Alfresco baking

We joined a group of home ed friends to christen the outdoor oven a couple of families have made. I wasn't sure what to expect of the oven and was very pleasantly surprised.

We helped chop wood and kept the fire inside the oven burning really well for going on two hours. We then helped rake out all of the ash which could be turned into charcoal for future use.

We then had to let the temperature in the oven settle so as to help it cook evenly. We took this time to prepare pizza toppings over an open fire pit. It was lovely lounging on the grass around the fire, chatting to friends and cooking a communal meal alfresco!

The oven got very hot. There was a small space for a thermometer and I'm sure the temperature was clocked at going on 400 degrees at one point - knocking spots off a domestic oven!

Once the toppings were done and the oven temperature stabilised we got stuck into the dough.

It has been a fabulous day. I was concerned at first in case there wouldn't be enough to hold Miles' interest for long but I was wrong. He loved it. We were there by 10.00am and didn't leave till late afternoon. He was fascinated by the whole thing and kept asking when someone was going to build a hob on top!

After pizzas we started baking bread loaves. A lot of the children were loosing interest by this point and had veered off towards the trampoline but Hermione was still very enthusiastic and tried her hand at lots of different rolls, knots and other bread shapes.

Wow, I feel really lucky to have been part of such a wonderful experience!