Richard Miscovich - From the wood-fired oven: new and traditional techniques for cooking and baking with fire

This book is going to change the way I use my ovenhow I make and control the heat and steam, the things I bake and cook, and how much of the heat of the oven I use instead of waste. If you are just starting now to plan a masonry ovenor if you have been using one for twenty yearsyou are still going to want to own this book.

from the Foreword by Dan Wing ,
coauthor of The Bread Builders

Finally, a modern and comprehensive wood-fired oven management book! Richard addresses innovations in oven design and offers intelligent approaches to getting the most out of your wood-fired oven. Interweaving homespun anecdotes with solid bread-baking and culinary instruction while offering clear explanations of oven design, this book answers the questions and concerns of bakers of all levels.

Melina Kelson , certified master baker,
Bootleg Btard and Kendall College

Even if you dont have a wood-fired oven, and you bake bread, get this book. The technical information about bread is approachable and correct and will bring your bread baking to the next level.

Solveig Tofte , co-owner,
Sun Street Breads, Minneapolis

Richard has done so much more than just transfer his extensive knowledge about baking and wood-fired ovens onto paper in this book; he talks to the reader in a way that makes you feel that he is right in front of you, sharing his experiences, encouraging you to travel down a path that has brought him to where he is. His personal stories and experiences take this book beyond great, to one of a kind. I like that he doesnt assume the reader knows anything. You will learn about the bones of a wood-fired oven, including not just how to use it but how to make the most of it. He covers all the details and answers all the questions before you have to ask. It is a must-have addition to the collection of any food enthusiast, amateur or professional!

Jeff Yankellow , board chair,
Bread Bakers Guild of America

This is the book for which all wood-fired oven owners, hopeful owners, and serious bakers have been waiting. Richard Miscovichs descriptions and instructions are both practical and inspirationally poeticdare I say, soulful. He ignites the fire within and compels us to want to know what he knows and to bake as well as he bakes. In this book, he shares it all.

Peter Reinhart , author of The Bread Bakers Apprentice
and Artisan Breads Everyday

When it comes to anything wood-fired, Richard Miscovich has set the new gold standard with his comprehensive book, From the Wood-Fired Oven . Both well written and inspiring, his book takes the reader on a journey that will delight and educate amateur and professional bakers alike. Richard is a master of this ancient craft, and his expert command of formula development, along with his knowledge of the classic and cutting-edge concepts in wood-fired oven construction, use, and maintenance, make this book unique and a must-have for any bakers library!

Ciril Hitz , author of Baking Artisan Bread
and Baking Artisan Pastries and Breads

So, you want a wood-fired oven to bake bread and have pizza parties? What should you build? How does it work? What else can it cook? As an ovenbuilder I hear these questions a lot, but the books I can recommend for cooking with fire say little about ovens, and the ones about bread and ovens dont take you very far with cooking.

So Im glad to now be able to recommend Richard Miscovichs From the Wood-Fired Oven. He speaks with the authority of a professional baking instructor (and cook), an experienced mason, and a neighborhood baker; he also writes well, takes beautiful photos, and has a wealth of stories to tie it all together. Hes worked with leading professionals in many fields, and teaches from extensive experience with bread, pizza, meats, vegetables, desserts, etc., as well as ovens, masonry, fire, heat, and more.

Kiko Denzer , author of Build Your Own Earth Oven

Copyright 2013 by Richard Miscovich.

All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all photographs by Richard Miscovich.

No part of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form by any means without permission in writing from the publisher.

Project Manager: Patricia Stone

Editor: Makenna Goodman

Copy Editor: Laura Jorstad

Proofreader: Eileen M. Clawson

Indexer: Lee Lawton

Designer: Melissa Jacobson

Printed in the United States of America.

First printing September, 2013.

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Our Commitment to Green Publishing

Chelsea Green sees publishing as a tool for cultural change and ecological stewardship. We strive to align our book manufacturing practices with our editorial mission and to reduce the impact of our business enterprise in the environment. We print our books and catalogs on chlorine-free recycled paper, using vegetable-based inks whenever possible. This book may cost slightly more because it was printed on paper that contains recycled fiber, and we hope youll agree that its worth it. Chelsea Green is a member of the Green Press Initiative ( www.greenpressinitiative.org ), a nonprofit coalition of publishers, manufacturers, and authors working to protect the worlds endangered forests and conserve natural resources. From the Wood-Fired Oven was printed on paper supplied by QuadGraphics that contains at least 10% postconsumer recycled fiber.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Miscovich, Richard, 1968

From the wood-fired oven : new and traditional techniques for cooking and baking with fire / Richard Miscovich ; foreword by Dan Wing.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-60358-328-2 (hardcover)ISBN 978-1-60358-329-9 (ebook)

1. Cooking (Bread) 2. Cooking. 3. Baking. 4. Roasting (Cooking) 5. Stoves, Wood. 6. Fire. I. Title.

TX769.M557 2013

641.81'5dc23

2013019887

Chelsea Green Publishing

85 North Main Street, Suite 120

White River Junction, VT 05001

(802) 295-6300

www.chelseagreen.com

For my parents
and my daughter, Morgan Leigh Wilson

Foreword

Are there more cookbooks than cooks? Sometimes it seems that way. How about bread books? Yes, there are plenty of great ones, by Calvel, Leader, Glezer, Hamelman, Robertson, and others. How about masonry oven books? Sorry, but there are a number of those, tooI even wrote one myself, with my late friend Alan Scott.

So where do I get off telling you that theres another cookbook, another bread book, another oven book you need to have? Well, heres the deal: Richard Miscovichs book is the only one thats really all three. The re-evolution of masonry ovens and their uses over the last 15 years thanks to bakers like Richard, cooks like Judy Rodgers, masons like those in the Masonry Heater Association, and hundreds of online oven hobbyists has created a pile of new ingredients that are now formed and baked into tasty loaves. We have needed a book that addresses everything a wood-firing baker and cook has to know, and here it is.

Over the years I had thought about writing a new edition of The Bread Builders . But that book was sui generis, a one-off piece of work that required two horses in harness, not one. Without Alan Scott it could not happen again. Also, The Next Oven Book (as I had thought of it) had to be written by a real baker and real cook, and I am not that personRichard is. That means he brings technical proficiency, extensive experience, a great variety of wonderful bread formulas, and recipes for a wide range of baked and roasted foods to this volume. Many of these are foods I have never imagined making in my oven. (Scalloped Tomatoes! Beef jerky! Infused oils!)