2024 Neapolitan oven build

[daidensacha]

Granite Worktop Set

This week we have lovely spring days, 10-14C, with sunshine. My bees are loving it, the first day I see them coming out and orienting themselves for exploration flights.

The warmer days are great to get back into finishing off details of the oven, that I couldn’t complete with the onset of winter 2024. Today was a big tick, and thinking about how I was going to move the granite was faer worse than just doing it. 120kg top, 2200 x 630 x 30mm. I created a template out of mdf so I could mark and cut one corner out of the top, needed to fit in against the oven. That way I was able to leave the granite laying on the pallet and cut it there with my 125mm grinder and a masonry blade.

I fitted perfectly, with four of us to move the granite in place, many hands made light work. Really happy with the choice of color too, as it blends with the other colors around it.



Next step will be to finish the final layer of render on the oven, so I can then paint it again. It will be pretty much finished then.

Of course, I have more projects planned, and will move into them.

1. An extension of the upper and lower terraces on the side of the house, with stairs allowing us to come from upstairs down to the rear terrace with the grill and pizza oven.
2. An oak table. Need to knock up a router sled to level my oak slab, then make some nice oak legs. It will be a nice solid rustic table to enjoy our pizza on.

[daidensacha]

Ash slab bar fitted

This week I picked up some 50 x 5 mm stainless flat bar and made some brackets for the top of the wall behind my pizza work bench. I glued some threaded rod in the wall so i could fix the brackets on top of the wall. I wanted the brackets to be flush with the bottom of the Ash slab when it is laid on top. Routered slots for the plates in the bottom of the Ash slab, then screwed through the plates into the bottom of the slab to hold the slab down flat. 5 plates over 3 meters should be strong enough to hold the wood in case it wants to warp with the humidity.

I cut the end of the slab that fits against the oven dome, leaving a little excess so I can make that custom cut once the final layer of render is on the dome, and it’s painted.



I wanted to do it this way to allow the bottom of the slab to breath. It was cut 2 years ago, and has been tried under cover, but still not fully dry. 26%, which I was told with the humidity here is ok under the terrace roof outside. I’m oiling it, screwing it in place and then waiting to see how it fairs with time. If cracks appear, to be honest I don’t mind because epoxy mixed with black iron oxide is a great way to fill them so they become a feature, not a flaw.

[daidensacha]

Oak slab for table top

I picked up a nice slab of an old oak tree. 750-800mm wide, 100mm thick, 3500mm long. Got a little bit of work to tidy it up, and a base to build, but it’s a beautiful piece of wood. As a table in the terrace to eat pizza on, it will be amazing. I’ll hit it with a plainer and sander in the next days.



Ash bar has been put through the plainer at the local mill. I removed the bark and cleaned up the sides. Next step is to cut it to fit on the wall behind my food prep bench. It’s a lot lighter than oak, but the nice dark brown heartwood is a feature.

[daidensacha]

Coming out of hibernation

I checked my weather app this morning and was pleasantly surprised to see Friday it will be 11C, Ok, still -1C at night, but this next week we will have one day with 14C. So I’m planning this week to make the most of the warmer days to lay my granite bench top, which I picked up a few weeks ago. At 120 kg, 2200 x 630 x 30mm, it’s a hand full, but really beautiful. It’s called Shivakashi, with a range of colors so I can have flour, tomato, salami pieces on the top and it won’t be out of place .



Yesterday I picked up a beautiful piece of Ash that will be mounted on the recycled brick wall at the back of the granite pizza preparation worktop. I’ll go to the local mill on Friday to put it through the planer to finish the top and bottom. I’ll remove the bark and leave natural sides.



Lastly, I have to finish the last layer of render on the dome so I can fit the Ash slab which will fit flush up against the dome, and paint the whole stand and oven to finish it off. Been sitting on my hands all winter waiting for the right conditions to return so I can get back into it. Yayyy!



Pizza, rain, hail, or snow.

It might have been winter, but it didn’t stop me cooking. On average we cooked once a week, and I’ve been experimenting with my pizza dough. Bigga, Poolish, Bigga and Poolish, 100% preferment, 50, 60, 70% pre-ferment, room temp fermentation, fridge fermentation, 36 hour fermentation, 80 hour fermentation. I haven’t had any failures yet, only to say by my assessment degrees of success rated from 6-9 out of 10.

My favorite to date, 36 hour fermented 100 % bigga dough at 65% hydration. My goal has been to have a nice crunchy puffy cornicione full of air with moist soft crumb. I get this with a Bigga. WIth Poolish I get the looks, taste, but the crunch doesn’t last like it does with the Bigga.

On the functional side of working with the oven, due to the high humidity here my wood stacked and stored under the terrace absorbed moisture, and I noticed it sizzling as it was burning. That made it work to get the fire going, and to keep it going to get the oven up to temp. I took to stacking my oven full of wood 2-3 days after baking when the temp dropped to 200-250C. Come my next baking day, when I take the wood out it is totally dry and burns easily and fast. Making it super easy to get the oven up to temp.

