100 Brick Pizza Oven - Part 2 or You Can Grow a Pizza!

First Pizza to Come Out of the 100 Brick Oven!

I want to start this post by saying I LOVE Maine. I love almost everything about Maine, the beauty, the people, the weather, the independent and creative spirit, BUT...with that said, I have to say that Maine has the worst pizza (and hard rolls) ever. I have never been able to understand why thick thick dough, enough cheese for 3 pizzas, and dripping sauce is savored by so many here. For 20+ years I've lived with this "pizza" and reminisce about the pizza of my youth every time I eat this stuff. Then along comes Stu and his brick ovens and OMG it's NYC style pizza. With my first bite I was immediately transported back to my childhood, eating the best pizza that as a kid I totally took for granted. Actually, just watching the pizza cook I was brought back in time. I wish you could look at the pictures and see, smell, and taste this experience. It really is in those big bubbles of dough and cheese and the thin crispy crust. But not Pizza Hut thin crust. No, it's so much different and sooo much better.

Thank goodness for the Artisan Bread Fair in Skowhegan yesterday. Link to an article about it: http://mainewoodheat.com/2010/06/kneading-conference-and-maine-artisan-bread-fair/ There I found a wooden "peel". That's what the long handled flat board to put in and remove bread/pizza from the brick oven is called. Here's a photo of two styles. The all wooden "peel" is used to put the pizza into the oven. Sprinkle with some corn meal, put the rolled out dough on, and add toppings, then slide the pizza into the oven. The metal "peel" is for sliding the cooking pizza around in the oven to have it cook on all sides and for removing the finished pizza from the oven. Bread (or Pizza) Peels

It turns out that the bread fair is timed purposefully on this date, as the bread conference website states: "The Artisan Bread Fair will occur this year on the Eve of Lammas Day, or as it was called in even deeper antiquity, Lughnasadh. This is the ancient, mystical feast day halfway between the Summer Solstice and the Autumnal Equinox when we celebrate the season's first grain harvest and revel in the Miracle of Real Bread from Earth to Hearth." To be honest I had forgotten about this celebration and was so glad to be a part of it again.

Before the fair there was a 2 day bread conference - http://www.kneadingconference.com/. I will have to go to that next year. Something I saw at the fair was a very large packet of "bread" seed. Now I don't think that when you plant this you grow and then harvest loaves of bread, although that's a neat thought and visual! But what the packet contained was seed for growing grain that is then harvested to mill and make flour with! Cool! So as you can imagine Ger, hubbie, and I are pulling out the old pool cover that I use to kill lawn/grass areas with and we are going to get a spot ready to grow some grain next year. Probably only enough for a bread's worth but it'll be fun to play with this idea. See everything, even pizza, comes back to the garden! I loved when I saw that connection there. Stay tuned next year to see how this turns out.

Here are a few more pics of our pizza baking last night. After the pizzas were made and eaten we sat by the fire and enjoyed a lovely evening outside. Cool, breezy, and no flying insects pestering us. Even my son got into this whole deal. Well who doesn't like a great pizza!?

Wood that Kyle split into smaller pieces for the oven

The fire is roaring and moved to the back of the oven when it's time to make the pizza

Sauteing some onions, tomatoes, and peppers (from the garden of course!)

Pizza Cooking! Can you see the bubbles?

Here's to Happy Gardening, Healthy Eating, and Family,
Mary