On Wood-burning Ovens

Olivia Wu has a story on personal wood-burning ovens in the food section of today's Chronicle.

I have my own fascination--obsession perhaps--with wood burning ovens. I love the flavors these ovens create, along with the look of food that has been baked or roasted in them. I suppose you could get the same crispy crust on pizza by baking it on a pizza stone in a gas oven and then burning the rim of the crust under the broiler, but that's not as fun as lighting a fire in a small oven, stoking the coals until the heat surpasses 600 degrees, watching the smoke billow out the door and carefully eyeing the pizza as it cooks, all the while turning it frequently to make sure the dough cooks and burns evenly. Perhaps I'm as amused by playing with fire as I am with eating good food.

I know of several restaurants in and around San Francisco that make regular use of their wood-burning ovens--Nopa, Chez Spencer, Zuni, A16, Pizzaiolo and Chez Panisse--and I know of at least one other personal wood-burning oven in San Francisco. The personal wood-burning ovens seem like a rarity and real luxury in the Bay Area, so it was a pleasure to read about cooks who have made good use of them. One of these days, I'll figure out a way to have one of my own.

I also noticed this story in a recent NYT Friday Escapes section about Mario Batali's vacation home on the Upper Peninsula in Michigan, which mentions his wood-burning oven. Batali said that he'll make up to 30 pizzas in an evening when friends come for dinner. Wow! I was reminded of my own experience frantically baking about that number of pizzas in my friend's oven.

Frank Bruni also wrote a great review of Franny's in Brooklyn a few weeks ago, making mention their wood-burning oven. On a future trip to New York City, I hope to sample the pizzas from their oven.