◁ 1 | MAKING WOOD-FIRED PIZZA
Makes 2 large or 4 smaller pizzas
Pizza 101
Somewhere along the way to their increased popularity, wood-fired ovens began to be called “pizza ovens,” owing to the fact that pizza was what most people cooked in them. Enthusiasts have always known that anything that can be cooked in a regular oven can be cooked in a wood-fired oven—only everything turns out better coming from a wood-fired oven. I’m not going to disagree as to their versatility, but I know one thing for sure: if you want to bring a smile to virtually anyone’s face—young, old, and in between—offer them a pizza hot from your wood-fired oven. If there were such a thing as a “culinary hero,” part of the hero’s journey would definitely include learning to make these pizzas!
INGREDIENTS
(for the dough)
1 package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil
1 cup (235 ml) warm (100°F to 110°F, or 38°C to 43°C) water
About 4 cups (500 g) unsifted unbleached all-purpose flour
Cornmeal or semolina flour, for the pizza peel
METHOD
1. Preheat your wood-fired oven for about 45 minutes before cooking. You want it to be good and hot when ready to cook: 650°F to 750°F (345°C to 400°C).
2. Add the yeast, salt, and olive oil to the warm water in a large bowl. Mix until smooth.
3. Gradually add the flour, starting with 31/2 cups (438 g).
4. Knead the dough. If you’re using your hands, turn the dough onto a board coated with the remaining 1/2 cup (62 g) flour and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. If you’re using a mixer, blend the dough on low speed with the dough hook and then mix on medium speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, 7 to 10 minutes. Expect the dough to still feel a little tacky.
5. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover it with a clean kitchen towel, and letit rise in a warm, draft-free place for 1 to 11/2 hours, until it has doubled in size.
6. Punch down the dough and let it rise again until doubled, 30 to 40 minutes. After it has doubled, knead it on a lightly floured board and shape into a smooth ball. Divide the dough in half and roll out each portion on the floured board until it is about 3/4 inch (2 cm) thick. Gently pull each portion into an oval 12 to 14 inches (30 to 36 cm) long and 8 to 10 inches (20 to 25.5 cm) wide. If you want four smaller, round pizzas, by all means simply divide the dough into four equal parts. Place on a floured board and roll into 8- to 10-inch (20 to 25.5 cm) circles. A typical thin-crust pizza starts out with dough between 3/4 and 1/4 inch (2 cm and 6 mm) thick. Common sense dictates that the thinner the dough, the trickier it will be to work with and the fewer toppings it will be able to support.
7. Once the dough is stretched to the size you want, gently slide the pieces, working with one at a time, onto a wooden peel that has been dusted with a combination of flour and cornmeal or semolina flour. Once the crust is on the peel, it’s time to add the toppings.
8. Regarding toppings: the basic rule is not to overdo it. Too much in the topping department makes for a soggy pizza. A second rule is the better quality the toppings, the better the pizza. As far as the tomato sauce goes, spoon it on sparingly, spreading it out in a circular motion, keeping it about 1/2 inch (1.2 cm) from the edge. After the tomato sauce, add your favorite toppings (see here), remembering that less is more.
9. Check the oven. Position the remnants of the fire to one side or the other. Use your oven brush to clean the floor, and wait 10 minutes or so for the temperature to settle. When it comes time to put the pizza in the oven, it pays to be decisive. Hold the handle of the peel with both hands and, using a back-and-forth movement, slide the pizza from the peel, landing it in the center of the oven floor.
10. Cook the pizza for 11/2 to 2 minutes. Switch to the metal peel and rotate the pizza 180 degrees. Continue cooking for another 11/2 to 2 minutes, until the edges of the pizza crust start to brown.
11. Using the metal peel, remove the pizza from the oven. Allow it to rest for a couple of minutes on a wire rack, which will permit some of the steam to escape and keep the crust from getting soggy before cutting.
◁ 2 | MAKING WOOD-FIRED CALZONE
Makes 2 large calzones
Calzone
Calzone is a folded-over cousin to the pizza. As such, when you roll the dough, you’ll need to keep it a little thicker (about 1/4 inch, or 6 mm, thick) so it is sturdy enough to hold its precious filling safely inside. Because they are completely covered with dough, any calzone filling should be cooked prior to being used, otherwise you’ll wind up with a crispy crust enclosing a combination of raw fillings.
