If you have had an outdoor pizza oven built at your home, you might be curious as to whether your oven needs a door. You could imagine yourself asking questions like: As long as it stays hot enough, is a door necessary? Would a door be better for retaining heat? Do outdoor pizza ovens even need a door?
Outdoor pizza ovens function best with a door, but when it comes to pizzas specifically, you do not need a door to cook one. It is not always necessary to keep the door closed, but for hot, even cooking, you are going to want a door for your outdoor pizza oven.
Read on to learn the benefits of having a door for your outdoor pizza oven. Whether you buy one or make your own, it is important that you have one that fits your oven and does its job. While an outdoor pizza oven should have a door, it must be used correctly.
Do Outdoor Pizza Ovens Need A Door?
As you have read above, an outdoor pizza oven would be best with a door. So, why is this? There are a few different reasons why an outdoor pizza oven needs a door:
- Proper heating
- Protection from the outside elements and insects
- Cleanliness around your oven
The main reason your outdoor pizza oven needs a door is so that it can cook properly. If you use it for more than cooking pizza, it may be best to cook with the door closed. This is especially relevant if you are baking or roasting something for an extended period. Assuming it is a wood-burning oven, suppose you do not have sufficient enough flame for cooking. If this is the case, the lack of a door can prevent the oven from staying hot.
On the other hand, suppose your flame is too high. This could be a result of too much oxygen because you do not have a door on your pizza oven. A door helps you maintain the temperature of the oven. You can keep it slightly open just enough to allow heat to be retained while letting necessary air in to help keep the flame.
A door is useful for putting the fire out when you are done using your outdoor pizza oven. When you have finished, simply close the door to the oven so that it seals. This will cut off oxygen from getting in and help put the fire out.
Having a door on your outdoor pizza oven is also practical for preventing things from getting inside your oven. Especially if you live in an area thriving with nature, you do not want to run the risk of your oven becoming dirty or contaminated with unwanted debris, animals, or whatever else may find its way to your backyard. Even protection from precipitation is important. Sure, a bit of water may not hurt your outdoor pizza oven, but it is best to keep it as clean as possible.
Speaking of keeping things clean, a door can keep things inside of your oven from getting out. If you have burned wood, charcoal, food debris, and more, even a small gust of wind can blow particles out from your oven and onto the nice concrete, rock, or whatever else you have below your oven.
Although it is called an outdoor pizza oven, that does not mean it is only used to cook pizzas. Of course, this might be what you use it for most. When you cook a pizza, you probably do not need a door. For something like a pizza, the outdoor oven cooks best with an open, oxygen-filled flame. If you have the door closed while trying to cook with a flame, it is simply not going to work.
So, it is convenient to have a door on your oven for cooking things on low heat for a long time. However, when you are cooking something quickly, no door, or said better, an open door works best. Still, having the door is good for cleanliness both inside and outside of your outdoor pizza oven.
How To Make A Pizza Oven Door
Making a pizza oven door can be an interesting task in that, particularly if you did not build the oven itself, making your own door gives your patio piece some personality. Plus, it can be satisfying to accomplish even a small project for your decorative style.
If you decide that you want a door for your outdoor pizza oven, you might choose to make one yourself. So, how do you make a pizza oven door? Below are a few steps with different options on how to decide what your door will be made of, how to shape it to fit your specific oven, and more.
Cut Your Outer Layer
The first thing you need to do when making a pizza oven door is get a solid piece of wood to use as the outer layer. Depending on whether the shape of the hole in your oven is rectangular, semi-circular, or anything else, carefully draw the shape in the wood and cut it out. Doing this first makes the rest of the process much easier. You might also choose to cut a smaller hole in the wood for ventilation without letting too much heat out.
Shape Your Interior Layer
Next, you need to cut sheets of steel or iron to fit the shape of the wooden door you have made. This inner layer acts to keep the fire in your outdoor pizza oven running. You should be careful when choosing the metal lining that you buy. If it is galvanized, the zinc coating could potentially be toxic to use around food.
Make Door Handles
After cutting the mainframe of the oven door, you need to put a handle or handles on it to be able to open and close the door. It might be easier to shape the handles while cutting the initial wooden layer of the door, though that is up to you. In any case, drill the handles into the wood panel. It might also be useful to add a small layer of heat-resistant glue to encourage a solid connection.
Add Insulation
The metal on your oven door is not going to be able to keep your oven hot on its own. You will need to add some insulation between the wood and the metal interior. Just pack the insulation between them, ensuring you put a sufficient amount for retaining the heat within your oven.
Finishing Touches
Lastly, you should connect the wood and metal together with additional sheets of metal. Screw the sheets around the door, making sure that no insulation is exposed. It could be harmful if the insulation were to slip out of the door and in or around your food while cooking. After you have secured the door as one solid piece, it is ready for use.
Takeaway
Outdoor pizza ovens can benefit from having a door. Though it may be unnecessary for cooking things quickly with a large flame, an oven door can help when roasting or baking food slowly without a flame. If you choose to build a door for your outdoor pizza oven, it is a fairly simple process. Just make sure you gather the correct materials and follow the instructions above.
