Hello from Texas

[JamieC]

My name is Jamie.  Just discovered this forum, and I've already learned a lot of good tips.  I've become somewhat obsessed with pizza, mostly Neopolitan but I appreciate any well crafted pizza that doesn't use rubber factory cheese or pre-made crusts.  I'm just finishing a Forno Bravo wood fired oven in my back yard, should be ready for the first pizza in another week!  I live in Katy, Texas (in the greater Houston area), and travel quite a bit for work so I get to sample pizza from a lot of different parts of the country.

[TXCraig1]

I'd love to see pictures of your oven build.

I grew up in Katy, and live south of town now.

Craig

[JamieC]

Thanks Craig.  I saw photos of your home-fabricated prep table, quite impressive!  I posted a series of build photos on the Forno Bravo forum, let me know if the link doesn't work, I can re-post them here (they're on my home computer, not my work PC).  I'll post some "first pie" shots soon.

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f21/giardino-70-texas-build-17896.html

[TXCraig1]

Looks great. I'm excited to see your pies. Let me know if I can help.

CL

[JamieC]

Finally got my new oven up to pizza temps yesterday.  In the heat of battle (I made an overambitious 10 pizzas for the first round, wasn't sure if any would be sacrificed to the fire gods), I only got a photo of the first one, a marinara made with the "remnant" of dough after the rest of the dough was balled (this was only about 185 grams, and not particularly round).  Fun times, learned a lot about managing the fire in the oven (i.e. don't let the flames go out and try to cook one with just a bed of coals), and I learned that thin spots will definitely tear open and lead to a "donut" pizza with a hole in the middle.