Hello from Indy!

[sweet water]

We so enjoy this forum! We are in the planning stages of building a WFO which is my 50th birthday gift from my hubby. We were originally planning to build it at our little lake cabin which we go to on weekends. But the more we are thinking about it, we wonder if we would be better off building it at our home. I am an avid cook and make my own bread and pizza dough and cook 90% of the food we eat. We roast coffee and make our own yogurt and on and on. Do any of you have any suggestions on this dilemma? As our kids get older (12 & 15) and busier, it gets harder to get to the lake, especially for a 2-night stay. With all the snow we have had this winter, we have not gone in weeks. So I started wondering if I would get maximum benefit out of having the WFO at the lake...

One thing I have been trying to find (although not exhaustively) are some descriptions of planning for a weekend cooking session for example. I hear of all the many things you can make at the different temps in the oven, but I know cooking many things takes planning ahead. I imagine I might like to make several things in the oven to eat from all week. Anyone cook like this? I did see a video of a family baking bread and cookies and muffins all in a day but by their quantities it seemed like maybe they were cooking for a month or more or to sell. I am looking for examples of making the most of a fire for a family of 4.

Nice to meet you all! Thanks for any help! We will post pics when we start our build with the spring thaw!

[cobblerdave]

Re: Hello from Indy!

G'day sweetwater
Sorry you post has slipped behind another , the forums big and this can happen.
Anyway welcome.!!!
The answer to your dilemma is to simply build at home close to your kitchen were it will be easy to access ..... And the you'll probably build another at the weekender.
As for complex planing to use it. There is no all fired common way. I used to think you had to fire it to hell and blast out pizza and then cook what was suitable to the cooling temperature of your oven. Sound romantic and rustic but the reality is that is a pain, the ovens never at the temp you want.
Some cook with fire still in the oven using firebrick to screen from the radient heat. Some fire their ovens only with as much heat as they require, then depend on the fact that a warm oven is easy to bring back to heat.
There is no one way. There is no dial to turn to give you instant control. But we all discover that you can cook things at temp way outside those in a cook book and get great results.
Enjoy and post lots of pics
Regards dave

[sweet water]

Re: Hello from Indy!

Thanks Cobbler Dave! You did burst my romantic idea bubble of my oven, all Little House on the Prairie and what not, but I am still excited and can't wait to get started. Just need this snow mountain to thaw so we can really make plans!! In the mean time, I can read lots of recipes here and look at the great pictures.

[cobblerdave]

Re: Hello from Indy!

G'day
Sorry but there is some romantic things that you can cook!
Type in Kleftico in the forum search and you'll discover an age old Greek lamb dish cooked at 350C ( that's C not F) for 4 to 6 hours. Google it as well you'll get some arguments from the Greeks and the Turks on who actually invented it.
I'm really looking forward to doing this recipes but its to hot here at the moment to even contemplate firing the oven......sorry, but roll on autumn winter spring! WFO time in the sub tropics!
Regards dave

[sweet water]

Re: Hello from Indy!

OOHHH we love lamb! That sounds awesome!! I will have to research that. Thanks again for your reply. Funny that we are looking forward to opposite weather changes!! We have had record cold and snow, and I yearn for melting!!

[boerwarrior]

Re: Hello from Indy!

welcome sweetwater!

Build it at home!

One piece of advice for your husband: If you are going to try and cook with it all weekend make sure it is very well insulated. Too much insulation is better than too little.

In our oven we can do Pizza on Friday night, some kind of meat dish on Saturday night (oven is still in the 400-450 degree temp range on Saturday) and then a slow cooked meal on Sunday (oven is in 250-350 temp range). All from one firing on Friday with no additional wood.

However, my oven is extremely well insulated and when we are not cooking I use a well-insulated door.

Neil

[sweet water]

Re: Hello from Indy!

Holy Moly!! That is awesome!! Do you have a detailed description of your build here on the forum? We would be interested in seeing that! Thanks for the response, it is very helpful!!

[boerwarrior]

Re: Hello from Indy!

yes!
My build is here:

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f8/3...nia-19283.html
Good luck and don't hesitate to ask questions.

And remember that pictures are good!
Neil

[boerwarrior]

Re: Hello from Indy!

But I should add that there are a lot better builds and build descriptions than mine on this site. I would start here:

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f2/n...res-15133.html

[jeeppiper]

Re: Hello from Indy!

I go along with the masses....build it at home.

[sweet water]

Re: Hello from Indy!

Don't think I didn't contemplate a trailer version ;o) to have it at both places! But at home it would have to sit in my driveway...not sure the neighbors would find that amusing. Hehe. Looking forward to spending some time looking at pics and reading the newb info!