Baguettes!

I know its been ages since I've posted, but since I started cooking there haven't been any major developments. When I'm baking pizza, I can't work on the oven. And lately, all I've been doing has been baking. But today the big development was baguette success. My attempt at baking wood fired bread came out pretty good. They were nicely browned and the insides were soft (though a tad bit chewy). Needs some work with getting a good thick crust (higher temperature I think) and more flavor as this one came out a bit bland. However, these came out nice so I just need to tweak the recipe a bit.

Now, I need to decide if I should work on the oven next week or bake again. Sigh. Decisions, decisions!

You might be wondering what else needs to be done, now that the oven is fully operational. Its actually mostly aesthetics, but will make the whole thing look nice. From the picture below, you can see that the outer cement coat is complete, it just needs a coat of paint. I need to get that done before the rains start to complete the waterproofing of the oven. I also plan to line the base of oven with brick tiles, since its just plain concrete now.


The main work I want to accomplish is to fix the front of the oven. As you can see below it is still very rough. I plan to put smooth coat of concrete in front and line it with brick tiles to give it a more finished look.


And just so you know, the pizza is still great. I've been experimenting with flour combinations and length of kneading time, to try and get a light dough with crunch. At this point, I am partial to a 50/50 blend of regular bread flour and 00 Italian pizza flour. I plan to try using 100% 00 flour one more time. I did this back when I was just baking in a regular oven and was not happy with the results. But with the wood fired oven and higher temperatures it just might work out.

So I'll leave you with my favorite pizza - Margherita (basic cheese with tomatoes and a sprinkling of fresh basil leaves).

Pizza!

Here it is, the first pizza to come from the oven. This is the payoff from five months of weekends working on the oven and it was all worth it. I could do with a better food stylist for the pictures, though. This was a basic cheese, tomato and mushroom pizza, by the way.

It doesn't look great, partially because it had already been attacked by the resident pizza monsters that hang around my house. But I will point out a key attribute from a wood fired oven pizza - slight charring on the rim and browned edges. You can't tell from the picture but it had the crunch on the crust that I had not been able to achieve with my regular oven.

The most satisfying part of this is that it came out good and I know what to work on to make it better. If the first pizza had been a total disaster that would have been a major let down. As it was, the pizzas got better as the night wore on.

Anchovies with Cheese and Tomato

More Anchovies and cheese. This was actually one of the better pizzas of the night, nicely browned edges, even cooking. Practice makes perfect I guess.

I made eight pizzas tonight, more than I have ever done before. Because the oven performed so well, it was quite easy. With the high temperatures the pizzas cooked in 5 minutes or less, depending on how hot it was. Peak temperature in the oven was over 800 degrees.

Overall, things are performing as expected. It takes about an hour to get to cooking temperature and it looks like it will hold the temperature well. When I quit for the evening, the bricks were still registering a temperature of over 500 degrees Farenheit after the fires had been banked and it was just the coals inside.

I am quite happy with the first pizza run. I've made some mental notes on things to improve on to get even better results. It is so satisfying to have things work out fine after working on this since July, not knowing how it would come out.

Pizza day has finally arrived and it was a success!

Fire In The Hole!

Its not the nicest picture, but this is the first fire lit in the pizza oven! Dec 7 goes down as the date of the first fire. We're not yet at pizza stage but we are getting there.


All the elements are coming together. I got a delivery of wood last week, so it's stored under the oven, waiting for the big day.


The following pictures are from the second firing, which I just did today Dec 9.

Loading up the oven (just kindling wood and paper this time).


Rafael getting ready to light it up!











Flame ON!

These are still pretty small fires to slowly break in the oven. I need to run a series of seven firings, before it can handle pizza temperature. Each firing I target a temperature higher than the previous one, until we get to 900 degrees F. The first fire went up to 200, the second one up to 300, and so on. At this rate we'll be ready to really cook by Sunday.

Also you'll notice that the finish on the oven is still quite rough. I need to smooth the finish and work on the stucco look; and maybe paint it too. But all of that is cosmetic touches.

Its been five months since I started this project in July and now this oven is ready to bake!

Vent and Chimney Done!

The vent and chimney went up on Saturday and the oven is looking ready to go!

