From The Wood-Fired Oven: New And Traditional Techniques For Cooking And Baking [Hardcover]

“Richard Miscovich’s descriptions and instructions are both practical and inspirationally poetic—dare 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.”—Peter Reinhart, author of The Bread Baker’s Apprentice

In the last several years, interest in wood-fired ovens has increased dramatically in the United States and abroad, but most books focus on how to bake bread or pizza in an oven. From the Wood-Fired Oven offers many more techniques for home and artisan bakers—from baking bread and making pizza to recipes on how to get as much use as possible out of a single oven firing, from the first live-fire roasting to drying wood for the next fire.

From the Wood-Fired Oven offers a new take on traditional techniques for professional bakers, but is simple enough to inspire any nonprofessional baking enthusiast. Leading baker and instructor Richard Miscovich wants people to use their ovens to fulfill the goal of maximum heat utilization. Readers will find methods and techniques for cooking and baking in a wood-fired oven in the order of the appropriate temperature window. What comes first—pizza, or pastry? Roasted vegetables or a braised pork loin? Clarified butter or beef jerky?

In addition to an extensive section of delicious formulas for many types of bread, readers will find chapters on:

• Making pizza and other live-fire flatbreads;
• Roasting fish and meats;
• Grilling, steaming, braising, and frying;
• Baking pastry and other recipes beyond breads;
• Rendering animal fats and clarifying butter;
• Food dehydration and infusing oils;
• And ló-