Confessions of a Pizzaholic

In the interest of total honesty I must admit that my obsessions include most every food in the bread family. you remember the bread family don't you? It's part of the food pyramid that Dr. Atkins decimated some years back.

I just returned from Europe and I've got to say that I don't think I'll be able to eat typical American bread for several weeks. In Europe the bread that is served each day was baked that very morning. In the USA the bread that we eat was grown in a lab with several tasty artificial flavors and preservatives, then it's bagged so it can sit on the store shelf and later in the kitchen for weeks. Yuck!

The good new is it doesn't have to be that way.

All over America (and Canadia) people are returning to the old artisan craft of bread baking in wood0fired ovens.

This blog is dedicated to my love of wood-fired ovens and most every thing that emerges from them. I'll use this blog to post interesting articles and links to sites that I feel are worth while, and if all goes well I may even get around to building an oven too!

One of the best books for any wood-fired oven cook

Amazon.com Review
In recent years, a revived and burgeoning interest in wholesome, locally baked bread has swept the country, with bakeries springing up in small towns and major urban areas alike, producing an astounding variety of interesting, crusty, tasty, handmade breads. The Bread Builders explains the grains and flours, leavens and doughs, the chemistry of bread, and the physics of baking in a big book filled with helpful drawings, photographs, recipes, and tips. In a unique angle for a book on baking bread, it also includes detailed diagrams and instructions for building your own masonry bread oven from scratch. As Laurel Robertson, author of The New Laurel's Kitchen says, "This book is ice cream for a baker! We visit legendary bakeries, meet wonderful people, learn all sorts of fascinating scientific information with practical usefulness in bowl and oven, and best of all, get the skinny on masonry ovens, the cherished fantasy of us all." The enthusiasm of the authors in their search for the perfect loaf of bread permeates this detailed but lively and accessible book, and will offer much of use to both amateur and professional bread makers. --Mark A. Hetts

Alan Scott's essential The Bread Builders: Hearth Loaves and Masonry Ovens

Here's a link to The Bread Builders book for sale on eBay

Video of pizza in a Forno Bravo wood-fired oven

I LOVE THIS SITE!

Forno Bravo is an Italian manufacturer of wood-fired ovens. Their ovens are unique in that they are shipped as prefabricated segments which are then assembled by you on your site. They have a very strong reputation and their site is wonderful! If you would rather build a brick oven from scratch they even have a free eBook to walk you through the process! To receive the eBook you'll first have to register, then they'll send you a confirmation email with a link to your free download. I did this some time ago and can confirm that they do not SPAM your inbox following the registration.

They have an active forum, links, recipes, photos and lots more.
Here's a few links to my favorite things on their site:

The Pompeii Oven Plans

The Firenze Concept Oven

Pizza Oven Glossary

Pizza Oven FAQ

Pizza Oven Anatomy

Pizza Oven Design Styles

Outdoor Kitchen Design Primer

Vera Pizza Napoletana

Pizza Oven Photograph Journal

The Ancient Pompeii Oven Photos

A Brief History of the Pizza Oven

Ciabatta Bread Baking in a Forno Bravo Wood Fired Oven

Here's a great FREE site that will keep you informed if anything new gets posted!

You can be the first to know if something new is added to this blog (Or any other site of interest for that matter). Visit http://www.watchthatpage.com/ and sign up for a free account. You can then add any url to your personal list and you'll be emailed should anything change. I've used this site for several years to keep track of changes on one of my favorite sites: http://www.woodshopdemos.com/ which is a site that rarely changes. Test it out with our blog and you'll be the first to know if anything changes!