the front just behind the door, The feed point for the chimney will also be lower than the top of the dome This is very important the lower the better,Heat is caught in this dome section and regulates the oven temperature if the chimney is in the middle of the dome the heat will just go straight up the chimney , no regulation , and no retention of heat al round a bad plan so check that any oven you decide to buy does not have a chimney in the middle of the dome ! also if the oven dome is made of several peices make sure that they all cement together otherwise youy will simply loose heat throu the joins not to mention the heat swerls and eddies that you will get comming off an uneven inside surface .Back to top

How do I clean my Wood burning Pizza oven .Due to the high heat that you will Be cooking at the oven is mostly self cleaning and any bugs or bacteria in the oven will be quickly incinerated , as far as wiping the ash out the way is concerned . I tie an old t towel around the handel end of the peel this I wet and squeeze dry in a bucket of water , just before I start cooking I wipe the cooking area with this to get rid af any ash or sand .Back to top

Are there any other tools I may need for the wood burning oven.I would suggest you also get a brass bristled brush and wa wide stainless steel paint scraper . attach these to either end of a broom handle this will help you get rid of more stubborn stains and burns on the terracotta tiles should you bubble over.Back to top

Can I extend the chimney on the wood fired pizza oven ?Yes by extending the length of the chimney you will improve the over all performance of the oven, easier lighting from greater draw hotter fire from greater draw, but more wood usage and faster cool down , so if you do lengthen the chimney do fit a chimney damper so that you can close off the chimney if you wish , very important when smoking food or doing long slow kleftiko dishes, and jerked pork.Back to top

How long will my wood burning oven oven last ?Depending on use and abuse your oven should last a long time my oven was installed in 2000 and is as good as new, and still gives me as much enjoyment now as it did when i first put it in . keeping the oven dry will give it a longer life expectancy. Build a roof over the top and it should give a lifetime of enjoymentBack to top

Should I worry if i see cracks in the dome of the pizza oven ?The Dome of the oven has a primary wire mesh reinforcing and a secondary glass fibre strand reinforcing, due to the insulating properties of the oven if you make a huge fire in the oven to get it going you will get some cracks and crazes althose these are mostly superficial and will close when the oven cools down . any cracks that do not close or show signs of smoking should be filled with fire cement obtainable from most good diy stores.Back to top

I have more questions what should i do ?Give me a call i will be happy to answer them regards Jay Emery Proprietor and maker of the ovens 01905621636Back to top

Do you make bigger ovens yes with our uneque method of manufacture we can make ovens of almost any size please call if you are interested. Back to top

do you sell any gas conversion kits we have looked into the posibility of supplying gas conversion kits but unfortunatly uk legislation and ec certification makes it imposible for a small company like ours to develop and certify such an oven Sorry you will just have to enjoy using the real stuff wood !Back to top

Can our ovens be built into the kitchen .our ovens are designed for outdoor garden use and as such need no special licences or considerations, they can be built indoors but you will need to conform with current legislation with regard to type of chimmny.

Instructions for using a woodburning oven

2009-05-13T05:41:00.000-07:00

1) Never close off or obstruct the flue when the oven is in use.
2) Never allow children to use matches unsupervised.
3) Do not place the oven door on a flammable surface when hot
4) Do not use plastic implements or bowls etc in the oven when in use.
5) Do not place logs or charcoal for burning when the fire is alight on the hearth outside the oven mouth.
6) Do not try and relight a fire with any chemicals, and wear hand and eye protection when attempting this operation.
7) Apply common sense to all cooking activities, think this oven may be hotter than that which you are used too.
8) DO NOT USE PINE LOGS FOR COOKING OR FOR ANY REASON IN THE OVEN.
9) Do not rest an arm on the neck of the oven and do not lie or stand on the oven when in use.
10) Do not lift the dome of the oven to feed in logs.

COOKING TEMPERATURE GUIDE
Roasting cooking time 1 to 3 hours 180 c –200c
Grilling normal 220c-250c
Low for fish and delicate dishes 150c-180c
Hot for steaks chops etc 300c

This guide is based upon temperatures shown at the back of the oven.
Cooking with cast iron cookware will increase the temperature on the food by 10%
Frying or curry should be placed as near to the ashes as possible.
Bread should be placed into a hot oven that is about to cool.

For overnight roasting the oven door and chimney should be sealed with clay or packed tight with tinfoil.

WOOD BURNING OVEN
USAGE NOTES
PLACING YOUR WOOD BURNING OVEN.

1)DO NOT place your oven directly upon a wooden support surface.
2)Choose a site protected from the prevailing wind and place the oven with the door opposite to the wind.
3)Try and not place the oven under a tree.
4)Try and place the oven on a level surface.
5)Where possible we suggest the floor of the oven be bedded upon sand or thermal blocks as this will increase the efficiency of the oven for certain forms of cooking.
6)If in doubt always ask your supplier

COOKING WITH YOUR WOOD BURNING OVEN
1)The first thing we always point out is start your fire bigger than that needed for cooking.
2)Use a thermometer to judge temperature.
3)Use pots and pans that are made for use with open hot fires, e.g. terracotta glazed on one side only. DO NOT USE PLASTIC.
4)The fire is hottest at about 50 mil above the oven floor at 90 degrees to the main seat of the fire. The coolest is near the door and the opposite quadrant, to the fire, of the oven floor.
5)When the fire is fed with dry logs the flame will shoot over the roof of the oven at a splayed angle from the centre of the fire. Imagine a springbok lawn rake shape. The centre line of the flame is hotter than the extremities.
6)When using the fire ashes for cooking remember the pots being used will misshapen because the heat can be as much as 600 degrees C depending upon the logs or charcoal being used.
7)When cooking with the door open the food needs to be turned frequently because it will cook faster than in a conventional oven and to get even surface heat. When cooking with the door closed the cooking process is slowed down irrespective of temperature. When using the door as a heat control by placing it ajar etc, the cooking process is again speeded up.
IMPORTANT NOTE
When lighting your wood burning oven from new please make 3 small fires in the oven first increasing in temperature each time to allow the base to dry out .
If for any reason the tiles get wet repeat the 3 small fires to dry them out
Never make the first fire a very hot one ie more than 300 deg as this could cause any damp or defect tiles to crack or explode .
There are 4, 9 or 16 Loose terracotta tiles that fit into the base of the oven depending on which size of oven you have .
Place these in the floor of the oven butting up tightly so that there is an equal space around them
Do not cement these tiles in leave them loose so that they can expand and contract as they heat and cool. The gaps between the tiles will fill with ash from the fire .
The supplied mix is for sealing any gap between the dome and the floor of the oven .
The dryness of your wood is paramount, ensure that it is tinder dry for best results , any damp or unseasoned logs will cause the oven to smoke .
You can use charcoal as a substitute I would recommend good quality lump wood as apposed to briquettes .
If you do use briquettes then ensure that they are all burning white before cooking
Never use pallet wood or any pine wood in the oven as the resins that they produce smoke and taste terrible.
You may find that the tiles under the fire do get cracked do not be concerned this is to be expected and will not affect the performance of the oven .
In time you will also get fine cracks over the dome of the oven do not be concerned this is to be expected and for this reason we have reinforced the oven .
To get maximum life from the oven we do suggest that you either put a small roof over the oven to keep the worst of the wet weather off or build the oven into a Italian styled housing if you need advice on doing this or any other questions relating to the use of the oven or any of our other products please do not hesitate to call .

Enjoy yourself

Jay Emery
Managing Director