Momma Needs a Pizza Oven

My little vacation is coming to a close soon. Ike and I just returned from a week at Grama and Grampa's Camp (or cottage or cabin or whatever you call it....we call them camps in this neck of the woods). It had been about 5 years since I had last been there although I had been getting the updates from Ike concerning the work going on there, so I had an idea of the changes. Ike has been consulting with Grampa giving him suggestions and ideas for what might be done next. And over the past two summers, Ike has helped out with little projects there with Grampa. I was happy to get a chance, this year, to finally see all that had been accomplished. There has been a little expansion, the addition of a bathroom, a raised water tank for indoor water, the addition of a back deck, and a kitchen renovation. Grampa is a carpenter by trade so I think he really enjoys all the putzing around that goes on there and it does seem to be a bottomless pit of little jobs you could do. Well.....I'm pretty sure this trip out we discovered another job to add to Grampa's Honey Do list.
Even before we got to camp, we had been talking about making bannock (something from my to do list) and we had decided that we would make a pizza there. It's always fun to make things in the wood stove! Well this time we made our pizza dough in town and brought it up ready to go and kept it in the fridge until we were ready for it. It turns out the neighbours at the camp next door have a new outdoor pizza oven and we were hankering to try it out. They kindly offered us the opportunity to use it....and we are certainly glad that they did.


It was just the most fabulous thing! Everyone should have one! Why don't I have one? Mom has decided that she now needs one and I think that this revelation took her a little by surprise. Everyone thought that the pizza was the best they had ever had. It delivered a crisp bottom, golden brown, smokey and delicious pizza that would be difficult..........no perhaps impossible....recreate any other way. It was that good!


So now the research is on to see what needs to be done to have one ready for next summer. A spot has been chosen and the ground has been leveled.......It's only a matter or time now. You should get one too! You really should!!!

We even checked the temperature of the hearth (made of fire brick) before sliding in the pizza....it was a whopping 620 C. After pushing coals to the back or the oven and washing the hearth surface with a wet cloth we were ready for some serious pizza baking. That pizza was done to perfection in 8 minutes. A second pizza took 2 minutes longer.....as the oven cooled slightly. Grama is now sold on the virtues of the pizza oven and is making a lovely list of all the yummy things we might try to make once she has her own. Let me know if you have any requests and I'll pass it on. Ciao!