Wood Fired Ovens FAQ

How many pizzas can I cook at a time in your ovens?

Of course that depends on the size of the oven and our smallest oven will easily handle two 300mm pizzas at once and the bigger wood fired ovens will handle more. However unless you’re an expert you may have trouble controlling the cooking if you have more than two in the oven at once.

What can I cook in my wood fired oven?
People were cooking in wood fired ovens long before gas or electricity were used to heat food so the only thing that will limit what you can cook in your wood fired oven is your imagination.

Both the Woodfire Ovens Australia and the Alfresco Wood Fired Ovens have been designed to allow you to cook with the door closed so that you can maximise heat control. That means that you can use them for stewing, roasting, baking, frying, smoking, grilling and just about everything else.

Do I have to ‘burn’ or ‘break in’ in my wood fired oven?
Yes you do. All brick and refractory cement ovens have to be ‘burn’t in. Our largest wood fired oven holds over 100 litres … or 100kg … of moisture after manufacture. This has to be expelled by ‘burning in’ the oven in order that the refractory cement can be fully cured. The curing process is carried out over three days with a very, very low fire.

Are your ovens built with brick?
No. Although we can build ovens out of brick we prefer not to. Solid brick ovens take many hours to reach the right cooking temperature and that means that brick ovens are far less time and fuel efficient than those made of refractory cement.

All brick ovens have to be repaired and they let binding cement fall into the food. Alfresco ovens on the other hand can be cooked in after just 45 minutes pre-heating and they’re made with a one-piece dome and that gives you a healthier internal cooking environment.

Do your ovens smoke?
All wood fired ovens smoke. Alfresco ovens smoke for the three ‘burning in’ days for there is too much moisture in the cement to allow for efficient burning until the oven is fully cured. Once it is cured you will find that it will smoke for the first five to seven minutes each time you light it.

Your oven may also smoke if you are burning green or wet wood in it or the burning chamber is receiving too little oxygen.

What can I do – I don’t have much room in my yard?
I don’t have vehicle access to the area where I want my oven to be located?
What can I do – I want my oven built on my second storey balcony?
All these questions are similar. We have small ovens to suit smaller areas and we can custom build on-site. After much experience we have designed mechanical and physical methods of building ovens anywhere. We have built them on two-storey levels and even transported them in lifts within buildings to reach a site.

I am renting or moving soon and I want to be able to take my ofen with me?
Our ovens can be supplied with stands and wheels. Any of our ovens can be made so that they are portable. Stands do come at an extra cost.

Do you make gas ovens?
Yes we make gas ovens and can also retro-fit gas to existing ovens.

Why should I buy the brands you stock?
1. Price … we have the best priced ovens in Australia!

2. Research … each year our suppliers spend time and money on research because they want to improve their ovens through the use of new technologies and manufacturing methods.

3. The ovens we supply work … they generate an even heat throughout the oven and that means that you don’t have to worry about turning the food to achieve even cooking. Our oven door can completely shut off the cooking chamber for even better control of the heat.

Can we have our oven outside without a cover?
Yes … our suppliers ovens have been designed for the outdoors.

Rain, wind and sunlight do not affect our ovens and you can even have your oven in a position where it gets watered every day and it won’t be damaged by its environment.

Some manufacturers sell plastic covers to protect their ovens but this is not a good idea for concrete ovens. Covering the ovens we sell with any sort of covering hinders natural water vapour transmission and that’s vital for all concrete products. Covering your oven also promotes the growth of bacteria and mould.

What is a good working height for my oven?
You should not be stooping or extending your body when working an oven. On average ovens are installed at 900 to 1100mm from the ground. The best way to work out how high your stand should be is to measure from the ground to the tip of your elbow. This height will also allow you to see the fire in the ofen when you are sitting down.

Do we have to light our oven immediately?
No … our ovens are made with premium quality cement and can be left unused until you are ready to light them. Many other ovens are manufactured with poor quality products and have to be lit immediately and once every month from them on. The wood fired ovens we supply do not need anything like that.

Can I cook directly onto the floor of my oven?
Yes … pizzas, breads and meats can be cooked directly on the bricks in the traditional way. Any mess left on the bricks can be cleaned away simply by moving hot coals to the area in order to burn the bricks clean. Do not spend money on expensive cooking equipment. Because of the even heat generated in our ovens the cheapest pots and pans will do.

Beware: some ovens are manufactured with their floor bricks sitting directly on insulation fibre. These ovens cannot hold floor temperature and stray fibres can be a health hazard because they can find their way into your food.

How heavy are your ovens?
The weight of the ovens we supply range from 1000kg down to 450kg.

Beware of any large ovens (1m internal diameter) that weigh less than 700kg. Lightweight ovens do not have the mass to maintain heat and prevent structural damage.

Do your ovens come in kit form?
Yes … all of our domestic wood fired ovens come in kit form. The full kit comes with all components and all you have to supply is the water. The kit comes complete with the render colour of your choice and it takes approximately 1 to 2 days to build.