It took me a while to catch on, but I finally got it, that the coals saturate the dome with heat more effectively than the fire. Initially before i clicked, I was focussing on building a huge fire to heat the dome, but letting the wood burn down to a pile of red hot coals leaves my dome at the perfect temperature with the dome at 500C, floor at 430C. That drops a bit when I start cooking, but my pizzas come out much nicer than if I cook at higher temps. Especially if the floor is hotter, I find my dough sticks to the floor. I haven’t quite worked out if that has relationship to the dough hydration, state of fermentation, or is simply the heat. Generally I think it happens less when the dough is at 65% hydration, and the oven floor is at 430C or less.

Anyway, this bear is coming out of hibernation and happy to share updates as spring approaches.

[daidensacha]

Giovanni Rossi

Some conversions just forms own sake, and those who don‘t live in USA.
460F/ 238C
15lb/ 6.8kg
2 hours

The photos of your turkey look amazing. I‘m impressed your turkey cooked in such a short time given its size.

I want a nice crispy skin on my duck. I picked it up yesterday by the way, and its 11.46lb/ 5.2kg. The lady at the farm said the breasts are really thick, so to cook it 4 to 4.5 hours so the meat is falling off the bone. I can‘t imagine doing having it in the oven for that long, so I‘ll just have to check. Turkey has a good size breast, so if yours was done in 2 hours, i can see the duck being done in around a similar time. I‘ll wait for a special offer on the Meater XL Pro and get that this year, so I can monitor meat via the wireless thermometer.

[Giovanni Rossi]

daidensacha If you care to check it out, I've tried to document in my build thread as much as I can our use of retained heat. The last post is our second time doing a turkey. It was about 15 pounds.

[daidensacha]

I agree "lots of uses". The oven's are fun to experiment with temps on the decline. The third or fourth day (250-275F) can be great for low and slow ribs or brisket. I even made yogurt once at around 110F. I now use my oven a lot for for drying or roasting herbs with the heat left over from a food cook

I hadn‘t thought of using it to dry herbs, that’s a great idea.

[daidensacha]

Yes, that is the beauty of the WFOs, pizza first night, bread the second day AM and roast second day PM. Some builders the third day or so to dry out green wood, dry herbs, make jerky etc. Gulf filters out the ash and saves the lump charcoal. So lots of uses.

Theres such a jump from intellectually understanding, to experiencing. I totally underestimated the power of the oven, its beyond what I could have imagined. I‘ve been making the most of the retained heat day 2 and 3 to cook bread and meat. It‘s just amazing how efficient it is. I get a more even heat in the pizza oven than I get in out kitchen oven.

Whilst my Ash hardwood is seasoned and dry, with the humidity here the wood holds some moisture. It burns but takes a little to get going. To get around this, I‘ve been loading wood for my next fire in the oven once the temp drops to 200C, and it makes a huge difference. When I light my fire, within 2 minutes it a raging blaze and the pre-heated and dried pieces of wood that I add to the fire burn instantly. It’s shortened my heating time for the oven considerably.

What surprises me is when I come to clean out the ash, there is no coals and for all the wood I burn, only 2 pans of ash come out. It’s super efficient. I‘ve been adding the ash to my blueberry bush beds.

Did my biga today for the 100% biga dough I will make tomorrow for my wife’s birthday party. I‘m budgeting on making 24 pizzas. I‘ve been baking 2-3 times a week just to get to know the oven, and learn through experience. Been baking 4-6 pizzas per bake. Finished my first 10kg bag of 00 flour making my biga today, so that’s about 60 pizzas experience. It’s been worth it, feeling ready to hit it tomorrow with a level of confidence.

[Gulf]

I agree "lots of uses". The oven's are fun to experiment with temps on the decline. The third or fourth day (250-275F) can be great for low and slow ribs or brisket. I even made yogurt once at around 110F. I now use my oven a lot for for drying or roasting herbs with the heat left over from a food cook

[UtahBeehiver]

Yes, that is the beauty of the WFOs, pizza first night, bread the second day AM and roast second day PM. Some builders the third day or so to dry out green wood, dry herbs, make jerky etc. Gulf filters out the ash and saves the lump charcoal. So lots of uses.

[daidensacha]

We frequently cook chickens and on Thanksgiving we cook a turkey or two. Usually fire the oven the night before either for pizza or just to get it saturated with heat (clear dome plus an hour or so). Chickens are usually done in 45 minutes to an hour. Usually like the temp around 450F. We don't even cover them - when we pull the door plug the steam just rolls out. It's a pretty forgiving process as we have overcooked our birds on occasion and they are still moist.

So your using your ovens retained heat to bake too, that’s nice to hear.

I pick up my duck/ducks today, 2 x 3kg or one big one. I‘m curious how long your turkeys get on in the oven. How long did they take to cook, and at what temp do you put them in the oven? From my experience in Aus, where we always had Turkey for xmas, we always had to be careful not to dry it out.

My I did a 3 kg duck last year in my grill on the rotisserie at 190C. I had the infra red bar a little hot so it was slightly overdone, but still juicy and and really yummy.

