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Bread ovens


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Hi all,

Hope this one hasn't been asked before - my search didn't bring up anything!  The place we've just bought has an old bread-oven on the land (in a dependance), and we thought it might be fun to try and make the thing work; bake up some bread or a pizza or two.  As far as I gather, it's more-or-less a case of setting a fire going inside til it's hot, shifting the fire out of the way & chucking in the food.

Has anyone else got one that they've used - any tips or advice that might come in handy/save our burned eyebrows - or are we heading into untried territory?

Geeked [geek]

 

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how big is the oven?

normally bread ovens are different from pizza oven, as they should have some device to get umidity during the cooking process.

if the oven has not been used for a long time, you have to start a small fire each day for at least 4 or 5 days, increasing each time the temperature.

if you do pizzas, you have to reach a temperature of 400 degrees, then move the fire on one side, wipe the surface with a brush and cook the pizza. for bread, you have to take out all the wood/cinder, clean the surface and then put on the bread, keeping the door closed. i think the temperature has to be a bt lower, maybe 300 degrees. for bread ypu also need a pot of water so add humidity.

buon appetito

massimo

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Thanks for that - I shall give it a go once we've got it cleaned up a bit!  I'd hazard a guess that it hasn't been used properly this side of the war - the vendor said that he'd never used it (and he's owned the house for at least 30 years); although his son did admit that they used to roast chestnuts in it (!) - I don't think Papa knew about that.  I'd certainly not've thought about gradually heating it up like that, but (with hindsight) it strikes me as an eminently sensible suggestion - thanks!
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We have a fully operational bread oven which was used frequently by the previous owners, mainly to cook pizza.  We have never tried to use it, mainly because we have no idea how to judge the temperature or how long the temperature can be maintained. 

Does anyone know how to do this?

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my oven is 1 metre diametre inside. i start he fire 2 hours before, in the middle of the oven and pump it with big pieces.

after 2h it should be so hot that you cant put you hand near the opening (it should be around 400 degrees). move the fire to one side, wipe the base and you can start cooking, a pizza should take not more than 2 minutes to cook.

on the fire on the side, you still need flames so you have to add small pieces of wood. this will allow the flames to run over the dome of the oven so that the pizza cooks not only from the hot base but also on the top.

you can keep cooking for 2 hours, then you can move the fire on the other side of the oven and continue. 

Pavarotti music in the background will help to obtain a perfect pizza! [:D]

 

Massimo

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Thanks Chauffour, we'll have to give it a try one day when we are feeling strong [:)]  We haven't measured the oven, but I think it may be a bit bigger than 1 metre diametre.  It is the type which projects from the building into a one storey extension and is about 9 feet long. 

Is there a different method with the fire, to cook bread?

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if it's 9 feet long.. i would forget it! this is the type they used once a week to prepare bread for the whole hamlet/village! it would take 1 day to warm up and too much wood ! if you want a proper pizza you have only one option, join my PizzaClub! [:D]

 

 

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In that case, perhaps I should think about setting up in business as a bread baker [:D]

The previous owners did use it but as they had 18 members of their family to stay at any one time, I guess they were prepared to spend the time and use the wood to set it up to provide sufficient pizzas.

We are in 71 - do you deliver from 24[:)][:)][:)]

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I do love a real pizza.  I gather that the French in the South reckon they invented the pizza and the Italian stuff is a poor copy.

Some French friends invited us round for a pizza party.  The man of the house proudly told us of his skill at making them (and they were good, too).  He just forgot to tell us that his wife made all the pizza bases and left them ready to be used, prepared all the potential toppings in advance, made the salad and chilled the wine [:D]  However, we couldn't fault his skill in arranging the stuff on the top and putting them in the oven.[:)][:)][:)]

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Does anyone know the history - or can point me to a link / book etc - on French Bread Ovens?  We have one and its huge.  It would be good to know a bit more about it.  For example, is it possible to put an approx age on the oven by its style, or when did the French start and stop building them on the farms in the country?  That sort of thing.  Thanks

editted speling og hugh corected  [:P]

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Not wishing to dampen your dough or anything but I understood that bread ovens were supposed to be bricked up as they are a fire hazzard.  Mine certainly is and I asked the agent when I bought the house and that's what he said.  I've since seen plenty of others bricked up too.  I hope I'm wrong.
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Possibly that may depend on whether it's inside the house, or in a seperate building outside, as ours is - and possibly on your insurance company, too!  I was told by someone (before we bought our bread oven/house) that they are an endangered species and are protected - apparently you can't demolish them or anything - but I've not checked this with the Mairie as I don't intend to demolish it!

As to dating them, that would be fascinating.  We have few clues to go on - our house is post-war as the one that did stand on the land was destroyed during the invasion, but the bread oven (and a little bergerie close by) certainly pre-dates that, and has those little ledges on the chimney stack that used to retain the thatch - does anyone know, for starters, when thatch stopped being used inNormandy on new-builds?

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  • 4 weeks later...
We were going to have pizza tonight from our pizza oven.

We built it ourselves from old fire bricks we found in the barn, clay and sand we dug from our land, the only cost was for the fire cement which was bloomin expensive.

Ours is a beehive oven a simple ancient type. You can just make them from mud but they only last a few months.

The pizza man in the cave at Brantome told us the oven is ready when the ash on the roof is white. He also gave us a good recipe for dough.

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Just had a thought - if you have an enormous oven which will take ages to heat and use lots of fuel. If the flu is above the entry point you could brick it up - thus reducing the depth of the oven - using a double skinned wall using firebrick with a foot or so of sand in between.
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