Cooking temperatures

[comuscomp]

Can anyone cast some light on the best oven temperatures for different types of cooking, such as pizzas, breads, Tuscan grills, etc. Which require flames and which only require ember. Best floor temp / best oven temp.


so many variable, as the old saying goes, learning by your mistakes is a very costly way of learning (scrooge has spoken).

[Bandit]

This is a chart I found in a WFO cooking book Muganini I think and added too.

I work in Celsius and I work off floor temperature and they seem to work reasonably well. I record also a dome temperature as a second indicator.

Temperatures of the oven taken from a Laser infra red gun such as this : www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00E1ASMT6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I do mainly roasting meat, potatoes etc plus Pizzas,and general cooking.

Bread is a little more difficult to get right. I keep a book to record temps while cooking and results good and bad to learn from.

Try and get the oven above temperature and stable (ie fully heated through) I will light it say 4 hours before use and cook on a falling temp scale.

You can add hardwood cross section about 3 inch sq to maintain temperature, I use a heat shield to avoid scorching food with flame.

The Meat temperatures are taken with A Maverick heat probe which stays in the meat joint (not for poultry)

[oblertone]

That chart is a useful guide, thank you. Most WFO's are used on a sliding scale, for example I'm about to fire my oven and will do pizza (450c) this evening for about 15 folk, I'll then put the door on and leave it overnight. In the morning I'll rake out the coals/ash and put in some bread (200-220c) when that's done I'm putting in the Turkey* for a long slow roast (180-150c). After that I may use it to keep the other veg/ plates hot while I carve and prep the table.

I must stress that learning the heat gradient of your oven is a skill you need to acquire, every oven is different in the rate that it cools; but it's very satisfying when you get it right. A cheap infra-red thermometer from eBay is a great aid to this learning.

*For logistical reasons, our family Christmas dinner is tomorrow.