Last week (Nov 22 amd 23) was devoted to making the vent. It was actually a challenging task of making the form - masonry speak for the wood shape that the concrete will be poured into - and pouring the concrete. It took the better part of a day to put the form together. I made it using Hardiflex fiberboard, instead of plywood, screwed on to metal strips called furring. Once the form was done, I mixed up the concrete to pour in. I realized just how back breaking this work can be. It is a very strenuous task to mix up a batch of concrete and I had to make multiple batches.

So if you remember from the last post, there was nothing on top of the bricks in front of the dome. The white structure beneath the chimney is the concrete vent. The other surprise for me, was just how much the thing weighed! I could barely move it across the lawn by myself, let alone lift it up into place. Must have weighed about 50 kilos. I had to enlist the help of Rafael and the driver next door to get it into place.

The chimney was much easier. Very straightforward brick laying. A welcome change from the last phase of the bricks on the dome. You can see the completed chimney in the next picture.



This is the state of the oven when I left it today. I finished placing the insulation (that's the white stuff all over the dome) and the wire mesh around the insulation. I also started the first layer of concrete to seal up the whole thing. I had originally planned on finishing the first concrete layer this long weekend, but I under estimated the work.

Mixing cement is a real pain! I mix bigger batches now but it is very taxing. I would have wanted to go on to do some more, but my back and leg muscles were screaming. Oh well, at least this work is not complicated so I can do a bit more at night to catch up on my timetable.

I know I said first week December and I was hoping to fire up after next weekend. But it looks like it might be pushed back a week, but no more than that.

RFP is getting really close. I can taste it already!

Another Picture of the Dome

Just wanted to show off the dome again, so here is a better perspective on it. Also I wanted to explain the amount of additional work that is needed before I can start cooking.

First of all that area on the right side (in front of the dome) is where the vent and chimney are going. That section needs to be topped off with a concrete vent and then a brick chimney goes on top of the vent. Fabrication of the vent will happen over the next week.

Secondly, after the vent is done, an insulating blanket will go over the dome and part of the vent. This will help hold in the heat and ensure the oven reaches the higher temperatures needed for pizza.

Finally, another layer of concrete goes over the insulation and the vent. This is pretty much cosmetic, but as you can see, the dome doesn't look very nice. I am going to attempt a stucco style finish on the igloo that will cover the dome. The insulation and finishing steps will happen the week following.

So, hopefully all goes well. These final stages means venturing into new territory again for me. Pouring the concrete vent and laying the concrete with stucco finishing are things I have never done before.

The Dome Is Done!

I finished the dome today! A week behind schedule, because of the rain last Sunday, but I was able to close the dome. I really pushed things along to get it done today and it got more exciting as I got down to the last brick. This last brick is called the keystone and had to be cut to fit the hole. A snug fit locks all the other bricks in place and makes it structurally sound.

The laying of the keystone was a major event and I made sure to have full photo coverage, thanks to my son Rafael.

This is the keystone just before it gets put in.



This is the spot where the keystone goes in.



Putting the keystone into place.



Applying the mortar to secure the keystone.



Today is a major milestone for me and it feels great to have finally made it this far. Over the next few weeks I will finish the vent and chimney, put the insulation and finish the housing (got to make it look presentable!)

Then its time to fire it up! Still looking good for first week of December for RFP!

Almost there . . .

From this view it looks like the dome is done, but I still have a few more chains to go. Chains is brick layer speak for a row or line of bricks.



From the top view, you get a clearer idea of how much more there is to go. It really is about 10 to 15 more bricks that need to be mortared in place. But the going is really slow.



The actual brick laying is quite tedious now, since the only way to do it is to stand over the dome. This means bending over, putting each brick down and adding mortar to hold it in place. Its quite tiring since I am stooped over for extended periods. And I also have to climb down from the stand to get more material (bricks and mortar) then climb back up. A decent work out actually.



But what slows down things most is the constant cutting and shaping of the bricks to fit snugly. As I get closer to the top of the dome, the curve is sharper and the straight bricks don't really fit well. Most of the previous chains were built on half-bricks, but now as I get to the top, I use quarter-bricks as well to get a better fit. I've also had to cut wedge shaped bricks for a better fit. More detailed pictures next time.

I had hoped to close the dome this weekend, but Sunday afternoon was a bust. I made good progress on Saturday and on Sunday morning. But it rained all afternoon. It would have been better if it was just a sudden downpour, but it was a slow steady drizzle that never let up.

I'm seriously thinking about working in the evenings now just to make up for lost time. If only the mosquitoes would cooperate . . .