INGREDIENTS
(for the dough)
1 batch Pizza 101 dough (shown here)
(suggestions for the toppings)
1/4 cup (60 g) tomato sauce
1 cup (115 g) shredded cheese
Olives
Artichoke hearts
Mushrooms
Caramelized onions
Fennel
Pineapple
Pesto
Pepperoni
Salami
Sausage
Bacon
Canadian bacon
Diced chicken
METHOD
1. Preheatyour wood-fired oven for about 45 minutes before cooking. You want it to be very hot when ready to cook: about 600°F (315°C).
2. Prepare the dough recipe given for pizza shown here.
3. After the dough has doubled the second time, knead it on a board dusted with all-purpose flour or semolina flour. Divide the dough in half and roll out each portion on the floured board until it is about 10 inches (25.5 cm) in diameter and 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick.
4. Fillings for calzone are basically the same as for pizza, with the exception that anything that needs cooking, such as spinach, bacon, or raw sausage, needs to be cooked before use as a calzone filling.
5. Arrange the fillings (including tomato sauce, if desired) over one-half of each dough round.
6. Fold the exposed part of the dough round over the ingredients, pinching to close the edges, like you would do with a fruit pie.
7. Check the oven. Push the remnants of the fire to one side of the oven or the other. Use your oven brush to clean the floor and wait 10 minutes or so for the temperature to settle.
8. Transfer the calzone to a wooden pizza peel that has been generously dusted with all-purpose flour or semolina flour. Using a back-and-forth movement, slide the calzone from the peel, placing it in the center of the oven floor. Cook until the dough puffs and turns golden on top, 8 to 10 minutes. If you have a black fire oven, keep the oven door almost completely closed while the calzone are cooking.
9. Switch to a metal peel and remove the calzone from the oven. Allow to rest on a wire rack for a couple of minutes before serving. Serve hot.
◁ 3 | MAKING PIZZA BIANCA IN A WOOD-FIRED OVEN
Makes 1 large pizza bianca
Pizza Bianca
This wonderful recipe was developed by J. Kenji López-Alt, the managing culinary director of the culinary website Serious Eats; I adapted the baking instructions, with Kenji’s kind permission, to work with the wood-fired oven. Kenji has some serious credentials, including writing The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science, which was not only a New York Times best seller but also a winner of both a James Beard Award and named Cookbook of the Year in 2015 by the International Association of Culinary Professionals.
If you’ve never had pizza bianca, you’re in for a real treat. Here’s how Kenji describes it: “At first glance, pizza bianca looks pretty similar to certain types of focaccia, the olive oil–laden Italian bread, but the similarities are mostly superficial. Focaccia is made with an enriched dough—it has oil in it—which gives it a moister, softer texture with far less chew than pizza bianca, which is made with a lean dough. While focaccia is baked in a pan, pizza bianca is baked directly on the floor of the oven, much like a Neapolitan pizza.” The flavor and texture of pizza bianca are heaven-sent: crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. Learn to make this and become a star chef—no kidding.
INGREDIENTS
31/4 cups (406 g) bread flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
11/2 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 cup plus 101/2 tablespoons lukewarm water (13.25 ounces, or 395 ml)
1/4 cup (60 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse sea salt
1 tablespoon (1.7 g) finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves (optional)
METHOD
1. Combine the flour, kosher salt, and yeast in a large bowl and whisk together until homogenous. Add the lukewarm water and stir with a wooden spoon until no dry flour remains. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temperature overnight.
2. The next day, lightly flour the dough and your hands. Scrape the dough out of the bowl onto a well-floured piece of parchment paper set inside a rimmed baking sheet and gently fold the dough into an even blob in the center. Dust with flour and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Allow to rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in volume, about 2 hours.
3. Meanwhile, preheat your wood-fired oven for about 45 minutes before cooking. You want it to be hot when ready to cook: about 550°F (290°C).
