What is the difference between a wood-fired pizza oven and a regular grill?

In the Faster Greta it takes 45 to 60 minutes to reach pizza temperature, 300 to 400 degrees. It depends on the type of wood, the amount and the outdoor temperature.

Start with kindling and firelighters. Build the fire gradually. Use dry birch or beech for the best results. You know the oven is ready when the stones in the oven section have turned light grey. That means they have stored enough heat to bake pizza in two to four minutes.

Much more. Faster Greta is really a wood-fired all-round oven. Bread, focaccia, gratins, whole roast chicken, root vegetables, even dessert. Anything that works in a regular oven works here, with the addition of wood smoke flavour.

The key is to use the oven's temperature curve. Pizza first, at the highest heat. Then bread and gratins when the temperature has dropped to 200 to 250 degrees. Finally slow cooking and drying in the residual heat. One firing session can provide food for the whole day.

Choose a flat, stable and fireproof surface. Concrete, paving stones or natural stone work well. Avoid wooden decks without extra protection. Faster Greta weighs roughly 135 kilos, so the surface needs to support the weight without giving way.

Keep at least one metre from combustible materials. Never place the oven under a roof, pergola or tree branches. Think about wind direction. You do not want smoke blowing straight at the dinner table or towards your neighbour's terrace. And think practically: keep firewood, water and ingredients close at hand.

A simple dough with flour, water, salt, olive oil and yeast. Nothing remarkable. What makes the difference is letting the dough rise for a long time, preferably 24 hours in the fridge. It gives better flavour and a dough that handles the high heat without burning.

Use pizza flour (tipo 00) if you can find it. It gives a supple, elastic dough that rolls thin and bakes quickly. Roll it thin. In a wood-fired oven like Faster Greta the pizza bakes in two to four minutes. Thick dough will not cook through before the top burns.

Let the oven cool completely. Brush out ash from the firebox with an ash scoop. Brush the pizza stone with a wire brush while it is still slightly warm. Food residue usually burns off from the heat, but stubborn spots come off with the brush.

Faster Greta is made from corten steel that needs no maintenance. The patina protects the surface. Never use water or detergent on the hot stones. They can crack from the temperature difference. Beyond that, it is essentially maintenance-free. The same material, year after year.

Faster Greta is built in corten steel and designed to stand outdoors year-round. Rain, snow and frost do no damage. The patina that forms on the corten steel is exactly what protects the oven from rusting through.

You can bake in rain if you want to. The oven gets hot enough that the rain does not affect cooking. Some people use a roof or awning for comfort, but the oven itself needs no protection. Avoid covering it with a tight tarpaulin that traps moisture, though. Corten steel wants to breathe.

Heat the oven to 300 to 400 degrees. In the Faster Greta it takes roughly 45 to 60 minutes. Flour the pizza stone well. Roll thin bases. They bake in two to four minutes. Rotate the pizza halfway. Have all your ingredients ready before you start, close to the oven. It should go fast once the oven is hot. The wood smoke gives the pizza a flavour no regular oven can match. That is the real difference.

The pizza stone is an accessory that sits on top of the built-in stones in the oven section. It protects the stones underneath and provides even heat for a perfect pizza base:

• Oil the pizza stone with cooking oil before first use
• Place the stone in the oven section on top of the existing stones
• Fire up the oven to a high temperature – for pizza you want at least 300–400°C
• For maximum temperature, you can remove the heat shield (the metal plate between the firebox and the oven) – this allows heat to radiate directly up towards the pizza stone

The pizza stone retains heat well, so you can bake several pizzas in a row. Brush the stone with a wire brush after use.