WFO - I went out of my zone and into the 'zone.

[fishingpol]

Agreed on the salt. Great advice from Jeni on the stone. Pre-heat and let it sit for a bit to get to temp. Olive oil helps with the crunch in the crust.

The recipe she posted looks good. I may modify mine by adding olive oil to the dough. One tip I will add for rising. I set the oven for 200 in the house. When it reaches temp, I shut it off, let it sit a few minutes and put the dough in oiled bowls with plastic wrap into the oven. I let the dough rise to about double in size. If the dough expands too big and the air bubbles pop, it has over risen. (Don't ask me how I know this.) The dough will have a yeasty pungent smell and it will be flat when it comes out of the oven.


Oh, and I post these threads just for the sheer enjoyment of the ever so slight harrasment comments from PapaDave because I don't get enough of them at work.

 

[PapaDave]

All in good fun Jon.
I love pizza, and your pics.
So, you're a gluten for punishment, eh?
Been making bread for a couple minutes, and I've gotten pretty good at it. The pizza though.........
I've got a nice sourdough starter in the fridge. Sourdough pizza.....hmmm.

 

[DevilsBrew]

The best pizza dough is simple, the more complicated you make it, the worse it gets. Ask anyone who ever worked in a decent pizza joint and they will tell you those dinner rolls that everyone raves over when they order eggplant parm are nothing more than chunks of pizza dough, just raised twice

Try this....

1 packet active dry yeast or 2 1/4 teaspoons
1 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
Pinch of sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus a drizzle more for coating bowl
2 1/2 to 3 cups bread or all-purpose flour, plus more if needed

Proof your yeast - Combine yeast, water, and sugar in a large bowl and stir well to combine. Set aside until
foamy, about 5 -10 minutes.

Add salt, olive oil, and 1 1/2 cups flour to yeast mixture, and mix well to thoroughly combine. Add 1 cup flour and mix well with your hands, working to incorporate flour little by little. The dough should be slightly sticky to the touch. Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead it for at least 5 and up to 7 minutes, adding more flour as needed to form a smooth and elastic dough that is not sticky.

Lightly oil a 2- or 3-quart bowl, place dough in it, and turn dough to coat it with oil. Cover bowl with a damp towel and let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, usually at least 1 hour. Turn out, shape, top and bake to your liking

Makes two 12" - 14" pizzas

Any advice for making non-doughy pizza rolls in a wood oven?

 

[DevilsBrew]

Ok, I suck at this. I REALLY need to practice on my outdoor baking skills. Smoking the ribs was a million times easier. This afternoon I tried to make pizza rolls using the pizza dough recipe on this thread. I had the worst time overcooking the outsides. Good News! I got one! Ha ha! I will try more tomorrow.

 

[fishingpol]

Soak the bricks with the coals to get them nice and hot. Let the oven cool to baking temp before putting them in. Any pics of the oven?

 

[DevilsBrew]

I don't have any pictures and was changing it up during the baking. I made a little teeny brick oven. There was a brick shelf above the fire. I was also changing it up and playing with fire again. I am still trying to figure out this rocket stove design. I have got to think about this some more. I used less of a rocket stove and tandoor design this time and didn't enclose the opening or top as much. That is part of the failure. I am going to try more of a tunnel tomorrow.

 

[DevilsBrew]

I got it up to 500 at one point but the temp would drop drastically.

 

[fishingpol]

Without insulation, it may be a challenge to retain heat. Can you double up on the bricks to create more mass or use some sort of insulative blanket to keep the heat in the bricks? What about a channel for a rocket type stove on the ground and a brick chamber above it to get heated without having the actual fire in the cooking area. It may need some a bit of bricks, but you may have greater control over the temp. I use a wooden baking door to block the oven opening that I soak in water before baking.



A house up the street has an old outdoor type fireplace that many people made back in the 1950's. On each side there are brick chambers that I believe was used for cooking bread. Either the heat from the cooking fire radiated to warm the chambers or coals were placed in the chambers for a while to get the bricks to temp.

 

[DevilsBrew]

Without insulation, it may be a challenge to retain heat. Can you double up on the bricks to create more mass or use some sort of insulative blanket to keep the heat in the bricks? What about a channel for a rocket type stove on the ground and a brick chamber above it to get heated without having the actual fire in the cooking area. It may need some a bit of bricks, but you may have greater control over the temp. I use a wooden baking door to block the oven opening that I soak in water before baking.

Exactly. All fantastic suggestions. There is a video on another thread about using insulating tape. I have GOT to read up on kilns. I also need to pick up more bricks and at some point down the road get some firebricks for the interior. I'm hoping to take a look at a dragonburner here soon so maybe that will help.

 

[rottiman]

As I sat reading this, a revolution was starting in my tummy. God, that sure looks good. Then the mention of Cinnamon Buns pushed it completly over the edge. LOL

 

[mattjm1017]

Do you have some kind of instructions or a link to instructions for building a brick oven? I have a huge pile of bricks out back and would love to put them to use and I cant think of anything better than a pizza oven.

 

[fishingpol]

Do you have some kind of instructions or a link to instructions for building a brick oven? I have a huge pile of bricks out back and would love to put them to use and I cant think of anything better than a pizza oven.

Here is a quick and easy one to try. Firebricks are recommended for the inside of the oven if anything substantial is being built.

 

[DevilsBrew]

For anyone interested in building a brick oven - I picked my angle iron up at Lowes. The big box stores don't stock firebrick but Home Depot does carry the clay bricks. Craigslist is a good place to search for free clay bricks.

 

[Gary_602z]

Dang Jon, how is your cholesterol doing? Mine just went up looking at it!

Gary