Pizza, two lots of bread and a roast What You Cooked Last Night Discuss Pizza, two lots of bread and a roast in the Brick Oven Cooking forums; ... my biggest problem with the oven at the moment is that I feel it sould never be empty while ...

[Frances]

... my biggest problem with the oven at the moment is that I feel it sould never be empty while its still got heat in it. Its quite a logistical challenge getting the different foods ready in advance so as to put them in when the oven reaches the right heat.

1. 5 Pizzas at 12:30 (no photo as I was too busy forming and cooking them), made the dough the night before. The last one was a desert pizza with nutella, mascarpone and brown sugar. Try it, it is soooo YUMMMMY!!

2. No-knead bread cooked on an iron pot: The dough needs to rise for 18 hours, then rest for three... the oven needs to be hot but not very hot... So I made the dough the previous afternoon, and formed it before I fired the oven. That timing seemed to work quite well.

3. Regular bread, made the dough right after firing up the oven, but somehow the kitchen wasn't as warm as usual, so it took forever to rise, and by that time the oven temperature had dropped too far. It did bake, but just barely.

4. Roast for dinner (sorry about the lousy pic, but I was so hungry by then I nearly forgot to take it ). Started marinating it in the morning, put it in the oven at 18:00 in the same pot I used for the bread, and left it there for two hours, along with another pot of potatoes. The roast was great, but the oven should have been a bit hotter for the potatoes.

Next time I think I will have to fire the oven up for longer, so there is more heat left by evening. Or maybe I should have built up the fire again after cooking pizzas? But then the first lot of bread would have had to wait for too long...

I'm telling you, the learning experience just goes on and on...

[DrakeRemoray]

Good job using that heat!

I find it helpful to keep some notes on how long you fired it, what temp it was x hours after etc.

Do you have a door now?

Drake

[Frances]

Yep, I've got a thick wooden (slightly charred) door. Good idea about keeping notes, I should probably do that.

Frances

[sarah h]

WOW! It all looks amazing, mouthwatering - so what's the lousy pic?? The life and character that's displayed on your table is incredible!
I know what you mean about feeling that a hot oven should not be empty ... we fired ours tonight, initially just for more curing, and ended up cooking dinner in it. Wonderful, isn't it, the added dimension it gives?

Sarah

[Frances]

Originally Posted by sarah h

The life and character that's displayed on your table is incredible!

That remark completely made my day (no mean feat with all the rain we're having at the moment) ... thank you, Sarah!