Great video of 2 Italian sisters baking in WFO

[stonecutter]

Re: Great video of 2 Italian sisters baking in WFO

Strange shape too... Not much of a dome... there is a bit of a curve there...
but the roof almost looks flat...

It's hard to tell how it all fits together from the limited amount of shots there are.

Chimney looks like an after thought. lol.

To me the oven appears to have a very high dome, based on the curvature of the walls that are visible in most of the oven shots. Additionally, the size of the oven opening is very tall, yet it still does not reveal the top of the dome.

There is no vent and chimney, true...but this is how most early ovens were built. It doesn't appear to be a problem for them that's for sure!

Although... it just looks like there is one HELL of a soldier course... 6 bricks high maybe?

I think you are counting the courses on the oven opening...if you look at the interior, the dome is springing off the first course ( @2:24 you can pause the vid and see) as per usual. The oven does not appear to have been tuck pointed on the interior either, and lots of open, expanded joints suggest little or poor insulation...a mass based oven..again, very typical of how it has been done for household ovens over the centuries.

As can be clearly seen, while the oven itself would not be considered to be built with best practice in mind, but it is quite functional and useful to the household...simplicity and utility being the objective of it's construction.

I personally feel that an oven like this embodies the true spirit of WFO usage.

[Mitchamus]

Re: Great video of 2 Italian sisters baking in WFO

Although... it just looks like there is one HELL of a soldier course... 6 bricks high maybe?

[Mitchamus]

Re: Great video of 2 Italian sisters baking in WFO

Strange shape too... Not much of a dome... there is a bit of a curve there...
but the roof almost looks flat...

It's hard to tell how it all fits together from the limited amount of shots there are.

Chimney looks like an after thought. lol.

[stonecutter]

Re: Great video of 2 Italian sisters baking in WFO

anyone want to guess what size the oven is?

looks about 5ft across..

I think you are pretty close.

[stonecutter]

Re: Great video of 2 Italian sisters baking in WFO

here is an updated link:

SBS On Demand | TV and Online Video - Feature - Wood fired Bread

Wow....Either one of those women could have been my Bisnonna or Nonna. It brought back a flood of memories of watching her work in the kitchen...which always had a pot of sauce and glasses of wine or espresso ready for us. The pizza in the video is similar too...though one of our family favorites back then was the Marinara, always super simple. Thank you for posting that link!

[Mitchamus]

Re: Great video of 2 Italian sisters baking in WFO

anyone want to guess what size the oven is?

looks about 5ft across..

[Mitchamus]

Re: Great video of 2 Italian sisters baking in WFO

here is an updated link:

SBS On Demand | TV and Online Video - Feature - Wood fired Bread

[KEmerson]

Re: Great video of 2 Italian sisters baking in WFO

No idea. But your timing is nice. I was bsking a dozen loaves (Dan Leader's Genzano) and as I was loading the oven, quickly so as to not lose heat, I was reminded of that video and a comment someone made about how those two sisters were in no such hurry. They loaded their oven and seemed to take their time about it.

[GarnerAC]

Re: Great video of 2 Italian sisters baking in WFO

Anyone know where this video resides now? Evidently it expired or got pulled. I searched YT

[The Big O]

Re: Great video of 2 Italian sisters baking in WFO

Being Italian, that was truly authentic and very old school. I remember my mother pretty much doing it the same way...it was a walk down memory lane for me.

I of course being a boy at the time took all that knowledge for granted, now I wish I would've been more involved.

Thanks for sharing...as I wipe the tears from eyes.

[OzOvenBuilder]

Re: Great video of 2 Italian sisters baking in WFO

I was so much more excited about the two Italian sisters before I saw the video.

BTW, hell of a door they got there.

hahahahahahah....I know where you're coming from, I was thinking the same thing!

[Laku]

Re: Great video of 2 Italian sisters baking in WFO

here's direct link to the video.

feature-wood-fired-bread

[Mitchamus]

Re: Great video of 2 Italian sisters baking in WFO

watch it in Internet Explorer.

I had the same problem when i tried to watch it in firefox.

[KEmerson]

Re: Great video of 2 Italian sisters baking in WFO

Ok, but how do you get the advertising that blocks half the screen to go away?

[texassourdough]

Re: Great video of 2 Italian sisters baking in WFO

I had missed this earlier!

Agreed, good watching! For those of you who make "heavy" bread, note how lively the dough looks. How pliable and bouncy! As has been speculated, that is a WET dough and 75% is probably not far off. It is worked a bit more I think than some of you believe for it is not very sticky. And though not particularly sticky, note how she flops a blob of dough on a bed of flour for the forming before proofing.

There is lots of bread that is not slashed, but is dimpled like Pane Pugliese, pressed (with a dowel or in this case knife) to create a dent. The dent or dimples allow the loaf to expand during baking without bursting. There is some evidence of the knife cut in a seam at the top of at least some of the loaves.

Nice video!
Jay