I‘ve cooked ribs in the oven and the second lot i baked were the best I tasted in my life. Yet to do a chicken. I discovered the other day that the farm where we buy our ducks also sell freshly slaughtered chickens. I‘m not keen on the frozen supermarket ones here in Germany, they look really scrawny compared to what I used to buy in Australia.

[JRPizza]

We frequently cook chickens and on Thanksgiving we cook a turkey or two. Usually fire the oven the night before either for pizza or just to get it saturated with heat (clear dome plus an hour or so). Chickens are usually done in 45 minutes to an hour. Usually like the temp around 450F. We don't even cover them - when we pull the door plug the steam just rolls out. It's a pretty forgiving process as we have overcooked our birds on occasion and they are still moist.

[daidensacha]

david s I will try your recipe with chicken. We are getting 6 kg of duck, 1 big or 2 small, I‘m leaning towards 2 x 3kg as I think it will taste better. I will let you know how it gets on.

Last year I did the duck on the rotisserie in my grill, and it was really good. I‘m looking forward to seeing how it comes out of the Pizza oven.

[david s]

Roasting duck using retained heat, or with coals

I wonder if someone with experience can share some advise. I‘m roasting our 2 Xmas ducks in the oven on 24th, and could use some tips.

On 23rd we are having a pizza party, and I had planned on closing the oven up overnight so the retained heat temp next day will be around 360C. I was planning on using the retained heat to cook the ducks, in hotel pans (530 x 325 x 90mm). I’ll cover the ducks with foil to retain moisture and protect them a bit from burning. Two pans with 2 cold ducks in a lot of mass, which will suck a lot of heat in the oven initially, so starting at 360C, I am banking on the temp dropping a fair bit, and I can measure the internal temp with a probe thermometer at hour intervals.

An alternate plan would be to leave the door ajar overnight, in which case the temp the next day is 220C. I can light a fire to get some coals in the oven, and let it burn down to cooking temp before putting ducks in and roasting with coals at the sides of the oven.

Has anyone cooked large birds or pieces of meat in the oven?

I quite often roast chickens in my oven. but also roast other meats using the same technique. Usually one bird at a time but sometimes 2.
I couldn't see much point in taking the oven up to pizza temperature to roast a chicken at 200C. It takes a lot of time, firing up then waiting for the temperature to drop to roasting range, plus it goes through a lot more fuel. Also the floor gets way too hot which makes any meat juices burn in the roasting pan. (Don't use a teflon coated pan for this reason).

So I've developed this technique which works pretty well for me and my oven.All ovens are a bit different so experimentation is the key.

I fire the oven for one hour from lighting the match. This takes my oven up to around 250C, the carbon is burning off the crown at this point (300C), but the sides are still black.
With the chicken(s) sitting on a rack in the roasting pan that has some herbs and 1/2 cup of water 1/2 cup of wine akso sitting on the bottom of the tray. This takes the sting out of the floor. eliminating any buring in the pan whilst catching meat juices. The sides of the roasting pan ensure no coals or ash get in the pan.
I wait for the flame to die, push the coals back and to the sides then slide in the roasting pan and fit the door. In my oven this results in extinguishing the fire, leaving unburnt coals because of the lack of oxygen. If you want a smoky flavour place the pan just before the flame dies or throw half a handful of smoking chips onto the coals just befor placing the pan in the oven. It is very easy to overdo the smoky flavour so hold back on this.
I usually turn the bird over after 15 mins, but beware, opening the oven door releases a lot of hot air so don't do this frequently or you'll lose too much heat. At around the 3/4 point of the roast the smell is really nice and I use this as a roasting time indicator, I use a simple probe thermometer to test the internal temperature, but also sometimes use a fancy wireless probe (Meater) that talks to my phone. By the time the bird(s) are ready, around 1.5 to 2 hrs the temp is down to about 160C
Remove the herbs and the pan has exactly the right amount of liquid and caramelization from the wine, meat juice and smokiness to make the best gravy, finished on the stovetop, that you can imagine. The fluid in the pan ensures a steamy oven atmosphere so if you want crispy roast potatos do them separately in your kitchen oven. I usually accompany the roasted birds with pumpkin and onion. In my smallnove I'd usually use about the same weight in wood as the bird(s) vegetables and pan.

[daidensacha]

Roasting duck using retained heat, or with coals

I wonder if someone with experience can share some advise. I‘m roasting our 2 Xmas ducks in the oven on 24th, and could use some tips.

On 23rd we are having a pizza party, and I had planned on closing the oven up overnight so the retained heat temp next day will be around 360C. I was planning on using the retained heat to cook the ducks, in hotel pans (530 x 325 x 90mm). I’ll cover the ducks with foil to retain moisture and protect them a bit from burning. Two pans with 2 cold ducks in a lot of mass, which will suck a lot of heat in the oven initially, so starting at 360C, I am banking on the temp dropping a fair bit, and I can measure the internal temp with a probe thermometer at hour intervals.

An alternate plan would be to leave the door ajar overnight, in which case the temp the next day is 220C. I can light a fire to get some coals in the oven, and let it burn down to cooking temp before putting ducks in and roasting with coals at the sides of the oven.

Has anyone cooked large birds or pieces of meat in the oven?