4. About 30 minutes before baking, check the oven temperature. Gently stretch the dough into an even rectangular shape to fit the baking sheet (you shouldn’t have to lift it). Carefully stipple the top surface with your fingertips. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with the sea salt and rosemary, if using. Push the remnants of the fire to one side of the oven or the other. Use your oven brush to clean the floor and wait 10 minutes or so for the temperature to settle. Transfer the entire baking sheet with the dough to the middle of the wood-fired oven. Close the door almost completely.
5. Bake for 5 minutes, just until the pizza is slightly firm. Remove from the oven and transfer the pizza to a pizza peel. Discard the parchment paper. Return the pizza to bake directly on the floor of the oven until burnished golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack. Transfer to a large cutting board, cut into 8 or 12 rectangular slices, and serve.
◁ 4 | BAKING WOOD-FIRED PRETZELS
Makes 8 large pretzels
Pretzels
Just for ducks, I looked up “flatbread” on Wikipedia and there are 104 entries, everything from Native American fry bread to naan to green onion pancakes from China, Norwegian lefse, Ugandan chapati, and on and on—and I don’t think they listed them all. So why not pretzels? They qualify as a flatbread and definitely earn you kudos as a cook while folks are standing around the wood-fired oven, glass in hand, waiting for the main event. This recipe was developed by the King Arthur Flour folks, who know a thing or two about all things baked. It’s a winner.
INGREDIENTS
(for the dough)
21/2 cups (313 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
21/4 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
7/8 to 1 cup (220 to 235 ml) warm water*
* Use the greater amount in the winter, the lesser amount in the summer, and somewhere in between in the spring and fall. Your goal is a soft dough.
(for the topping)
1 cup (235 ml) water, boiling
2 tablespoons (27.5 g) baking soda
3 tablespoons (42 g) unsalted butter, melted
Coarse kosher salt
METHOD
1. Preheat your wood-fired oven about an hour before cooking. You want it to be hot when ready to cook: about 475°F (240°C).
2. To make the dough by hand, or with a mixer: Place all of the dough ingredients into a bowl, and beat until well combined. Knead the dough, by hand or mixer, for about 5 minutes, until it’s soft, smooth, and quite slack. Dust the dough with flour, place it in a bag, and allow it to rest for 30 minutes.
3. To make the dough with a bread machine: Place all of the dough ingredients into the pan of your bread machine, program the machine for Dough or Manual, and press Start. Allow the dough to proceed through its kneading cycle (no need to let it rise), then cancel the machine, dust the dough with flour, and give it a rest in a plastic bag as instructed in step 1.
4. To make the dough with a food processor: Place the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar in the work bowl of a food processor equipped with the steel blade. Process for 5 seconds. Add the water, and process for 7 to 10 seconds, until the dough starts to clear the sides of the bowl. Process for another 45 seconds. Place a handful of flour in a bowl, scoop the slack dough into the bowl, and shape the dough into a ball, coating it with the flour. Transfer the dough to a plastic bag, close the bag loosely, leaving room for the dough to expand, and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
5. While the dough is resting, prepare the topping: Combine the boiling water and baking soda, stirring until the soda is totally (or almost totally) dissolved. Set the mixture aside to cool to lukewarm (or cooler).
6. Check your oven temperature. If it’s cooler than 475°F (240°C), add a little wood to the fire; you want enough built-up heat to sustain an hour’s worth of cooking. Cut 8 pieces of parchment paper to about 7 by 10 inches (17.5 by 25.5 cm). Set aside.
7. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, and divide it into 8 equal pieces (about 21/2 ounces, or 70 g, each). Allow the pieces to rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Pour the baking soda–water mixture into a 9-inch (23 cm) square pan.
8. Roll each piece of dough into a long, thin rope (28 to 30 inches, or 70 to 75 cm long), and twist each rope into a pretzel shape. Working with 4 pretzels at a time, place them in the pan with the baking soda–water mixture, spooning the water over their tops; leave them in the water for 2 minutes before placing them on a baking sheet. This baking soda “bath” will give the pretzels a nice golden brown color after cooking.
