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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (March 8, 2012)
DIGS : EW’S ECO HOME & GARDEN ISSUE bac kyard ovens Bake pizza on your back patio pizzas to slightly blackened perfection. The thick brick radiates heat back into the pizza resulting in crust that is crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. And pizza isn’t the only thing that can be cooked in a A Jessie Jones backyard oven BY C AIT LIN MC K IMMY W hat happens when a community of potters, already having mastered the art of kiln-fi red ceramics, delves into pizza? It’s completely logical: They build ovens in their backyards and soon have pizzas with perfect super-heated crusts. Jessie Jones, a local ceramicist and civil engineer, has been collaborating with friends to build wood-fi red brick pizza ovens on lawns and patios across the Willamette Valley. His passion for backyard ovens stems from his love of good friends, good food and the outdoors. When EW contacted Jones to set up an interview, he was in the middle of fi ring up his oven for a dinner party. “We made three pizzas that night and there weren’t any leftovers,” he said. “It’s a great way to feed a ton of people, since the pizzas cook in 3 to 4 minutes.” The oven design that Jones developed is meant to be simple and economical — any moderately handy person with a backyard and $400 can build an oven in a weekend. “You basically need tools, materials and some friends and then you’ve got an oven,” Jones said. Unlike the oven you have in your kitchen, wood-fi red ovens heat to more than 1,000 degrees and rapidly cook wood-fi re oven — breads of all kinds are possible, along with casseroles and cookies. “We recently tried making banana bread with great results,” Jones said. Jones has also been experimenting with unconventional pizzas. “Some of the most popular toppings are caramelized red onions and Gorgonzola cheese,” he said, “but we’ve also been having a lot of fun with dessert pizzas.” The potter-turned-pizza-artist loves to slather his crust with Nutella or ricotta cheese. Then he decorates his sweet pizzas with pinwheels of fruit and nuts. “We’re always tweaking things and trying out new seasonal ingredients,” he said. Although Jones makes and uses simple brick and mortar wood-fi re ovens, there are many different kinds of stoves that can be installed in the backyard of a budding pizza enthusiast. Beyond brick, stoves are built from stone, adobe, cob (a material similar to adobe) and even cast iron. They can be straightforward and functional, or they can be elaborately engineered to fl ow with a certain domestic aesthetic. When friends gather to make and eat pizza, it’s a time of community, food and fi re. “It’s a very social cooking style,” Jones said. “Everyone’s in the kitchen together preparing toppings and rolling out dough.” According to Jones, a backyard stove is completely accessible to anyone dreaming of creating gourmet pizza in her backyard. He has written an e-book detailing the stove construction process, and he sells the instruction manual to the general public for $10. “I’m helping my friends build ovens,” Jones said, “and they’ll help their friends build ovens and hopefully they’ll spread like wildfi re.” ew Jessie Jones can be contacted at pizzaovenmanual@gmail.com for additional information or a copy of his e-book. P H OTO B Y R O B S Y D O R | D I G I TA L L AT T E .C O M Garden of s ! g n i v Sa Down To Earth Starter Mix ,QWURGXFLQJ6WDUWHU0L[ 2XUVWDUWHUPL[ D DQGWUDQVSODQWIRUPXOD L VWKHSHUIHFWZD\WR J JHW\RXUGHOLFDWH\RXQJ V VWDUWVDQGQHZVHHGOLQJV L QWKHJURXQGDQGUHDG\ W WRWKULYH 20 % OFF $OO6L]HV Down To Earth Stainless Steel Compost Pail 7KHSHUIHFW FRXQWHUWRSVROXWLRQ IRUFROOHFWLQJIRRG VFUDSV7KHWZR FKDUFRDOILOWHUV LQVLGHWKHWLJKWO\ VHDOHGOLGNHHSV RGRUVORFNHGLQ ,W¶VGLVKZDVKHU VDIHDQGLQFOXGHV UH UHSODFHPHQWILOWHUV Safer Products. Safer for the Enviromnment Black Gold Seedling Mix Guatemala an Aprons 7KHVHFRWWRQQ ELEVW\OHDSURQVFRRPH LQDVVRUWHGFRORUV7KH 7K ORQJDSURQKDVDVWUDLJKKWERWWRPHGJH ZLWKSRFNHWVDQGWKHVKRUWDSURQLVURXQGHGZLWK VKRUW DSURQ LV URXQGHG ZLWK SRFNHWVDORQJWKHERWWRP 6DOHSULFHVWKURXJK 6XQGD\0DUFK Mon-Sat: 8:30-5:30 | Sun: 10-5 mvDB 12 MARCH 8, 2012 EUGENE WEEKLY 8VHGDVDJURZLQJPHGLD LQJHUPLQDWLQJVHHGVLQ IODWVSRWVDQGSOXJWUD\V %ODFN*ROG6HHGOLQJ 0L[HQFRXUDJHVKLJK JHUPLQDWLRQUDWHVVWURQJ UR URRWGHYHORSPHQWDQGHDV\ WUDQVSODQWLQJ SALE $14.99 UHJ 2825 Willamette 342-5191 SALE $29.99 UHJ 20 % OFF $OO6L]HV +20(*$5'(1 WK 2OLYH6WUHHW 0RQ6DW 6XQ *,)7 WK :LOODPHWWH WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
