| Sal's Wood Burning Oven |
| Dedicated to the Bread Bakers Guild of America |
| I am an avid home bread baker and I have wanted for sometime to take the next step in my avocation and bake in a genuine masonry oven. I'm currently constructing a wood-fired masonry oven in my back yard.So what follows is the evolution of that endeavor. I will periodically put progress photos on this site so you can follow my work I hope I can get others interested in baking and eating the best bread possible. Don't let Atkins get in your way what did he know anyway. By the way my wife and sons are 100% behind me but most of my friends think I'm weird but they ALL secretly wish they could do the same thing. |
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| HOW DOES A RETAINED HEAT OVEN WORK? You Might Ask I used to; you build a fire in the center of the hearth, [where the bread is baked] small at first than larger as the fire gets going, until the outside masonry reaches about 700 degrees. At that point the fire has pretty much burned down and its swept out and the oven is cleaned or mopped. You let it sit for about 25 minute for the temperature to equalize and all the little degrees to spread into the parts of the masonry that haven't gotten hot. This makes for very even baking and no hot spots, part of the reason for all the cement and brick in the first place. While the fire is burning and the oven heating up you're not sitting around watching the embers glow. You are busy making the bread dough and proofing and shaping it into what is becoming recognizable as loaves of bread. I didn't mention anything about this being a spectator sport, right. When the oven is ready, at the same time you and the dough are, if you did it right, into the oven it goes. About 25 minutes later you?re taking out about 12 loaves of delicious hearth baked bread. and usually the neighbors are gathered around because the aroma has preceded your notice. That's it, believe it or not this is the most relaxing thing I do, because it forces me to focus and forget the rest of the world. |
| Update: I'm currently trying to figure out if I'd be better off buying a pre-made oven kit or building my own as in the Oven Builders book. OK I got the info and the price for a ready made is astronomical and with shipping is absolutely crazy. I'm back to making the Hearth Box myself.And the entire oven for that matter. What Luck; I have found a local stone mason and believe it or not his name is Vito. He's from Italy, originally, and seems anxious to work on the oven with me. Apparrently he wasn't anxious enough he went back to Italy for a while I think. So I bought the fire bricks and I'm back to plan A (build it myself) |
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| LINKS: The Bread Bakers Guild of America King Aurthur Flour William Rubel a Master of Open Hearth cooking |
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| I am making progress, slow but progress none the less. Who needs Vito anyway? |
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