Only use well-seasoned hardwood in your wood fired pizza oven
As the Alfa is a wood fired oven the most crucial part of successful cooking is the wood you use. It must be kiln dried hardwood, an unseasoned softwood will leave sticky resin on the oven floor which is difficult to remove. As the soft wood is nowhere near as dense as the hardwood it burns much quicker with a less intense heat and, depending upon the type of wood, could produce a lot of black choking smoke which can make your food taste quite acrid. You are looking for very little bluish white smoke, if the smoke is black then it is a sure sign that you are using the wrong wood.
Buy your wood from a reputable dealer or else dry your own, it can take 6 – 24 months to fully season, in a damp climate it will take a lot longer than if stored in a dry atmosphere. When starting the fire use a non-toxic fire lighter like the Weber Lighter Cubes or the Woodson lighters in the mouth of the oven. Place a few sticks of kindling around the starter and when they are well alight add some larger pieces of wood, when these have caught move the fire to one side of the oven.
- Alder - light and sweet; fish and any meat where you don’t want the wood flavour
- Apple - light and fruity; pork, ham and poultry
- Cherry - light and fruity; beef, pork, poultry and fish
- Grapevines - rich and fruity; beef, lamb and game
- Hickory - strong and smokey; beef, pork, ham, poultry and game
- Maple - soft and sweet; pork, ham and poultry
- Mesquite - strong and spicy; beef, pork, poultry, game and fish
- Oak - mild and nutty; beef, pork, lamb, poultry, game and fish
- Pear - light and fruity; pork, ham and poultry
- Pecan - mild and sweet; beef, pork, poultry and fish
- Plum - mild and sweet; pork, poultry and fish
