Firewood

If you're planning to build a wood-fired oven, then you should really learn a lot about firewood.

A couple of years ago I cut down a white birch tree and sawed it into 16" lengths. I didn't bother to split it, thinking that the birch would simply dry in the woodshed, and I was in no rush. Just last week I started to split it, and I discovered that the wood was rotten inside. The lesson for me was that firewood really needs to be split after its cut so it can dry out properly. This is particularly true of white birch because the bark is highly water-resistant, and if the birch is not split, then the moisture stays inside and damages the firewood. Probably because birch bark forms such a protective coat, the Native Americans used it for canoe construction and vessels to hold water. For great information about firewood go to this website.

Old tire sits on chopping block to prevent firewood from flying helter skelter when split.

                           

 

Bread Pudding

In all fairness I have to admit, there are times when I have too much bread around the house. My wife is an expert at making bread pudding, and it was time to use up all that bread. With her guidance, we both put this together.


 Ingredients:
3 medium apples, peeled and sliced
¾ cup of raisins
4 cups (237g) of 1” cubed bread
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups milk
2 beaten eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
1/4-1/2 cup honey

There are many variations of bread pudding, and there is simply not one recipe. A favorite appears to be a sauce made with brandy or bourbon that's poured over the pudding. hmmm 
 
Procedure:
 Place cubed bread on bottom of Dutch oven (if you need to buy one, then I highly recommend one from Lodge.) Place apples on top of bread. Add butter to milk and scald on stove top, campfire or in wood-fired oven. Add raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, honey to the scalded milk. Add hot liquid slowly to beaten eggs (you don’t want them to cook).
Pour liquid on top of the apples and bread.
Cover Dutch oven and place inside a low to medium hot wood-fired oven. You can maintain a small fire in the back or to the side. It will take approximately 30 minutes to bake. Of course, nothing is exact here because of all the variables in baking outdoors, and for this reason, it’s my favorite way to bake. I like to watch the progress every five minutes or so because I don’t want to burn the dessert.
Serve it hot or cold, and I like it with ice cream. 

Sharing Bread

I think that most of you who read this blog really bake more bread than you and your family can possibly eat. If that's true, Then consider sharing it at a homeless shelter.

 Bourke-White

If you think it's a good idea, here are some sugestions:

Share only your very best loaves.

Avoid crusty loaves because many of the recipients have poor teeth.

Slice the bread before taking it. The workers at the shelter have enough to do.

Place the sliced loaves (after they've thoroughly cooled) in a unsealed plastic bag because you want the bread to breath a little and to stay soft. 

If they like your bread, and I'm sure they will, then you'll probably have trouble keeping up with the demand.

Favorite Photo

Madeleine de Sinety, Four Loaves, 1993, archival pigment print, 10 x 16 inches, Courtesy of the artist.

This has to be one of my all-time favorite photos. Certainly the antithesis of factory bread. I've been trying for years to get a print of this photo from the photographer, and maybe someday I will. In the meantime I simply marvel at the beauty of these rustic French loaves, and who are the people holding them?

Campfire Bread

hotelreservations.com

Bread being pulled from the embers

I was so inspired by these two videos, that I immediately ordered the Dutch oven from Amazon.
What I so like about these videos is their lack of glitzy polish. Eric, the owner of Breadtopia is on a camping trip with his family in the Grand Tetons where he attempts to make campfire bread. Well, he actually does make, but you can tell how unsure he is of himself, and often I feel the same way.

I don't want to say too much about the videos, you know, like giving away the ending and spoiling your experience.

Seeing Eric in this video and others is really like a breath of fresh air. He is so mild mannered that it's downright alarming. I suspect he has a lot of trouble promoting his excellent products on his website, and because of his attitude I have shopped there and will continue to do so. Just for the record, I have no connection to Breadtopia.

Without Fear

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” Steve Jobs


There's a real message here for oven builders and bread bakers. Take big chances. Forget niches. Don't be afraid. Build an unconventional oven and bake what you think won't work.
What's the worst thing that can happen?

www.urbanhomestead.org

 low tech oven base (stump)

yes to earth oven bagels

Baking in the Wood-Fired Oven

Baking bread in a wood-fired oven presents multiple challenges and often a lot of discouragement. To understand some basic principles about wood-fired bread baking, you can look right to your conventional stove in the kitchen. Bake some loaves in a "cloche," and we'll call this "baking undercover."

 

Bread baking under a stainless steel cloche

Imagine that your cloche is really a miniature wood-fired oven that only holds one loaf at a time. Part way through the bake, remove the cover of your cloche and note how bland looking your bread appears to be. It's bland looking because the cloche has been containing all that steam escaping from the dough, and the loaf has not had any time to brown.
Leaving the cloche cover off now and finishing the bake, the steam will dissipate, and the bread will brown nicely.

 Bread baking in a Dutch oven

Now translate this to your wood-fired oven. Your baking loaves need steam at the beginning of the bake, but a dry atmosphere for a finish.

 

Bread baking in a WFO

Baking loaves in a tightly sealed wood-fired oven may provide enough steam, but if they don't, then you'll have to use a steamer. 

The steamer

The most important thing to remember is that you're not going to get good at baking in a WFO unless you bake lots of bread.

Earth Oven Workshop

Although we had to work under pop up canopies because of the rain, I felt we had a great workshop. Never underestimate the weight of an earth oven. It took six of us load the oven onto the pickup truck. Now I hope that the truck doesn't become a permanent resting place for the oven.

Fast Food Mythology

Unfortunately, many people assume that eating crap at fast food places costs less than eating real food at home. Well, it's simply not true. Check out this provocative article in the New York Times by Mark Bittman.
And now check out this glaring graphic to bring it all into focus.
But in all fairness to those who are involved in relationships where everyone works full time, I can easily understand why it's hard to summon up the energy to prepare meals night after night at home. Certainly, if folks share the meal preparations, then it becomes more manageable.
Just about everywhere, people seem to be working harder, and they're making less money, so something has to change.

An example of "real food"

Jesse Cottingham's Oven

Check out Jesse's oven project, and note the very sturdy wooden base he constructed for the oven. He's going to need some help this November in constructing a shelter for the oven. If you'd like to assist him in western Maine, send me an e-mail, and I'll put you in touch with him.