My great grandparents were immigrants from Italy and when they came to America they brought with them many traditions and practices from the old country. One of these was the practice of cooking in a domed wood fired oven. Several times a week, my great grandmother would hike up into the hills behind her Utah home and gather oak wood to fire up the oven. She did this to bake 50 pounds of fresh bread which was then sold to supplement the families income. As a child, I would hear these stories and wonder why anyone would want to work that hard to bake bread. Why not just turn the oven on and make bread that way? Little did I know or understand of history. Now, as I have aged and the stresses of modern day life weigh down on me daily, I wish I could experience that simple old fashioned way of living. The idea of finding your own fuel source in the hills and mountains behind your home, collecting it, building a fire and cooking your food in a time honored fashion is very romantic to me. Unfortunately, Americans have shifted away from this way of cooking and now only experience it if they are lucky enough to have a wood fired pizza joint nearby.

There is so much more you can do with these ovens then just pizza! Using a wood fired oven to roast beef, lamb and chicken elevates these dishes to the next level. There is nothing better then to take oak wood and reduce it to white hot coals and cook a well marbled rib eye steak, allowing the fat to melt, drip on the coals and lick the steak with the most delicious flavor you can imagine!

My long wait and desire for one of these ovens is finally over. The time has arrived to put my new Forno Bravo Primavera 70 wood fired oven in my backyard! The plan is to use a forklift to transport the 750 pound oven up a slight incline in my lawn, through the fence and into position on its concrete pad and stand. I am lucky I have a college football player as a son and several good friends to help install this monstrous oven.

It will be necessary to season this oven over the next two weeks. It has to stand for one week before the curing fires can be lit. The fires will need to burn slowly over a one week period and then the oven will be cured and ready to cook in.

The plan is to cook not only pizza and bread but also roast delicious meats, wild game, fish, poultry and vegetables in this oven. I am looking forward to spending this summer learning the ins and out of this oven and making many awesome meals. As a follower of my Wild Forage page, you will be able to share in this new adventure. I will post many articles which will cover the different recipes, techniques, successes and failures of learning to cook the old fashioned way! I hope you enjoy this journey as much as I do.