Today was all about tidying up and making sure that the oven performed as intended.
We started by clearing the site and preparing a small fire in the mouth of the oven, which I built up and eventually shovelled to the rear of the oven.
As the oven reached 400 degrees centigrade it cracked slightly which is to be expected.
I prepared a small batch of pizza dough whilst the flames in the oven burnt down to large embers. I then spread the embers across the oven floor to create an even cooking surface temperature. I then put in place the arch form as a temporary cooking door.
To prove the dough I simply sat the dough in a covered bowl on top of a house brick on top of the oven because, at this stage, the oven was hot enough on the outside to prove bread dough.
After half an hour (instead of an hour and a half) the dough was knocked back, kneaded and left to prove for a second time (twenty minutes was ample.)
I then cut the dough into several small chunks and rolled them on a lightly floured surface until they were really thin.
Then I floured by pizza peel and slid the dough on. Adding a dollop of pizza topping sauce and a handful of mozzarella cheese I pulled out the door to the oven and slid my peel inside, whipping it away to let the pizza fall onto the hot bricks. (Don't worry I had swept aside the embers and cleaned the floor of the oven with a damp tea towel.)
Each pizza took about twenty seconds to cook and were by general consensus delicious.
So practice went well and come this Saturday I am hoping that much more people turn out for pizza.
Here's to the next project, what ever it may be.
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