Pizza Wood is it catching on ?

[red]

Is anyone selling pizza firewood and is it kiln dried ? 

[beenthere]

Curious too, as you must be, as to what feature or characteristic qualifies any piece of firewood to be "pizza" firewood. 

[red]

Small pieces of wood selling for $35 of 1.5 cu ft 

[GRANITEstateMP]

Is there a particular species of wood thats more desirable than others?

[doc henderson]

We have used Mulberry.  It just needs to be split small to start fast, and well-seasoned or kiln dried.  You need a wood with no strong flavor and makes good coals.

[Corley5]

I don't sell pizza oven wood but have heard that dry sugar maple is the wood of choice around here. Burns clean and leaves good coals. /

[twar]

We have a wood-fired pizza/bread oven that I build about 8-10 years ago. It's relatively massive; 2-layer firebrick, insulated with LECA (lightweight expanded clay aggregate) incased in red brick. It takes 3-4 hours to get the oven to 400 degrees C (750F).

For bread, once the oven is at temperature, I rake all the coals and ash out of the oven, close the door and let the oven "soak" to spread/even out the heat and let the temp fall to ca. 280C (530F). Then I drag a wet towel across the floor to clean the remaining ash and to add some humidity. In with 10-14 round loaves, and I use a spray bottle to add more humidity (for a nice crust), close the door an wait ca. 35 mins. As the temperature falls I can bake/cook successively in a "falling oven". (In the summer, the oven temp will be back to the outside air temp after about 4-5 days.) I use dry pine or spruce to get things started, then hardwood (oak, beech, maple) to get the oven hot. At 400 degrees the oven is completely clean with bright-hot firebrick. Since there is no wood, coals, ash, soot in the oven with the bread, I could use just about any kind of wood.

For pizza, same as above--but I keep a fire in the oven while baking the pizza, I just push the fire/coals to the back of the oven and sweep the oven floor between the flames in back and the door in front. We don't do all this for one pizza; we'll do 8-10 to eat, share or freeze. I don't want the temp to fall much. A pizza should not take more than 3-5 mins., so I have to keep the fire going to keep the temp up. I toss the occational piece of wood in the back of the oven. Dry pine works fine for this; it burns quick and bright (the top of the pizza likes radiant heat), the pizza is not in the oven very long and at this temperature there is zero smoke.

For meat, only hardwood; the meat is in longer and the temperature is lower and some smoke is desirable.

In conclusion, my "pizza wood" is a mix of DRY hard and soft woods; the latter in the beginning and end and the former in the middle.

[B.C.C. Lapp]

Ive never  been asked for pizza wood.  But I do have a history with pizza cardboard. One time at deer camp we were playing cards and drinking, well, everything. And decided we wanted a frozen pizza. I made it.  I was half way through my slice when I realized I had not removed the cardboard backing on the pizza. Why it never caught fire I dunno.

[Old Greenhorn]

I like that story Mr. Lapp! 

The pizza wood must be a local 'thing' but specialty wood for restaurants and such has been around a while. I know it was either @BargeMonkey or one of his buddies that was putting smaller split wood on pallets and filling a flat bed tractor trailer and trucking in into NYC. If I recall the were getting $450/pallet. There was something about 'union issues' and I am not sure how that all turned out. Barge can fill us in if he has time.
 We do have a 'deal' with a local Barbeque restaurant (Aigheadish has eaten there, so it is distinguished.  ) And when we go there for lunch we look at the woodpile. If it is low we know we need to whack out some wood for them. They only want greenish Hickory to add smoke to their pork. A lot of times it is small top wood off the mushroom log trees I take. But the whole thing is more of a barter deal, neighbors helping neighbors.

[Raider Bill]

Several local joints put a chunk of local oak in their gas ovens not to help cook but more for flavor They can also brag wood fired pizza.

Funny, greenish wood for smoking has been mentioned.
Most run from it for cooking.
I prefer greenish wood myself. Better smoke imo.

[doc henderson]

There has been a few popping up here.  Kind of a self-serve for beer with 40 taps.  you get a bracelet or card and touch it to a pad near the tap you want to try.  a green light pops on, and you draft as much as you like.  you could do 1 oz. of all 40 and it tallies it up by the ounce.  some even have a few taps of things like an old fashion.  you do order your pizza, and they bring it to your table as they give you a plastic card with a number to set on your table.  Good pizza and beer and minimal interruptions by waiting staff.  Most are comfortable for families.

[thecfarm]

The only pizza wood I ever saw was like grade stakes.
One inch square.
He seemed to know just how much to put in to keep the heat up.

[NewYankeeSawmill]

Kind of a self-serve for beer with 40 taps.  you get a bracelet or card and touch it to a pad near the tap you want to try.  a green light pops on, and you draft as much as you like....

Huh, interesting. Haven't seen anything like that since college (self-serve taps), ! Sounds neat.
Funny, but this sounds to me like the 'self-checkout line' at the local grocer. They eliminated the waitress position by putting the $$$ into technology.

[doc henderson]

It is funny.  You might worry that people might have a tendency to overindulge.  this is all styles of beer, so you get the beer snob/aficionados not college students.  You do not have to wait at the bar in line to get a sample of a beer you would like to try.  Nice vibe and conversation at the tap.  you have some asking about the beer you are drafting and maybe give it a try on your recommendation.  You do not have to sit at your table hoping a waitress will see your empty glass or have them interrupting a conversation to offer another beer when you still have a quarter glass.  and the pizza is good too.  usually not large so everyone can get what they want and or get several to try different things.

[Raider Bill]

I've been to one and agree it was a good experience.
Great way to sample different pours.
They also had wine.

[BargeMonkey]

 Guy Ive dealt with supply's a bunch of pizzeria's in CT, all pretty fine uniform bark free wood, alot of oak. I was supplying a guy who was supplying restaurants / people with more money than brains, firewood to Manhattan and Philly, he did have it down to a science, I was getting 2k+ a triaxle load 3-4+yrs ago. My cousin was sending down tractor trailer loads of bundles to the east end of the island yrs ago, not a union issue they just got sloppy about them and lost the work. Good friend of mine up north is doing totes now, under cover and nice wood, sold out again a couple weeks ago. That's 450+ a cord picked up, 600 delivered local that's not bad money. We will do bundles for the store but on a small scale. See alot of guys on FB attempt to sell 3/4 or 1cuft bag for 2.40 - 3.00 a bag wholesale, if your paying for the wood and actually paying insurance / taxes the math doesn't jive.