Wood Burning Oven
WOOD BURNING OVEN
Our Wood Burning Oven is unique on the island – the only one of its kind in Lanzarote. This was hand-made, on site for Franco by the renowned Italian artisan Maso, and is the key to what makes Casale Franco´s food taste so special.
The smell of wood burning mingled with the aroma of fresh bread is what you will first notice when you walk into our restaurant. At Casale Franco we import all our wood from the Andalucia region of Spain. Different types of wood can create slightly different flavours in the food. We use only olive wood in our ovens as, in our experience, this dense hard wood creates more heat, whilst imparting an earthy yet sweet fruity aroma.
Apart from the pizzas, all our breads and some of our pasta, meat and fish dishes are cooked in our wood burning oven.
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Almost unheard of outside of Italy a few years ago the popularity of wood-fired ovens has recently enjoyed a phenomenal growth especially in the UK, with many celebrity chefs and top restaurants now using them. In expert hands and with careful control, the wood-oven becomes an extremely versatile cooking medium. With its ability to reach different phases of heat, the oven is able to cook a wide range of foods to perfection.
The shape and characteristics of the oven dome encourage fast, uniform heating, whilst the brick oven floor ensures excellent heat retention. The oven can reach extremely high temperatures (400-500 °C on the base & up to 900 °C on the dome) and produces a dry heat that is perfect for quickly sealing in the natural juices of the food, resulting in a depth of flavour that is unattainable from conventional ovens. At its highest temperature the oven is best for cooking pizza. A pizza placed directly onto the brick floor will cook in less than 2 minutes. This high temperature is also ideal to caramelise meats, fish or vegetables, and lock in their natural flavour. By allowing the oven temperature to drop to 300 °C the oven can be used as a grill, ideal for our steaks, burning off fat whilst still maintaining the meat’s natural juices. When the temperature is dropped still further, it is able to achieve a slow- roasting effect, perfect for cooking our signature porchetta, crisp on the outside, tender and succulent on the inside.