To gauge the temperature of the oven floor :

 

• One pinch of flour thrown on the oven floor burns and smokes from 270°C and hotter
• It burns progressively and gets black at 220°C
• Sugar turns brown, then black from 170 °C on.
• One drop of water sprinkled onto the brick evaporates under 100°C.
• When a drop of water scatters into fine droplets in contact with the sole, the temperature is above 200°C.

Cleaning

• After grilling, just put the coals on top of the grill spot. All greases and meat juices will burn off.
• To eliminate all traces of ashes after sweeping, use a coconut brush with a long handle, dipped into cold water beforehand to avoid it’s catching fire.
    

Lighting the fire

• It is important to light the fire with pieces of dry wood and at the entrance of the oven, under the flue.

Dry wood

• In order to always have dry wood to start the fire : put it into the oven while it is still warm (not hot). Of course, the oven has to be cleaned of all ashes beforehand.

Optimal efficiency

• Getting the best benefit from the oven without loosing any time : always plan to cook with an open oven first, then with a closed oven.

For example : Bake pizzas for lunch, a gratin for dinner and , the next morning, without reheating the oven, cook a « cream renversee »
 

Drying fruits, vegetables, mushrooms

• The oven is closed and the temperature is not higher than 60°C for fruits and vegetables, 40°C for mushrooms
• With experience, one finds the right drying temperature
• Drying tomatoes, fruits with pits and certain mushrooms requires several sessions. Dry these foods in two sessions at a three day interval, reheating the oven each time.
• Drying herbs: put the herbs on the swept oven floor (in a cooling oven, not more than 30°C and close the exterior door). The oven is extremely dry, the brick will absorb the moisture from the herbs in 24 hours.
   

Drying apples

• Peel an apple and cut it into 2 mm slices.
• Put them side by side on a grill in the oven at 50-60°C. In one night the apple slices will be dry and crispy.

Sterilisation

• Preserves :

Home canning of any type of food can be sterilized in the oven. In the past, this was the only way to preserve jars of peas or green beans.

 

• Bedding :

Years ago, bedding made of natural material was placed in a clean oven and heated to a temperature of about 70 °C. It was left until the oven had completely cooled. All parasites were naturally destroyed.

Smoking

• If the oven is installed outside, it can also be a remarkable smoking chamber, with salmon or trout, for example.
• Put an 8 mm layer of dry beech sawdust in a semi-circle around the edges of the oven floor.
• After salting, the food to be smoked is placed on an elevated grill in the center of the oven.
• Light the sawdust on one end. For about 12 hours, the sawdust will burn very slowly, giving off a great deal of smoke but no heat. This method gives excellent results. It is important to check the oven regularly, as the fire often goes out.