Wood suppliers for Pizza ovens in Sydney

[Narmnaleg]

Hi all,

I thought I'd start this thread so that anyone that shares the pizza WFO bug can refer and hopefully add to it.

I'm new to the WFO thing, but I've found that the type of wood used makes a huge difference to the cooking process and results. Keeping steady high temps in a small WFO takes some learning and one of the main things I've learned so far is that having the right fuel makes it so much easier to maintain the high temps required for neapolitan pizza (350c to 450c).

Other than the usual suspects (Bunnings and Masters) the only supplier I can add to the list is Ample Firewood (near Flemington markets)

I was there a few days ago and Charlie was extremely helpful in providing advice and information on not only the best firewood to get, but also where to go in Sydney to get the best WFO pizza (he supplies most of the highly rated WFO pizza joints in Sydney as well as the most renowned Churrascarias). It was great talking to him and will be getting my wood exclusively from there unless one of you can point me in a better direction.

I thought I'd post a pic of the type of wood Charlie suggested for my particular pizza oven. As you probably know I have a Maximus, which is only 60cm deep and 60cm wide, so I can't put huge logs into it. Fortunately Charlie also has a Maximus so he was able to point me in the right direction from the start (it sounds like he might have a few WFOs).

Here is the stuff I used last night, the can of tomatoes is for size reference. On the left is the kindling and on the right are the larger chunks:


It was easily the best wood I've used so far. I needed only 3 large chunks and a few bits of kindling for the entire cook. The size and intensity of the fire generated was just right and my oven got to 375c with no trouble at all and best of all stayed there!

[hoddo]

Best wood I've come across is from https://bettaburnfirewood.com.au/ Their vintage hardwood is Iron bark and Yellowbox only and well seasoned (up to 15 years). It's heavy as concrete, burns very hot and doesn't leave much ash. Its seems expensive but its worth it. Cant comment on their eco-mix. Another bonus is they sell by weight not volume so you know you are getting your moneys worth.

[Gumb]

Selling by weight is great. Nothing pisses me off more than buying what is supposed to be a cubic meter and it's tipped in from a tractor bucket. Half the space is fresh air!

[Narmnaleg]

Thanks for that Hoddo. I'll definitely keep them in mind. I'm a bit restricted with space, so generally I buy only a few 20kg bags at a time as I haven't the room for a tonne.

Ample also sell by weight if you buy in bags.

[Gatsby]

I'm thankful that most of my family are farmers - so I've an (almost) endless supply of good quality wood. Just need to keep in good with providing some smoked salmon or bacon!
Saying that there is a duplex going up 3 houses down & I asked the builder if I could grab the frame offcuts - no problems. A heap of 2x4 offcuts should be good for kindling at the very least. It is plain timber not treated.

[Budgetburner]

I don't know if this helps over there in Sydney but I go to my local landscaping place as they sell fire wood for woodheaters, they normally just use a loader and tip it into your trailer and you pay by weight. But I don't need that much being mostly for just the pizza oven, so they let me just walk over and handpick out the bits (small size) I want and I just put how much I want in the boot of the car.

I get a boot load for about $10-15 and nice hand-picked bits just the sizes I like/want and it works for them also as it gets rid of the smaller bits people don't want for the heaters