Man Keeps Pizza Oven Fired Up 24/7, 'Just In Case Friends Stop In'
Posted by Erin Zimmer, November 12, 2008 at 1:44 PM
By day, Julian Abramson is a chili pepper farmer about an hour north of Cape Town, South Africa. But whenever he wants, he can also be a pizza oven master since his backyard wooden oven—using wood from a non-native Australian tree—is heated 24/7.
As a farmer, Abramson naturally has pots filled with herbs, tomatoes, and peppers for his pizza's homemade sauces and toppings. His favorite combo: bananas, green chili, and garlic. He makes the thin-crust pies "spontaneously all day whenever he, his family, or random neighbors are hungry."
GoodEater.org contributor Joshua Levin visited Abramson in Tierfontein, South Africa. Levin left so inspired, he's starting a series called “Pizza Oven Lifestyles," which will spotlight members of this growing global subculture of pizza oven mastery. If you know others, contact the GoodEater gang.
Guys like Julian Abramson have my utmost respect. It's one thing to be a pizza critic and consumer. When you make your own oven and pizza .... That's a much higher level
It's the difference between just watching baseball and playing the game
@gaffer If you are not already a player, you should grap your bat and step up to the plate. It's very rewarding. The pies taste great and you don't have to wait on line for them.
Hey Paulie G
I did scope out your flickr photos and you are a player. You made your backyard oven and your pizzas look great
I may make an oven. I know the best way is refractory brick and refractory cement. But do people ever make the oven ceiling out of sheet metal with brick on top? Many years ago I saw the bee hive ovens in New Mexico
I could throw up a temporary oven very quickly. I have a few boxes of very lightweight kiln brick that takes high temperatures. Sheet metal on top and underneath the brick walls some tiles on top of that concrete drywall used in bathrooms
hmmmm
I could make an oven out of ferro-cement but use refractory cement. Might crack a bit but who cares. Would not be as heat retentive as brick but it would be more light weight
@gaffer There are all kinds of ways to construct a pizza oven as you can see from the entries in my flickr pizza oven group:
www.flickr.com/groups/pizzaovens/pool/
However, the idea is to get and keep the oven minimally in the 850-950 range. The hotter the oven, the better the crust. Refractory brick and cement are essential if you don't want your oven to crack .Additionally, the shape of your oven is important. The eskimos (or whatever I'm not supposed to call them) build their homes in the shape they do for a reason. Beyond shape, thickness and proper insulation is important. You don't want the heat radiating out of the oven. That goes for the floor as well as the dome. Three things I will do differently the next time I build an oven; The dome will be lower so as to push more heat down towards the oven floor, the floor will be thicker than one layer of firebrick (I may find another material to use) and I will build it on a 6' x 6' base so I can fire more or bigger pies. Now I burn many crusts because the pies are too close to the flame as I wait for the bottom to crisp. I don't know what is worse; tip sag or a significantly charred crust. Adam? For now, I've partially solved the problem by making my pies smaller. It's tough though when you have 8 people for a pizza tasting and everyone wants a piece. I have so many topping combinations I like to try that I rarely make the same pie twice in an evening.
I'd wish you luck, but luck has nothin' to do with it.
You are way ahead of me but are on a learning curve and your next oven will be much better and for multiple pies. Why be a peasant who can only shovel in one pie at a time? Sorta slows down the party
As far as pizza bottoms not crisping you should cheat by making a fake floor with a big ol 18x18 or 24x24 tile from Home Depot. Elevate this tile 1/4 or 1/2 inch off the floor with some clay balls. Your floor is (obviously) never getting as hot as you need
Another cheat is using an elevated metal pizza pie pan for half the cooking time
The rich Romans had heated radiant floors. Tiled I believe
You need fire heat conducted and running under your floor in next oven. Might need two fires going.....one that's below the floor
For next oven I would make floor thinner and channeled for airflow underneath. Look at Julian Abramson's oven. He has his fire on all day (though banked) when not cooking bread or pizza. He has channels underneath his floor
You do not have fire on all the time so need even quicker floor response. Push down dome if you want but you need thinner floor with channels for airflow underneath--- in my humble opinion who has never built a pizza oven
@gaffer Thanks for the suggestions. In terms of getting the oven floor hot enough, I do. It's just that I can't get the pie far enough from the flame and embers. When I have someone outside tending the fire, they can usually keep it around 900 for me. I have a laser thermometer that I use, so I know I'm hittin' the magic number. My biggest problem in that regard is finding the right person to tend the fire. Some people take their responsibility far more seriouly than others. I mentioned a more insulated base just make it easier to keep it hot. The low dome is in wide use in pizzeria Napoletanas and would also make it easier to keep the over hot. In terms of your other construction suggestions, I'm sure they would help. However, I prefer keeping with the traditional Napoletana design. I'm not sure how your airflow channel would work, but that design sounds like it might fall within acceotable Napoletana standards. Would you happen to have a link to plans that incorporate such a technique?
