The Wood-Fired Blog
You Can Only Get So Far Without a Brick Oven
Sep 08, 2012Sometimes you find yourself in a hurry, or in a really busy day, but you still want nice, fresh baked bread. This is particularly true on Fridays. Busy, dinner with the family — those things. So yesterday I had enough time to mix and shape two baguettes, but not enough time to fire my Strada oven. Or, way it a lack of energy, rather than a lack of time. Hmmm.... Read More
A Forno Bravo Pizza Oven in a 1952 Chevy Pickup Truck
Sep 08, 2012How cool is this, a Forno Bravo pizza oven in a 1952 Chevy Pickup Truck If you look closely, right above the driver’s side windshield, you can see the chimney pipe and spark arrestor. In their own words: “Pizza Luca offers on-site catering in the tri-state area, including Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam counties, Fairfield, CT, and Northern NJ. We’re also available for private engagements in New York City. We follow all the... Read More
Getting Organized
Sep 07, 2012Time for some time-and-motion organizing. Every minute counts when you are making bread nearly every day, so I have ordered some Oxo storage containers. That way, I will always know where everything is, it will be easy to use and I won’t spill as much — meaning I won’t have to do as much clean up. Don’t you find that you are always pouring flour all over the place when... Read More
Outdoor Fireplace from DwellingGawker
Sep 06, 2012Check out this stylish Outdoor Fireplace from DwellingGawker. That is very nice work. It reminds me of the Bell Gabled houses in Amsterdam. Read More
Another Day, Another Over-Proofed Loaf
Sep 05, 2012The upside of this is that I haven’t made this mistake for a while. My boule was over-proofed before my oven was ready — you could definitely tell. The outer skin of the loaf was very soft and almost ready to fall in; it wasn’t even firm enough to properly score. The problem? I can track it all the way back to my dough prep — where quickly measuring my... Read More
Feathers and Insulation
Sep 05, 2012Insulation is a topic that I always find interesting. Thinking back to my first brick oven, and trying to work out how high heat retention and insulation work, and the various roles that bricks, concrete, sand and vermiculite play — it was all a lot of fun. Besides, what the heck is vermiculite anyway? Along similar lines, I heard an interesting Podcast today on Fresh Air about “feathers”. According to... Read More
Slightly Less Challenging Bread
Sep 04, 2012Some people like crusty, nutty, tangy, chewy bread. You can count me as one of them. But not everybody is the same, and as the household baker, I am held accountable to the standards of my constituents — the family. And if I go too far down the path toward hearty, challenging bread (and if you throw in a mistake here and there), my eaters will start to become leery,... Read More
History of the World in 100 Objects
Sep 01, 2012If you enjoy the TED Talks, I think you would also enjoy BBC and the British Museum’s History of the World in 100 Objects. According to Wikipedia: A History of the World in 100 Objects was a joint project of BBC Radio 4 and the British Museum, comprising a 100-part radio series written and presented by British Museum director Neil MacGregor. In 15-minute presentations broadcast on weekdays on Radio 4, MacGregor used objects of ancient art,... Read More
