'O Sole Mio'.....wood briquettes

[spinal]

Aug 21, 2012 22:44:16 GMT Fat Bob said:

Did the ancient Romans use briquettes?

Who knows... did they use ceramic wool blankets, refractory bricks and high-tech insulation?

[nef]

'O Sole Mio cost vs. kiln dried logs

'O Sole Mio will typically have 20% more energy value than kiln dried logs, however this is not the whole story. The briquettes are denser than natural wood so the burn characteristics are not the same as natural wood. They have been engineered to produce the ideal balance between heat output and burn time.

It is not possible to make a direct comparison with weight, or theoretical energy value.

When I train pizzaioli in the UK, I always tell them that each oven is unique, the flue making a massive difference to air flow and hence burning characteristices. It takes time and experience to get the best out of any fuel, whether this be briquettes, seasoned or kiln dried logs. So my advice is practice, practice, practice.

On an individual carton basis, such a large part of the cost is in transportation, so yes they are likely to be more than 25-30Kg (equivalent energy value) of locally sourced logs. The more cartons you buy the better the cost per carton, and then it becomes highly cost effective.

The commercial users in the UK all purchase pallets of 900Kg and get a price reduction based on qty, but then they also get exceptionally keen log prices too. 'O Sole Mio competes very favourably on price with logs, but they also benefit from a better product.

We don't set the price for domestic use - Woof wood fuel are the UK authorised internet retailer, and they set the pricing. The guys at Woof are incredibly knowledgable about wood fuel fuel in general, so feel free to contact them to discuss your needs.

[tonyb]

I see you are based in Mansfield which I pass occasionally, is it possible to buy some direct from you?

[nef]

We don't advertise or promote direct sales, or have a retail outlet, so no card payment system etc, but if you are passing and want to purchase the occasional box, then not a problem. Need to contact us prior.

[spinal]

A final question from me - you mention pallets? Are these shipped? If so; could we order pallets directly? (I have about 2m x 1.8m x 0.8m under my oven - so plenty of space to fit the logs... just need to find a way to keep them dry (door?) ) What sort of pricing would a one-off pallet cost?

[nef]

Spinal
No limit on the number of questions you can ask!

A full pallet of briquettes consists of 48 cartons (just under 900Kg total pallet weight). See the prices at Woof Wood Fuel
www.woofwoodfuel.co.uk/pizza-oven-fuel.php

Storage - they must be kept dry!

[muddy4x4]

Just been on with Will at Woof Wood Fuel and ordered 3 boxes of 'O Sole Mio' wood briquettes to test.
Thought I had a problem with their website, phoned spoke to Will who sorted everything and called me back having sorted my order.
Due to work, won't be able to have a session with the oven for a couple of weeks, but will let you all know my experiences once I have tried them !

[800degreedan]

I think i agree - part of the theatre of owning and have a burn up, as we call it, of an oven is lighting it and keeping it lit. we have a woodburner and have tried different manufacytured logs beofre and its just not the same. sorry im sure it a fantastic pridcut that ticks all the boxes with defra and zillions of pizza chefs all over the world, but when i cook a pizza for frinds and they tell me its the best ever, im happy that ill not be able to top that!
cheers

[muddy4x4]

Have given the 'O Sole Mio Briquettes ago in my 80cm Bernito oven, and I am impressed. Got off to a bad start, too much fire and got temps of approaching 500c. Once I followed the instuctions, we fired the oven at 2pm, and did pizzas for friends from just before 3pm, to my last pizza cooked at 9:30pm. The oven was still good for another half hour or so, and we used 3 logs. Next time, with what I learned today, I will only use 2 logs for the same burn.
Very good temperature, I like to cook pizza between 350-380, and with these it was a doddle to keep the temperature constant.
From my first experience, a big thumbs up !

[muddy4x4]

Had a bit of a shindig yesterday, got the big oven fired up at 2pm and carried on cooking to around 9pm.
My second time with the O sole Mio Briquettes. Compared with using hardwood kindling, they do seem to take a bit longer to get the oven fire going properly, but once you have a good fire going and the briquettes properly alight, they are excellent for keeping the oven at a consistent temperature. Only my second time of trying them, and find them very consistent ! Recently I have been using kiln dried Oak off cuts, and they are very good, but are even more the briquettes are so consistent. I only used 5 briquettes plus a some kindling and some small logs to get the oven fired.
Their not cheap, that's for sure, and if I was just sparking the oven just for a couple of pizzas I would just use logs, but had 20+ friends over, and the fire management was easy using the Briquettes, especially as lots of people want to have a go cooking a pizza for themselves.
A really good evening.

[umhloti]

Dear Nef looks like lovely product .Who distributes yor product in ireland . or do you ship to ireland

Thank you

[nef]

Yes, we sell to Ireland.

[nef]

Free Firelighters for UK Wood Fired Oven Forum Members

I mentioned earlier in this thread that I would try and sort out
some form of incentive for UK Wood Fired Oven Forum members.

We are offering free firelighters with each order of 'O Sole Mio pizza oven briquettes.

The web retailer for the 'O Sole Mio wood briquettes is Woof Wood Fuel www.woofwoodfuel.co.uk

We have provided Woof! with some boxes of the natural firelighters you can see in the 'O Sole Mio instructional video, which are made from long shavings of wood and natural wax.

All you need to do when ordering from Woof! is put in the delivery instructions "UKWFO forum – free firelighters please!"

First come, first served until stocks run out!

[nickynoo]

Hi Mark

Interesting product. How do I go about getting samples? Minimum spend at your retailer is £60 which for me is a bit much to test it out. Is it possible to get sent just 2 or 3 logs to do a trial session? would be happy to cover the postage costs.

Thanks
Nick.

[conic]

This looks a steal, i wil get some in the morning for sure.

www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/special_buys3_27447.htm