Thanks for adapting/syndicating this story from www.goodeater.org. Julian has an amazing thing going on, and it is only fair to mention that his line of chilie sauces and tapenades are called "Fynbos Fine" and available in the U.S. He recently got silver at the Fancy Foods show in the best appetizer category.
In producing these products, he has three large greenhouses growing 15 species of peppers, as well as tomatoes, aubergines, herbs, etc. This makes for a pretty unparalleled combination of variety and freshness in creating his pizzas, as well as about a hundred chili sauce options for topping them off. The mozzarella comes from a dairy farmer down the road. He also built a backyard smokehouse which is a great complement.
I think the key final touch, though, is that he built a covered walkway that extends from the house to the pizza oven. You can see in the pic that the oven's chimney cuts through the walkway's roof. So the pizza party is rain or shine.
@josh My pizza tastings are rain or shine as well, however the ones in the rain require someone to hold an umbrella over my head (and the pie) on the way out to the oven, during baking and on the way back. As a matter of fact I had to do just that this past Saturday. I wasn't happy about it, so I strongly support your opinion about it being a key feature. I certainly wish I had it the night of that recent tropical storm. When it comes to making pizza, I'm like the postman.
I just complete my adobe pizza oven and ofcourse a few modifications over the real horno oven used by the indians in Northern New Mexico. Really cooks great and I learn each time I fire up the oven. Have cooked Pizzas of all kinds of topping, old world loafs of bread and lasagna in a dutch oven. I believe it makes better tasting pizze than other gas or electric ovens. I see Julian has his oven raised up on a platform. I did almost the same thing but use a wall of lava rocks and filled in the center for a the base of brick and walled in by the adobe brick and mud. then covered with a layer of mortar which then was cover with stucco. Chef Robert Here in the Land Of Enchantment
Where are the photos Chef Robert? Oven and pies. Any good Naopletana pizza in the Santa Fe or Taos area? I'd love to open a place there some day. It is truely the Land of Enchantment.
Regarding earlier comment " It's just that I can't get the pie far enough from the flame and embers"
I use a few pieces of heavy sheet steel , 12 inches long, that I bent into a 90 degree angle, 4 inches to each side. In a tee-pee position, I slide them into place right into the side of the fire that I maintain in the back of the oven.
I use them in both my ovens here at home. It allows me to get my pies, or whatever, a little bit closer to the fire without burning.
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16 Comments:
I recommend this post.
djacobs at 3:02PM on 11/12/08
Guys like Julian Abramson have my utmost respect. It's one thing to be a pizza critic and consumer. When you make your own oven and pizza .... That's a much higher level
It's the difference between just watching baseball and playing the game
gaffer at 8:06PM on 11/12/08
@gaffer If you are not already a player, you should grap your bat and step up to the plate. It's very rewarding. The pies taste great and you don't have to wait on line for them.
Ciao,
Paulie Gee
pauliegee at 8:23PM on 11/12/08
Wow, I'm so jealous. I want his life.
simon at 11:48PM on 11/12/08
Hey Paulie G
I did scope out your flickr photos and you are a player. You made your backyard oven and your pizzas look great
I may make an oven. I know the best way is refractory brick and refractory cement. But do people ever make the oven ceiling out of sheet metal with brick on top? Many years ago I saw the bee hive ovens in New Mexico
I could throw up a temporary oven very quickly. I have a few boxes of very lightweight kiln brick that takes high temperatures. Sheet metal on top and underneath the brick walls some tiles on top of that concrete drywall used in bathrooms
gaffer at 2:47AM on 11/13/08
hmmmm
I could make an oven out of ferro-cement but use refractory cement. Might crack a bit but who cares. Would not be as heat retentive as brick but it would be more light weight
gaffer at 2:51AM on 11/13/08
@gaffer There are all kinds of ways to construct a pizza oven as you can see from the entries in my flickr pizza oven group:
www.flickr.com/groups/pizzaovens/pool/
However, the idea is to get and keep the oven minimally in the 850-950 range. The hotter the oven, the better the crust. Refractory brick and cement are essential if you don't want your oven to crack .Additionally, the shape of your oven is important. The eskimos (or whatever I'm not supposed to call them) build their homes in the shape they do for a reason. Beyond shape, thickness and proper insulation is important. You don't want the heat radiating out of the oven. That goes for the floor as well as the dome. Three things I will do differently the next time I build an oven; The dome will be lower so as to push more heat down towards the oven floor, the floor will be thicker than one layer of firebrick (I may find another material to use) and I will build it on a 6' x 6' base so I can fire more or bigger pies. Now I burn many crusts because the pies are too close to the flame as I wait for the bottom to crisp. I don't know what is worse; tip sag or a significantly charred crust. Adam? For now, I've partially solved the problem by making my pies smaller. It's tough though when you have 8 people for a pizza tasting and everyone wants a piece. I have so many topping combinations I like to try that I rarely make the same pie twice in an evening.
I'd wish you luck, but luck has nothin' to do with it.
