Wood-fired pizza has a very distinct flavor. Using a wood-fired pizza oven tends to achieve a thorough bake, often faster than using a traditional oven. Generally, the ideal temperature for your pizza oven to achieve even cooking is 450 degrees Celsius. This temperature can be reached fairly quickly depending on the type of oven and the amount of wood you are using. A stainless steel pizza oven will take around 45 minutes to reach 450 degrees. A clay or brick oven will take around 3 hours or so. Either way, the flavor that wood-fired cooking adds to your meal will be worth it.

Whether you make homemade dough or buy store bought dough, the decision is solely up to you depending on how much time you have. If you choose to make a more traditional Italian pizza, you tend to use fewer ingredients, as the distinctive flavor comes primarily from the homemade dough and farm-fresh ingredients. If time is not a luxury, there are plenty of quick dough recipes you can make, instead of a sour dough that takes a good couple of hours over several days. You might also consider making a larger batch of dough and freezing some of it for the next time you cook on the pizza stove.

For those who enjoy stacking lots of different toppings on their pizzas, the main rule of thumb is that the fewer toppings a pizza has, the shorter the baking time. The last thing you want is for the base to be cooked and the ingredients cold, so keep that in mind. Remember that cooking pizza in a stainless steel pizza oven only takes a few minutes, so make sure you’re nearby, have a large pizza peel handy, and keep an eye on the cooking progress.

Some of you may not be as familiar with cooking other items in your wood-fired pizza oven, but you’re really only limited by your imagination. Because all foods cook so quickly in your wood-fired pizza oven, it’s ideal for cooking for large gatherings or get-togethers. Wood-fired pizza ovens are usually large and have a spacious interior. You can expand your meal offerings by making homemade bread, pasta casseroles, desserts, the options go on and on. The homemade bread acquires a subtle crunch and the texture produced by cooking in the wood-fired oven.