This FAQs page intends to provide meaningful information on Carawela Fire Cooking Evolution: how to make the most out of the ovens, grills and this website.
Yes, all Carawela’s products have warranty according to legal requirements (which may be different in different parts of the world).
Nevertheless we make our ovens and grills to last a long time, much longer than the warranty period.
All Carawela’s wood fired ovens and grills are made in 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, retaining it for a long time and slowly realing it;
- an insulation layer that keeps heat inside the oven.
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. How to choose the right grill for me?
Carawela’s range of wood fired plate grills share the main features:
- a container in which fire is made with holes to foster a proper convection airflow;
- a steel plate over the fire container, in which food is cooked.
So the questions are:
- for how many people do you intend to cook? For more people you’ll need a bigger grill (Doze) so more food can be cooked simultaneously.;
- do you intend to move it around? choose Nove (you may disassembe the legs and it is much lighter).
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.
We make Carawela’s grills so they last a long time.
To clean the outside of the grills you just need to use a damp cloth.
The steel plate should be scrapped after every use to remove any food remains and washed with water and dishwashing liquid, after dry some grease (we suggest some edible oil) should be spread to prevent if from rusting.
When not in use for a long time the oven should be kept covered.
Carawela’s ovens take around 15min to reach 400°C./752°F. Please note that the refractory bricks take some time to absorb heat, so may expect another 10 to 15 min so the refractory bricks may absorb as much heat as possible so the oven may maintain temperature longer.
Plate grill heats up fast, depending on weather conditions (cold, wind) it may take from 15 to 20min. The stronger the fire/embers below the more it will heat up.
The right temperature will depend on the food that is going to be cooked and the intention of the cook.
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) immediately it is too hot.
In the plate grills you may spill a few drops of water, if they have no reaction, the plate is cold, if they start to boil, the plate is hot, if they immediately star jumping around the plate 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 (such as pallets, etc.).
The quantity of wood needed will depend on several factors, as the time you will use the oven/grill, 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.
In the ovens you may bake bread, pizzas, bruschettas (great way to take advantage of bread starting to get stale), pies, etc. Also you may cook vegetables, fish or meat, your imagination is the limit!
In plate grills you may grill vegetables, fish and meat.
Go on, experiment, find your own recipes and tell us how it went, so we can share them with others.