Bread and Pizza

So it has been about a month and a half since we completed the oven, and it has been working fantastically for us. It has taken some getting used to as it is much different than the 5x7' oven we worked with previously, but products of the same standard are coming out of this smaller version.

Here is a general timeline for using this oven:

Saturday

10:00 - Start the fire, stoking it as needed

2:00 - In the case of a pizza party, this about when it would be. I would have focused the firing in the front 2/3 of the baking chamber because that is where the pizzas will be cooking. About 10-20 minutes before the first pizzas are ready to go in, push the fire to the back of the oven and clean the front half with rags and a broom. The pizzas should only take 3-5 minutes (with a naturally-leavened sourdough crust) depending on how hot the oven is.

4:00 - If you started firing at 10:00 for bread, and did not have a pizza party, this is when you would let the fire die out and let the coals linger.

5:00-5:30 - Scrape the remaining coals out of the oven, and put the door on the oven. This allows the heat to equalize before baking.

6:00-8:00 - Bake bread! Too many variables to try and explain here. For our naturally-leavened breads we bake them when the laser thermometer reads in the upper 500s (Fahrenheit).

Sunday - Don't forget to keep using the heat as the days pass! If the oven is insulated well, you can be using this oven for days. We would make beans, roasts, chicken legs, casseroles, baked french toast, potatoes, almost anything! If it is not quite high enough temperature, make a small fire with 3-5 pieces of wood (about 30-40 minute burn) and the oven will be pretty hot again for whatever you want to cook.

Monday-Wednesday - Still hot enough to reheat leftovers. Down with microwaves!

Thursday -Friday - Depending on whether or not you made more fires during the week, these days have had the perfect temperature for making yogurt (110F)! You can make a gallon of yogurt for the price of a gallon of milk, and you have the perfect way of making it.

Saturday - Make another fire and do it all over again!

Some pictures: