512-222-OVEN (6836)

29
DEC
2016
bubble popper

Bubble Popper Does More than Pop Bubbles

Be it ever so humble there’s no tool quite as handy a multi-tasker as the bubble popper. Don’t be fooled by the fanciful name bubble popper or the $10 price tag. This simple tool can push, pull, poke, stir, lift, dock, and move. It’s easier to illustrate than...
22
DEC
2016
root vegetables in a basket wood-fired oven

Root Vegetables Worth Trying

As the year winds down, we’re used to seeing best-of lists, ideas for party menus, and Disney’s now-annual Star Wars offering. But it is also the best time to find a wild variety of odd-looking root vegetables. Why not combine these winter themes? Here is our...
16
DEC
2016

Cure and Re-cure an Illustrated Guide

Most people interested in wood-burning ovens quickly learn about the importance of curing. Brick, block, mortar, concrete block and refractory clay all absorb moisture. During construction and manufacture, the oven masonry absorbs water. The initial oven cure drives that moisture...
02
DEC
2016
dinner rolls wood-fired oven pizza oven bread baking

Dinner Rolls worth the Indulgence

About 12 years ago I stopped looking at (let alone trying) recipes for dinner rolls. Bernard Clayton’s description of his mother’s dinner rolls in The New Complete Book of Bread (page 522) was so compelling I immediately made a batch. They shut the door on every...
22
NOV
2016
wood-fired-oven-roasting-onions red onions pizza oven wood-fired oven

Roasting Onions: Side, Condiment, Secret Ingredient

It’s a running joke with friends and family that I’m often trying to do too many things at one time. A few months back, despite the lanyard timer, I was roasting onions and left them tucked into the oven near the fire for a little bit longer than planned. This mistake...
17
NOV
2016

Dry Brine for Thanksgiving Turkey

It’s time to think about roasting turkey in your wood-fired oven. I’ve been a fan of brining turkey since reading a Cook’s Illustrated analysis back in the ’90s. Since 2011 when I got my wood-burning oven, we’ve upgraded the turkey thanks to...
11
NOV
2016
cranberries

Cranberries before Thanksgiving

While thinking about Thanksgiving I saw fresh cranberries this week and decided to try something new. But first, something old…the name of the berry. The Pilgrims called it the crane-berry because the flower resembled a crane’s bill. Cranberries were not known in...
03
NOV
2016
Kabocha for roasting in wood-fired oven pizza oven squash

Kabocha with wood-fired flair

Among all the colorful, delicious winter squashes–Delicata, Hubbard, Butternut, Spaghetti, Acorn, Turban, Calabaza—I discovered Kabocha. The first time I roasted it in the wood-fired oven, I knew it would become a favorite for our family. Japanese pumpkin Kabocha squash...
06
OCT
2016
roasting brassicas

Fermentation, another food tradition worth reviving

What would you do without your refrigerator? How would you keep all that food from spoiling? You might do what Dave did with an old refrigerator. Or you add salt, give it time, and depend on fermentation. Fermentation is a sound and safe method to preserve food that’s...
29
SEP
2016
crackers wood-fired seeded crackers

Crackers Earn Kudos

If a cracker is crisp and delicious, you probably can’t eat just one. In that sense, they are like chips, one is not enough. Master baker Peter Reinhart, now on the educational side of the bread-baking revolution, states If I were to go back into the baking business, it...