Gotta Love that Osage Orange

Did a test burn with some of this bright yellow osage orange (hedge apple) wood on Wednesday. The results were spectacular. Granted it took a good deal longer than I’d hoped (7 hours from start to finish…it’s very dense stuff) but you can’t argue with the numbers: 900-degree oven walls and floor and a 1000+ -degree ceiling. Adjusting for the fact the the air within the oven will be about 100 degrees cooler than than surfaces, that’s more than enough heat for bread and just about perfect for pizza. In fact I re-fired the oven last night for pizza-making (family in town donchaknow) and the pies came out crispy, lightly charred, and with the cheese melted on top but not browned…virtually the Neapolitan ideal. What a difference the big heat makes!

So I am pumped, ladies and germs. Now all I need to do is find a source of osage orange wood that’ll last me the rest of my life.