Pizza baked in clay ovens is one of life’s little pleasures. It has a crispy taste, delicious aroma, and gorgeously even browning. Open flames bring out the flavour in a way that no electric oven can match, and the outdoor dining experience is superb.
A big part of getting your pizza just right is to use the right kind of wood. You might not know where to start, in which case you can simply hire a firewood delivery company. Ample Firewood has been in this business for a while, so we know exactly what type of wood you need, and we have a delivery service that’s open 6 days a week and can drive straight to your pizzeria. All you have to do is pick up the phone.
Still, it helps to be familiar with the basics. If you’re a layman, you might think quick roaring fires are a sign of good wood. That’s not necessarily true. If you’re warming your feet or boiling food in a cauldron, large unfettered flames are probably best. But for pizza ovens, heat control is important, so it’s not just about raising the reddest flame.
Softwood lights up fast and burns with virtually instant heat, but it also burns for a far shorter period. Hardwood logs are slow to light, but they produce more heat per unit when compared to softwood. They also burn for a longer time, so you use less fuel in the long run.
Another benefit of hardwood is that it’s denser, so it gives a more thorough burn and produces less smoke, which matters a lot when you’re cooking over an open flame. Less smoke means less soot to soil your delicious pizza.
When the average person goes looking for firewood, they choose lush, healthy-looking logs. Unfortunately, a rich brown block makes lousy firewood. The health and texture of the wood mean it contains a lot of moisture, which is bad. Wet wood releases a lot of smoke, takes ages to light up, and doesn’t offer much heat.
The best ironbark firewood specimens are dry and grey because all their moisture has evaporated. Logs should be dry and crackling for best results, so if you happen to be picking your wood, look for those. You should also go for twigs that have already fallen off the tree since the branches that are attached still have sap in them.
If you happen to visit our timber yard in search of wood, you’re welcome to look around. We stack our logs in well-ventilated piles. Look for the old, dried-out pieces at the back which have far less natural fluid. The drier your wood, the better it burns. We also have hardwood charcoal if you prefer.
Here at Ample Firewood, we sell bagged firewood by the kilo, and we will stack it for you at a minimal fee, as long as your stack is 6 metres from the tipping point. We can organise daily or weekly delivery to ensure your pizzeria is always fully supplied. Give us a call at 1800 677 918, and save us a few wood-fired slices!