This FAQs page intends to provide meaningful information on Carawela Wood Fired Cooking Evolution: how to make the most out of the ovens and this website.
Yes, all Carawela’s wood fired ovens have warranty according to legal requirements (which may be different in different parts of the world).
Nevertheless we make our ovens to last a long time, much longer than the warranty period.
All Carawela’s wood fired ovens are made in northern Portugal.
Caravela (Caravel in english) were small, highly maneuverable sailing ships portuguese developed in the 15th century, which allowed to explore the oceans. You may get to know more about them here.
Back then Caravelas wondered the world, from Europe to Africa, America, Asia and even Oceania. Now other Carawelas are populating the world, not to bring goods back, but taking with them the opportunity to cook with fire.
Carawela’s range of wood fired ovens share the main features a wood fired oven should have:
– a curved inner top to promote a proper convection airflow;
– a refractory brick floor, which gets hot by absorbing heat and retains it for a long time;
– an insulation layer that keeps heat inside the oven.
All ovens are delivered fully assembled and ready to work. The main difference between Carawela’s ovens are their size (how much food can be cooked simultaneously) and insulating ability (how long the heat is maintained).
So the question is: for how many people do you intend to cook? For more people you’ll need a bigger oven so more food can be cooked simultaneously, and/or better insulation, so heat retention is increased.
Tell us where you are and we’ll let you know the nearest dealer.
Or we may send your Carawela directly from the factory.
We make Carawela’s ovens so they last a long time.
To clean the outside of the oven you just need to use a damp cloth.
Refractory brick floor should only be scrapped with a copper wire brush, so any food remains are removed. You should never use water to clean the refractory bricks.
Note: Refractory bricks should be kept dry. Firing the oven with moistered bricks may cause them to crack.
When not in use for a long time the oven should be kept covered.
See how to fire our ovens here.
Carawela’s Pro600 oven takes around 20min to reach 400°C./752°F. (check it in action here). Depending on what you want to cook you may expect 15 to 20min.
Except for Minimo portable pizza oven every Carawela’s wood fired oven comes with a thermometer that shows the temperature of the air inside.
As a rule of thumb for baking (pizzas, bread, etc.) you may throw some flour into the oven’s floor, if it burns (becomes brown) it is too hot.
We recommend you use wood with a low moisture content, otherwise it may be difficult to burn, will produce lesser heat and make plenty of smoke. You may use any non-resinous wood you have available, although you should avoid treated wood.
The quantity of wood needed will depend on several factors, as the time you will use the oven, the temperature needed to cook, etc.
As a guideline check the video on how to light your Carawela oven, consider you’ll have to add some more wood every 15min or so.
The best way to proceed is to always have plenty of wood available.
Besides pizzas you may bake focaccias, bread (ciabatta for example), bruschettas (great way to take advantage of bread starting to get stale), pies, etc.
Also you may even cook potatoes, vegetables, fish or meat, your imagination is the limit!
Go on, experiment, find your own recipes and tell us how it went, so we can share them with others.