The Ovana and Large Wood Fired Ovens

How does the Ovana compare to a larger wood-fired oven?

My Ovana is a compact LPG pizza oven with the flame down the left-hand side, so I can see what’s happening as the pizza cooks.

It generally takes 20–30 minutes to heat (with the door in place), and may take longer in cold or windy weather. Have it hot and ready before you shape and top the pizza.

The stone needs time too

The air inside the oven heats up faster than the stone. A hot reading on the gauge doesn’t necessarily mean the stone is ready yet, and its temperature can drop after a pizza cooks.

Give the oven time to recover between pizzas. In my full recipe, I aim for 350°C to 400°C.

Using a different pizza oven

I haven’t owned a large wood-fired oven myself. The examples in this course come from my experience with the Ovana, so keep that in mind when comparing your own oven with mine. I do have a lot of friends who own larger wood-fired pizza ovens. I always wanted one before I got the Ovana; I won't bother now, this one works perfectly well.

Watch the video in the next lesson to see how quickly the dough puffs when the method and heat are right. Then go to Cooking your pizza for my burner and turning tips.