First Ever Time for a WFO Pizza 9/17/2010 in Steve's WFO

Steve (Ev) was kind enough to invite me to his home this morning to try some pies made in his WFO.  I had never tried a pie bake in a WFO until 9/17/2010..  I must say I was amazed at how WFO’s worked and how fast they bake a pie.  I really enjoyed the pies Steve made.    I also got to meet part of Steve’s family.  I was like a little kid waiting all day to be able to try a pizza made in the WFO. It was like Christmas morning waiting to open your presents. I really loved the fire and the crackling wood.  This is another part of my pizza journey that I was able to experience that day, not too long ago.

If I would have known before this morning I was going to be invited to Steve’s home, I would have made some doughs for Steve to try out in his WFO.

Thanks Steve!

These are pictures of Steve’s WFO and the pies and also a video I took.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QDfiIf2YOk


I was lucky.  Those pies really tasted great.    I am fortunate to have a friend like Steve.

Steve made these pies with old dough.  I really like the taste of the WFO pizzas.  They were different than any I had tasted before.  These pies baked in a little over a minute.  I couldn’t believe how fast those pies bake in a WFO.  Even just watching the flames and smelling the wood was amazing.  Another thing that I found interesting was you could put your hand on the front part of the granite for a few seconds.  It really didn’t get too hot.  Steve is trying out different formulas for his WFO.  He had invited me to his first bake last weekend, but my brother was here and I couldn’t make that bake.  In that bake he had used the Ischia starter in some of his doughs and also used other formulas.  Steve can correct me if I am wrong, but I think this dough tonight was only 58% hydration.  There was a definite crunch when you took a bite of the pies tonight.

Another thing that I thought was interesting was any soot soon burned off the top of the oven when the fire got hot enough.  Steve did put logs on between one of the bakes.

I also would really like to have a WFO, but I don’t know if that will ever be possible for me.  At least I got to see how one operates and how the pizzas taste.  This has been a longtime wish for me.

I had only seen Steve’s pictures of his WFO before and never actually saw it in person, until this evening.  When I saw it in the pictures, I thought it would be much bigger. You could put your hand on the top of the outside of the oven.  That is how well insulated it is.  He could put two pies in at once if someone was helping him.  Steve did do a great job on building his WFO.  It was beautiful in my opinion.

Steve (Ev) said:  Norma,
Thanks for the kind words. I'm really happy that you could come over yesterday. I always enjoy our time together. My wife got a kick out of how pizza geeky we are!
You are always welcome here. I think we're going to have a lot of fun with this thing.

I said: I was really happy to come over to your place and get to actually see your WFO and taste the pies made in your WFO.  LOL, I am glad your wife got a kick out of how geeky we are when talking about pizzas.  

Thanks for saying I am always welcome at your home.  Next time I will make some dough.

I had a lot of fun and those pies sure did taste different!

Norma