Thank God I found this website.

[santoslhalper]

My name is Jon and I'm currently the baker at a wood fired brick oven flatbread pizza joint (that's a mouthful) in Philly. I've been baking pies for about 6 months and have become enamored with the oven, heat management, and of course delicious pizza. After browsing on this site for merely a few hours I found answers to tons of questions I've always had. I can't wait to get involved in the community. Thank you Forno Bravo - for existing!

[splatgirl]

word. Can't imagine life without my WFO and that would never have been possible without this forum.

Welcome!

[dmun]

Welcome Jon, I love northwest Philly. From Germantown to Chestnut hill it's one amazing thing after another.

[texassourdough]

Welcome aboard, Jon!

WFOs are, as you have learned, addictive. Like sourdough they have their own personalities, traits, preferences, and rewards!

Bake On!
Jay

[heliman]

Yes, I fully agree .. this forum is tops. A wealth of information. I had almost given up on the idea of making decent pizzas in my WFO (after 7 years). The renewed enthusiasm drawn from the great folk here have set me on the right path to pizza perfection...

Welcome to the family!

Rossco

[fxpose]

Ditto. I am building my oven because of this forum. If I hadn't found this site I would have continued to bake my pies in the kitchen and on the Weber.

[cannyfradock]

My sentiments exactly Santoslhalper........and welcome to the forum

Terry (C.F)

[heliman]

One particularly notable aspect of this forum that sets it apart from others is that the people kind of get to know one another and interact on a more personal level. Perhaps this has something to do with the size of this virtual community, but it appears that it attract a more personable type of contributor too. The sense of support in sharing information extends right through every level from the FB owners themselves to the person making their first post. In some respect this is a major achievement as these fora tend to have a habit of attracting a distruptive element too which often leads to discord amongst contributors. I have not seen any such activities here and visit the site regularly myself to learn and contribute where I can in support of the common objective that is to build on a central body of knowledge around WFO cooking and building.

Rossco

[RTflorida]

Welcome santos. You've found a great place with great people...really the only resource needed for success in wood fired ovenry (is that a word?).

Rossco, you make several good points. I would also point out that many times the disruptive element has no intention of being disruptive.....they are merely passionate about their own opinions and lose their tactfulness at times (I have been guilty on several occasions). BIG learning curve for some of us, I really don't participate on any other forum or blog. My direct, to the point, sometimes controversial approach in the real world does not translate well in the online world.

That said...ALL of us are here to help.

RT

[heliman]

Thanks for the comments RT...

Just to clarify - I am a member of a few other groups (like RC helicopters) and there are users there that start flame wars, abuse others and generally indulge in activities that detract from a positve experience for other posters.

The reference to "disruptive behaviour" in this forum was not about different points of view (which should be encouraged here), but rather people actively seeking to frustrate the flow of information among contributors. The affect that this has, over the long term, is that people become reluctant to contribute and may even leave the community altogether.

Rossco