Hello.
This is Yamamoto from Suo-Oshima.
Suo-Oshima is a rural area rich in nature.
It is no exaggeration to say that all we have is the sea and the mountains and nothing else.
Although it is a pleasant environment, there aren't many places to play or have fun drinking.
As a result, I was unable to create an opportunity to interact with members from Suo-Oshima.
So, we decided to build a pizza oven, hoping to create a place where people from Suo-Oshima could have a fun drink and socialize, and also to provide hospitality to people who come to visit Suo-Oshima.
What is a simple pizza oven?
Building a pizza oven seems very difficult.
As you can imagine, making it properly is difficult and time-consuming.
I was worried that it might be too difficult, but then our facilitator, Mr. Aoki , told me about a simple pizza oven that can be made using only fireproof bricks.
After some research, I found out that a simple pizza oven can be made with just the following materials:
- Firebricks
- Large sized firebricks
- Half-mass firebrick
- Concrete block
- Concrete slab
There are only five ingredients. It was easier than I imagined, so the hurdle was lowered and I decided to make it right away at a later date.
Pizza oven making
When I say "making," I just mean stacking things up.
The foundation is made of concrete blocks and concrete slabs, and then resistance bricks are stacked on top of that.
Further stacking firebricks,
Finished!
It took me about an hour to complete.
It was supposed to be a much nicer shape, but I bought the wrong size large bricks so it ended up a bit crooked (oh my God).
Pasteurization
I want to start baking pizza right away, but first I need to heat it up.
This pizza oven heats the fire on the lower level and bakes the pizza on the upper level.
First, light a small piece of firewood to start a fire with the larger pieces.
And then add some big logs!
This task was difficult.
It takes more than an hour to bake the pizza because it requires a temperature of over 400°C.
It's not a problem because keeping a fire going is quite fun, but you need materials to keep it going, and I cut a lot of materials.
This was probably the most difficult part of building the pizza oven.
My juniors also worked hard to cut out the materials "by themselves."
Finally bake the pizza
Now that the temperature has risen, the pizza can finally be cooked.
This time, I didn't think I would have enough time to build a pizza oven, so I decided to bake pre-made pizza.
Place the pizza in the oven and let it sit for 1-2 minutes.
It's done!
Tasting
It's delicious.
It's baked at a high temperature so it's nice and crispy and has a nice wood-fired aroma.
In addition to this, we used pre-made dough and added our own toppings to make pizza.
I made it a margherita, topped it with avocado and mushrooms, and it was all delicious.
In addition to pizza, we also had fun by baking potatoes in foil, grilling chicken in sanshoku style, and baking vegetables in foil.
Summary
The pizza oven was pretty awesome.
To be honest, I didn't have high expectations since it's just a simple pizza oven, but I was surprised that it baked pizza so well.
Starting a fire is hard work, but if it means I can eat delicious pizza, it's worth the effort every once in a while.
Next time I'll try making the pizza dough properly and baking it.
If you come to Suo-Oshima for satellite work, we'll do our best to grill the food, so please come and visit us.
I hope to be able to bake something proper by then.
Well then.
Yamamoto Yuya