9. Put one pretzel on each of the pieces of parchment paper. Using a pizza peel, slide the pretzels on their parchment pieces to within 8 inches (20 cm) of the coals inside the oven. Close the door completely. Bake for 7 minutes; the pretzels will almost double in height. After 7 minutes, carefully turn the parchment, using a metal peel and a gloved hand, and bake for another 7 to 8 minutes, again with the door closed.
10. Remove the pretzels from the oven when they are golden brown, and brush them thoroughly with the melted butter. Keep brushing the butter on until you’ve used it all up; it may seem like a lot, but that’s what gives these pretzels their ethereal taste. Sprinkle them lightly with salt. Allow them to rest, uncovered, for at least 10 minutes. These are best served warm; they can be reheated in the oven.
◁ 5 | BREAD BAKING IN A WOOD-FIRED OVEN
Makes 3 large loaves, or more smaller ones
A Basic Loaf Bread
When you start experimenting with baking bread in a wood-fired oven, you’ve entered some pretty rarified culinary territory—territory that’s engaging and fun, not to mention delicious and deeply satisfying on some primal level. There is more than one book devoted solely to the subject of wood-fired baking, so all I can do here on these few pages is provide an introduction to the subject with the most basic of loaves. For a lucky few, it will be enough to get them started on a very long and enjoyable journey.
INGREDIENTS
1 package (21/4 teaspoons or 7 g) active dry yeast
4 teaspoons sugar
4 cups (950 ml) warm water (between 100°F and 110°F, or 38°C to 43°C)
11 to 12 cups (1.4 to 1.5 kg) unsifted unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon (18 g) kosher salt
Vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten well with 1/4 cup (60 ml) water
Water (and a spray bottle for spraying the bread in the oven)
METHOD
1. Stir the yeast and sugar into the warm water in a large bowl. Using your fingers, mix the ingredients until the yeast is dissolved. Using a heavy wooden spoon, stir in 10 cups (1.3 kg) of the flour and the salt and mix well to form a sticky dough.
2. Turn the dough out onto a board coated with 1 cup (125 g) of the flour. To make it easier to handle, sprinkle some of the flour over the dough and then knead for about 10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth; add more flour, if necessary.
3. Oil a large bowl generously with vegetable oil; place the dough in the bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Set the bowl in a warm, draft-free place and let the dough rise for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until doubled in size.
4. Meanwhile, preheat your wood-fired oven. You want it to get good and hot and then cool to be at about 350°F (180°C) by the time you’re ready to cook.
5. Once you’ve started the fire in the oven, take the risen dough and divide it into equal portions, depending on the size of loaf you want—anything from 2 to 8 portions. Shape each portion into a ball and then form the ball into the shape you want, be it oval, round, or a long, baguette-like loaf.
6. Cover a couple of baking sheets with muslin cloth (like a flour sack cloth) and dust with flour. Leaving space in between them, place the loaves on the floured cloths and then cover with cotton cloths. Allow to rise at room temperature for 30 to 40 minutes.
7. After the oven has burned for an hour or so, use your oven brush to clean the floor of embers and ashes. Close the oven door completely.
8. When the oven has cooled to about 350°F (180°C), prepare to place the loaves in the oven. Dust a wooden peel with flour and have it at the ready. Lift the edge of the bottom cloth to roll a loaf slightly onto the palm of your hand and then slip the peel under the loaf and roll the loaf onto the peel using your hand. Make shallow, diagonal cuts across the top of the loaf using a very sharp knife. Brush the top of the loaf with the beaten egg mixture.
9. Open the oven door. Using a back-and-forth movement, slide the loaf from the peel, placing it on the oven floor. Repeat this process with the remaining loaves. When they are all in place, close the door. After 10 minutes, spray the loaves all over with water. Close the door and bake for another 10 minutes, and then spray the loaves with water again.
10. Close the door and continue baking for another 40 to 60 minutes, depending on the size of your loaves and the oven temperature, until the bread is a rich, golden brown. Once you suspect your loaf is done, turn it upside down (wearing a heat-resistant glove) and tap the bottom with your fingernail. The loaf is done if the sound is hollow. Use a metal peel to remove the loaves from the oven. Let cool on wire racks before you slice.