What a beautiful weekend~ excited to try out the Calabria Hot Chili Peppers I picked up while in Seattle. Thanks for the idea, TXCraig1. A bottle of oil, and a bottle of crushed peppers. I put small dollops of the crushed peppers on top of the chorizo/red onion topping....it was hot and tasty!
So I practiced on shaping the dough...being more deliberate. Improved the shape - more round. The not-so-round ones, well, they were "rustic". And practiced what John explained. You would be proud - no more burned pizzas. Had a batch of Keste Clone recipe and Ken Forkish's recipe, the Overnight Pizza with Poolish. I could not resist using all 9 pizza balls. When you spend 1-2 hours tending the fire, it doesn't make sense to make 2-3 pizzas. I did the usual toppings...chorizo & red onion for the adults; pepperoni & mushroom as well as sausage & mushroom for the kids.
The other day, I roasted 2 chickens, veggies on the WFO...and made focaccias in the home oven (for time management). Next time, I will bake them in the WFO. The focaccia recipe uses natural levain and takes about 5 hours, start to finish. It does take a long time, but so worth it. Fresh rosemary from the garden and Maldon sea salt as topping (see picture).
I found a thread/link on roasting a porchetta in the WFO - looking forward to trying that recipe.
I do have a question on getting the temp up on the WFO...
Do you at any time, use the door to increase the temperatures? Here's what I do: Once the initial wood has burned 50-60% (placed towards the front), I push it back a little (towards the middle) -as soon as it turns to coal, it's pushed to the right side, add piece of wood - and burn it on the right side till the dome is white. I then push the coals on the left side, add wood, and continue to let that burn until the left side of the dome is white. I cook on the right, since I'm right handed. By then, the hearth is around 500-600. I did use the door yesterday...and it did increase the temperature, some... Wondered if I need to be more patient, or I need to change the process...It takes me close to 1.5-2 hours to get the temps up to 700-800 and wondered if it's the weather or just the kind of oven I have or my fire management skills, or lack thereof.
