Pizza ovens are a great way to make tasty pizza at home. However, there will be some smoke like any other place where a fire is made. It is usual for a wood fire pizza over to produce a bit of smoke, especially when you have just started it up, but if your over is making too much smoke, it might be time to investigate.
If your pizza oven is creating a lot more smoke than usual, consider some factors. Some of the reasons for high smoke production could be the type of wood you use, wet wood, lack of ventilation, or even a rise in temperature of your wood fire pizza oven.
Some of the reasons for pizza ovens creating a lot of smoke can be simple to solve, but it is always good to troubleshoot the problem to see its root. If you have done all you can to solve the problem without success, it might be time to get in touch with an expert.
Reasons Why Your Pizza Oven Might Be Making Smoke
As mentioned above, there are some reasons why your pizza oven might be making more smoke than you anticipated. Some of the problems might be easy to solve, while others might take a bit more time and effort. Here are explanations for why your pizza oven might be smoking too much.
Wet Wood – If your pizza oven is making a lot of smoke or the smoke does not seem to be subsiding over time, one of the reasons why might be due to wet wood.
Using wet wood for any fire is usually not a good idea. Before you start firing up your pizza oven, it is essential to make sure that your wood isn’t wet. If your wood is moist, it is probably better to let it dry out again before using it in your pizza oven as it can drastically affect the taste of your pizza.
The wrong wood – There is also a chance that the wood you are using in your pizza oven could be causing smoke due to other reasons.
Certain types of wood tend to burn out much faster than others causing smoke in your pizza oven. When using wood in your pizza oven, you should use wood that burns slower, like mahogany and maple.
Poor ventilation – Another possibility to consider if your pizza oven is making too much smoke is poor ventilation.
If there is a lack of ventilation in your pizza oven, the lack of oxygen could be causing the flames to die down and cause more smoke. If a piece of wood is hot enough to burn but has no oxygen, it will create smoke. It is also essential to ensure you do not use too much wood as this can also result in poor ventilation for burning wood.
Rise in temperature – If the temperature in your pizza oven rises quickly, this might also be causing some smoke.
An easy way to ensure that this does not happen is by limiting the amount of wood you use in your pizza over. Use wood that would burn for longer instead of more fast-burning wood.
How To Stop Your Pizza Oven From Making Smoke
As stated before, one of the times that your pizza oven is sure to make some smoke is when you have just lit the fire to get your oven heating up. However, even the way you make a fire can affect the amount of smoke produced. There are also a couple of other tricks to help you reduce the amount of smoke your pizza oven produces.
- Create a fire that burns at maximum efficiency – When starting your fire, there will be some smoke due to the flames not yet being hot enough to set the rest of the wood alight properly.
The number one way to ensure that your fire is burning at maximum efficiency is to be sure that you use the correct type of wood. It is important to make sure that the wood you use burns for longer, reducing the amount of wood you need. It is likewise essential to guarantee that your wood is properly dried.
The combination of good wood and oxygen will lower your pizza oven’s smoke production once the fire has become hot enough to set new wood alight fast. - Use your oven to dry wood before use – An easy way to make sure your wood is dry enough to be used in your pizza oven is by using the oven itself.
To do this, simply wait for the fire to burn out and clean out as much ash as you can. Even after your oven hasn’t been used for a couple of hours, the structure should still have absorbed enough heat to dry anything you put in it.
Simply take the wood you would like to use next time, place it inside your oven and close the door. The oven’s residual heat should dry your wood and help you reduce smoke the next time you use your pizza oven. - Light your oven fire using a different method – Lighting your fire the traditional way by putting kindling or paper below the wood and using the flammable material to set the wood alight could be one of the reasons your oven is producing a lot of smoke.
By arranging your wood to use the top-down method, you might be able to lessen the amount of smoke created when first starting your fire. To do this, simply place your bigger logs at the bottom of your woodpile, stack medium and then smaller pieces of wood on top, and then light the kindling at the top of your woodpile.
All of the tips mentioned above should help you reduce the amount of smoke your pizza oven makes when starting the fire. If none of the above-mentioned suggestions help, you might have to consult a specialist.
Conclusion
If you are struggling to lessen the amount of smoke your pizza oven makes, it is easy to feel disheartened. However, there is usually a simple explanation and an easy fix. Home-made pizza is an absolute joy to make and eat if you have the know-how, and by reducing your smoke, you will ultimately make your pizza standards even higher.
