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How Outdoor Kitchen Wood Burning Brick Ovens work, why they are the best choice.
Cooking with a brick oven will change the way you entertain! To master the skill of cooking in a Brick Oven you must first understand “How the Oven Works”. Brick ovens, by nature, cook with radiant heat, convection, and conduction.
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| Radiant Heat-Radiant Heat is heat from a direct source. In a wood fired oven, radiant heat can come from two sources; directly from the fire, and from stored heat in the oven walls and hearth. As you can see from the diagram below, when the oven is heated properly radiant heat is stored in the dome of the oven as well as the oven floor. This radiant heat is a very even heat and will cook the food from all directions. The special shape of your CBO oven insures that the stored Radiant Heat is used efficiently, reducing all “cold spots” in your oven. By slowly building the stored heat in your oven you will be able to take advantage of the radiant heat for longer periods of time. You will also utilize radiant heat by leaving a fire in the oven or hot coals. If you want high heat, and a short cooking time (pizzas), you will utilize this method. |
| Convection-Convection in an oven is defined as heated air circulating in an oven. As shown in the image below, cool air is drawn into the oven through the access hole (when exterior door is closed) or through the oven opening (when door is open). As the cool air is drawn into the oven it is rapidly heated by the fire and the stored heat in the oven. This heated air passes over the food evenly. As the air continues to heat, it passes to the back of the oven and rises. The heated air now passes over the food again on the way out of the oven’s flue. This “draw” causes a steady flow of heat to pass over the food in the oven, causing convection. As you develop your Brick Oven skills, you will learn how to control the amount of air coming into the oven; and the amount of air leaving the oven by controlling the flue. |
| Conduction- The last method of cooking in your oven comes from Conduction. Conduction simply occurs when a cooler object comes in contact with a warmer object and heat is transferred. The amount of conduction that takes place will depend on two things; the temperature difference of the two items, and the material that is between them (if any). For example, you may want to sear a steak by placing a cast iron grill in a very hot oven. Once the grill is at temperature, you will place room temperature steaks on the grill. This contact will cause conduction to take place and sear the steaks. |
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