New Guy from Ohio

[Polo]

Hi all,
My name is Mark and I hail from the great state of Ohio. I finished the construction of my Alan Scott style barrel vault oven last fall and have been lurking in the pages of this fine site, seeking wisdom regarding oven management and pizza baking. I've tried my hand at pizza in my oven a few times and must say that I have been impressed with the results. The crust has been to my liking, but my sauce seems to leave something to be desired. I'll keep studying and hopefully will learn from the multitude of knowleagable members that frequent this site.

Mark

[wheelman]

welcome Polo!  i look forward to seeing photos of your oven and the baked goods that you create there.
bill

[Polo]

welcome Polo!  i look forward to seeing photos of your oven and the baked goods that you create there.
bill

Thanks for the welcome, wheelman. I'll post some pictures once I learn my way around here a bit

Mark

[wheelman]

Mark,
i've been working on bread in a pizza oven.  should be interesting to see pizza from a bread oven.  i'm sure they both have their challenges. 
cheers
bill

[Polo]

Bill,
I saw your Tartine bread thread and it looks like you've got the bread thing pretty well down pat. Your baguettes looked great.

I recently spent a couple of days at the King Arthur Flour Education Center taking a course titled "Baking Bread in a Wood Fired Oven", taught by Dan Wing no less. He would have preferred your darker crusted baguettes, but both looked very good to me.

Mark

 

[wheelman]

man, that sounds cool.  i love the Scott/Wing book. the crux of the matter seems to me to be getting enough steam into the oven for the first half of the bake.  how did they recommend doing that?  i'm proofing some country loaves right now.  i was planning to spray my garden sprayer for a couple of minutes before and after loading and maybe putting a wet towel in the oven during baking. 
bill

[Polo]

I also use a garden sprayer as does Dr Wing. If you have a full bake (oven full to capacity) you can usually just get away with steaming the oven thouroughly once after loading and leave the door shut until loaves are done. That mass of dough actually helps to steam itself. Dan steamed his oven once (12 - 2 lb loaves) and then closed the door and waited about 25 minutes before checking his loaves. I don't usually load mine up completely, so I will steam my oven 2 to 3 times in the first 10 to 12 minutes of the bake. I have heard of people loading a cast iron pot with a layer of lava rock in the oven during heat up, then pouring water in the pot immediately after loading bread. I have also heard of people using these http://www.sharkclean.com/Shark-SC630-Portable-Steam-Pocket/. Attach a hose to the end and make yourself a special "steaming door" with a hole big enough for the hose.
I guess there are many ways, but your bread looked very good to me. Is it sourdough?

[wheelman]

thanks!  maybe this will be the day my bread crust is as good in the WFO as in the oven in a combo cooker. 
my bread is all made with an Ischia starter.  it's very mild. 
what are you using for pizza dough yeast? 

[Polo]

I've been making all of my bread dough and pizza dough with my own starter, no dried yeast, only the little beasties that I keep on the counter. My pizza dough is from Jeff Varasano's instructions here http://www.varasanos.com/PizzaRecipe.htm, except I use no yeast, just my starter. It has turned out very well the few times I have tried it.