Pizza Oven Phase 3: Eating!

Phase 3 of the pizza oven construction was the final firing and the cooking of some pizza. Happily, we accomplished this on my 31st birthday last weekend. It was outstanding! Luke and I started the fire around 9 AM and kept it going through the morning. In the early afternoon, Parrish, Pam, and James showed up to help us make some pizzas with the new equipment. For the first pizza attempt, I removed the wood from the oven so that the pizza was the only thing inside. In hindsight this was a bad idea as the oven was not hot enough. We noticed that the pizza was cooking slowly, so we got an oven thermometer and checked the temperature. Sure enough it was only about 300 degrees which is obviously too low for cooking pizza properly. SO we ate that pizza (because were were hungry), called it a mulligan, and re-fired the oven. For the 2nd attempt, we left the wood burning in the back of the oven with the pizza in front. This turned out to be the ticket, as we managed to keep the oven at a piping 500 degrees...perfect pizza cooking temperature. We proceeded to roll that way through the evening and into the night, producing the best pizzas that I have ever made at home. The crusts were crispy and delicious (thanks to Suze for getting extra dough at Bertuccis!) It was huge fun, and super tasty. Here are some pix:

Firing the oven at 9 AM.

Parrish, Pam, and James prepare the first pizzas.

Tasty smoke emanating from the closed oven as it works its magic.
Smoke comes around the gaps of the door. Mmmm-mmmm!

4 cheese and caramelized onion pizza underway on the granite slab.

Buon Appetito!