So I’ve watched all of Clive’s videos on YouTube and I’ve been playing with smaller fires for simpler cooks and weeknight dinners. Tonight, I did a smaller fire and started cooking the carrots during the heating phase of the oven. The menu for tonight was honey-sriracha glazed carrots (the carrots were from my garden and the honey from hives belonging good friends and neighbors who live about 12 houses away in the middle of the burbs…), Asian long beans (from my garden) and onions, and salmon. I started the carrots during the firing phase of the oven and the beans cooked while I did the salmon in a couple of batches. I moved the carrots to the opening to keep them warm while everything else was cooking. I love the crisp, salty exterior of the salmon and the juices that get locked in. My favorite way to cook it!
This looks fantastic, what temperature was the oven? Did you partially close the oven with a door? How long did things take? Sorry for all the questions, I have never made anything but pizza in my oven so I am a newbie when it comes to cooking in it. Thanks!
No worries about the questions, I’m always happy to help. That’s what community is all about!
I don’t actually know the temperature. I typically fire the oven with large logs. I’m using kilndried Oak. I usually use 10 to 12 large logs for this. I probably used 12 medium logs and once the fire burned down to coals, I move them to the back and added one large log for continual heat and then much smaller logs to have a fire rolling across the top. I rarely use the door on my oven, I find it much more difficult to keep a clean fire burning. I use the distance from the fire to regulate the heat. I hope this helps.
Great demonstration of using other cookware in the oven. We went through an era where our pots and pans all had Bakelite, plastic, or even nylon handles because home kitchen cooking moved completely away from “crazy” things like putting a skillet in the oven. Silicone was all the thing about 10 years ago and still can be found on cheaper pans.
Nothing in my pan collection (okay, one small pot) has any of that stuff attached, and I’ve really warmed to cast iron and stainless steel. I do have one SS skillet with a non-stick coating, but everything else is bare metal or conditioned. They work beautifully on our induction range-top, and equally well in our Barile oven.
I’m feeling hungry for supper at 11:30 in the morning looking at these photos…
Thanks @Demond !
@Demond thanks very much, very helpful. We have some out of town visitors coming, excited to make pizzas one night then try some steaks and spuds the next.
I haven’t done them in the wood fired oven, but if you’ve never tried hasselback potatoes, you might want to check them out!
Hassleback potatoes look awesome, good candidates for the brick oven. I’ve never heard of them, but am excited to try them. Thanks very much!
@Demond I just wanted to say thanks for the Hassleback potatoes suggestion, they were great and easy to prepare. I used a regular oven for them and they were a hit.
I also grilled 6 beautiful NY strips over a very hot bed of coals in my pizza oven. It was the first non-pizza dish done in the oven and they turned out awesome (nice char, beautiful grill marks). I used an instant read thermometer to make sure they were medium rare. Unfortunately, in all the excitement I forgot to take pictures.
Clean up was very easy, I just dragged hot embers over the grease splatters and let the embers sit overnight, I brushed out the ashes the next day and it was good to go. Thanks again for the inspiration, I am excited to try other things now!
I’m glad it worked out. I’m a big fan of grilling meats in the oven. The char is incredible.
Keep at it!!