The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

New WFO: Il Fornino

Rajan Shankara's picture
Rajan Shankara

New WFO: Il Fornino

Aloha Bakers, 

A new Il Fornino WFO has just arrived for my baking and I am firing it up tomorrow for test runs. I have learned a great deal from TFL about the subject and look forward to asking everyone about this new oven's issues and wonders in the days and weeks ahead. 

 

Right now my game plan is to get used to making fires, checking temps and understanding what the cooling rate is and how i can force cool if i need to. The first test dough is going to be focaccia and then ciabatta. 

 

Thanks in advance and i look forward to reading all the comments and tips. 

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

wow!   Did it arrive during the meteorite shower?  

Have fun playing!   Keep some chilled dough on "stand by" in the fridge.

Notebook time!  :)

Rajan Shankara's picture
Rajan Shankara

Def going to make some big 3k and 4k gram doughs for extra practice. Thanks Mini 

drogon's picture
drogon

A few months ago I was (again!) looking to get a WFO - and I looked at one called Pulcinella which is very similar to your Il Fornino (scarily similar!)

The demo I saw of the Pulcinella had the cook making cakes, meat dishes as well as breads in it - it all looked very good - the idea being that you sweep the hit embers to one side (inside a sort of guard), giving you a nice big front-to back cooking area.

In the end, I went for an indirectly heated one - a Fornetto - it was half the price, but also seemed more mobile for what we wanted to do (it's a little smaller too) It's still as capable - I did 24 pizzas in it a few weeks ago for a local event, so the bigger Il Fornino you have ought to be able to bake just about anything!

You probably have to do a "burn in" firing before putting any food in it though, so start early. Probably a good idea anyway to make sure any coatings on the metal sheeting, dust, etc. has burnt off.

Check the base temperature after you've swept the embers to one side - breads like focaccia which needs more cooking than pizza might have a tendency to scorch on the base - a good non-contact infra-red thermometer is essential.

Happy WFO baking, and remember it's not just for bread - think overnight slow-meat roasting type cooking too, and with a good set of cast iron pans, you can cook other things not just stuff directly on the stone base. When I got my Fornetto, I cooked my breakfast in it - including boiling water for a big mug of tea... I set myself a challenge to use it for an entire weekends worth of cooking and while I did some bread, I also did lots of other things in it too.

-Gordon

Rajan Shankara's picture
Rajan Shankara

Man Gordon your on fire with helping me out. Going to take in your post for awhile and get it down! Thanks

drogon's picture
drogon

There's a whole load of Jamie Oliver stuff on WFOs too - he has done a few TV programs with his (and sells his own range of them too)

But once its hot - it's hot! You can stick a pan in and cook something in that pan... e.g. breakfast:

 

That's in my Fornetto which has a more conventional looking oven cavity with grids - the wood fire is underneath and heats the bottom and round the sides/back.

I've seen all sorts of gizmos for these ovens (or this type of oven) grids that swing in/out for pans, as well as internal spacers and so on - once its hot just treat it like a big hot oven that's slowly cooling - just think out of the dome :-)

-Gordon

Rajan Shankara's picture
Rajan Shankara

After 3 full days of baking in the new Fornino oven and going through over 30 lbs of flour, I am going to take a few days off and let it all sink in. 

We raised the unit to its max height, good idea. First test my brothers and i did were veggies. We cooked about 6 or 7 different trays of onions, bell peppers, gourds and even some apples! The caramelization on the apples is amazing. 

The next day we did pizza, true naples style. Simple sauce, a few pieces mozzarella and some fresh basil. We made about 22 in an hour. We held the floor temps at around 850. We learned we can fit about two 16 inch pizzas in but you have to be skilled at turning, so most of the time it was one at a time cooking. It was way too much fun. Basically i was in the kitchen shaping and topping the dough and then passing it through the window outside to my brother, who peeled the pizza and in it went.

 

 

 

The last day, yesterday, I was solo making our whole wheat ciabatta. I was able to fit 8 in the first load and then 10 in the second round. I learned a great deal about temp control with bread. My goal was to be around 500 floor temp so i started to clean the coals out around 650. By the time i was done cleaning the floor with a wet rag and puuting in the dough, the temp was around 470-450F, air temp was only 350 or 400F. The second round was alittle lower. I think next time i will try baking higher, maybe around 600F? I was afraid of burning the crust but when I think back now, there was no flame, so there probably wouldn't be a problem? Def the best open crumb on my ciabatta to date. 

 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

It's a beauty.  You have years of wonderful baking in front of you.  Whole goat comes to mind.:-)

Well done and happy bakers