How does the oven work?

As the vast majority of wood fired ovens available on the market, Forno de Pizza is considered a black oven.  That means the fire is built inside where the food will be placed for cooking. Once the oven reaches the desired temperature the ambers and ashes are moved to the back or sides of the oven, the hot surface is brushed and the food can be placed directly or indirectly on the surface for cooking.  Its counterpart, the white oven,  the fire is made in a different chamber (usually on the bottom) heating the oven floor, and the food is then placed directly or indirectly on it.

Three main sources of heat are generated in the oven.  Radiant heat is generated by the walls of the oven.  Convection heat is generated by the flames from the wood and from the burner. And, lastly the conduction heat from the floor of the oven.  Not every oven on the market is built alike.  Forno de Pizza follows a ratio in the shape of the oven allowing it to heat food evenly and maximize heat retention.

Turn your pilot on, place small pieces of dry wood on the burner, turn gas on and wait 10 minutes for wood to ignite and smaller pieces of coal are formed.  Move the coals to center of oven with the back of the pizza brush and add logs to the coals. in about 15 minutes the floor of the oven should be between 500-600 degrees.  move wood to back or side of oven and start making pizzas.  You can place 3-4  ten inch pizzas in the oven at a time and they'll be done in 90 seconds.  Once you're done making the pizzas pull coals to the center of the oven and the oven floor will clean itself.  sweep the ashes when oven has cooled and you should be ready to go next time.