Ciao,
Paulie Gee
pauliegee at 11:18AM on 11/13/08
Paulie
You are way ahead of me but are on a learning curve and your next oven will be much better and for multiple pies. Why be a peasant who can only shovel in one pie at a time? Sorta slows down the party
As far as pizza bottoms not crisping you should cheat by making a fake floor with a big ol 18x18 or 24x24 tile from Home Depot. Elevate this tile 1/4 or 1/2 inch off the floor with some clay balls. Your floor is (obviously) never getting as hot as you need
Another cheat is using an elevated metal pizza pie pan for half the cooking time
The rich Romans had heated radiant floors. Tiled I believe
You need fire heat conducted and running under your floor in next oven. Might need two fires going.....one that's below the floor
Gaffer
zen00777-at-yahoo-dot-com
gaffer at 6:17AM on 11/14/08
I'd wish you luck, but luck has nothin' to do with it.
__________________
Chance favors the prepared mind -- Louis Pasteur
gaffer at 6:18AM on 11/14/08
For next oven I would make floor thinner and channeled for airflow underneath. Look at Julian Abramson's oven. He has his fire on all day (though banked) when not cooking bread or pizza. He has channels underneath his floor
You do not have fire on all the time so need even quicker floor response. Push down dome if you want but you need thinner floor with channels for airflow underneath--- in my humble opinion who has never built a pizza oven
gaffer at 7:28AM on 11/14/08
@Louie P Looks like you and me see eye to eye.
@gaffer Thanks for the suggestions. In terms of getting the oven floor hot enough, I do. It's just that I can't get the pie far enough from the flame and embers. When I have someone outside tending the fire, they can usually keep it around 900 for me. I have a laser thermometer that I use, so I know I'm hittin' the magic number. My biggest problem in that regard is finding the right person to tend the fire. Some people take their responsibility far more seriouly than others. I mentioned a more insulated base just make it easier to keep it hot. The low dome is in wide use in pizzeria Napoletanas and would also make it easier to keep the over hot. In terms of your other construction suggestions, I'm sure they would help. However, I prefer keeping with the traditional Napoletana design. I'm not sure how your airflow channel would work, but that design sounds like it might fall within acceotable Napoletana standards. Would you happen to have a link to plans that incorporate such a technique?
Thanks again,
Paulie Gee
pauliegee at 10:48AM on 11/14/08
Thanks for adapting/syndicating this story from www.goodeater.org. Julian has an amazing thing going on, and it is only fair to mention that his line of chilie sauces and tapenades are called "Fynbos Fine" and available in the U.S. He recently got silver at the Fancy Foods show in the best appetizer category.
In producing these products, he has three large greenhouses growing 15 species of peppers, as well as tomatoes, aubergines, herbs, etc. This makes for a pretty unparalleled combination of variety and freshness in creating his pizzas, as well as about a hundred chili sauce options for topping them off. The mozzarella comes from a dairy farmer down the road. He also built a backyard smokehouse which is a great complement.
I think the key final touch, though, is that he built a covered walkway that extends from the house to the pizza oven. You can see in the pic that the oven's chimney cuts through the walkway's roof. So the pizza party is rain or shine.
joshlevin11 at 3:40PM on 11/18/08
@josh My pizza tastings are rain or shine as well, however the ones in the rain require someone to hold an umbrella over my head (and the pie) on the way out to the oven, during baking and on the way back. As a matter of fact I had to do just that this past Saturday. I wasn't happy about it, so I strongly support your opinion about it being a key feature. I certainly wish I had it the night of that recent tropical storm. When it comes to making pizza, I'm like the postman.
Ciao,
Paulie Gee
pauliegee at 4:07PM on 11/18/08
I just complete my adobe pizza oven and ofcourse a few modifications over the real horno oven used by the indians in Northern New Mexico. Really cooks great and I learn each time I fire up the oven. Have cooked Pizzas of all kinds of topping, old world loafs of bread and lasagna in a dutch oven. I believe it makes better tasting pizze than other gas or electric ovens. I see Julian has his oven raised up on a platform. I did almost the same thing but use a wall of lava rocks and filled in the center for a the base of brick and walled in by the adobe brick and mud. then covered with a layer of mortar which then was cover with stucco. Chef Robert Here in the Land Of Enchantment
ChefRobert at 7:52PM on 01/08/09
Where are the photos Chef Robert? Oven and pies. Any good Naopletana pizza in the Santa Fe or Taos area? I'd love to open a place there some day. It is truely the Land of Enchantment.
Ciao,
Paulie Gee
pauliegee at 9:01PM on 01/08/09
Regarding earlier comment " It's just that I can't get the pie far enough from the flame and embers"
I use a few pieces of heavy sheet steel , 12 inches long, that I bent into a 90 degree angle, 4 inches to each side. In a tee-pee position, I slide them into place right into the side of the fire that I maintain in the back of the oven.
I use them in both my ovens here at home. It allows me to get my pies, or whatever, a little bit closer to the fire without burning.
Fearless at 7:11AM on 01/09/09