I love the Baby V

We lent a Baby Valoriani to our good friend Stephen Clements to see what he thought.  Here’s his initial impressions.

So, what were your first impressions?

Wow!  Its both big and small. In preparing for the arrival of the Baby V, I moved our BBQ so that it could be replaced by the shiny new wood oven.  Unlike the BBQ that sat quietly (and unused) in the corner, the Baby stands proud.  Its not quiet and unassuming but rather screams ‘look at me!'  -  more like a piece of art wanting to be the focus of attention; and what an impressive piece it is.  In fact, it caught the attention of our neighbour who passed glowing comments about it.  The poor BBQ is feeling very unloved at this stage!

One of the things that surprised me the most, was the thickness of the insulation;  but without actually seeing it for real,  its hard to appreciate.  Whilst the inner space is large its not as large as you might think given the exterior dimensions.  But I assume this is a good thing...more insulation and refractory clay means the oven retains and distributes the heat better, especially when compared to inferior models.

And what about lighting it?

This took a little longer than I thought it would but we got there in the end!  It makes sense to light the fire in the centre so that the dome is heated evenly.  Although it wasn’t overly clear whether we should have the door on or off whilst the fire was starting.  We started with the door off, then the door loosely on and once the fire seemed to take, removed the door completely.  I also wasn’t sure when to move the fire over the side but in the end opted for the slow and steady approach.  Once the fire had established itself in the centre, I used the peel to push it to one side and then put the firedog in place.  Next, I took an old teacloth that had been submerged in cold water;  wrapped it around the peel; and dragged it along the oven floor to give it a good clean.  I was working on the theory this was a good idea since the floor is where the pizzas would be cooking!

And what did you cook first?

Well… Pizza… What else!  Earlier in the day I made a batch of fresh pizza dough - enough for two 12 inch pizzas.  I also had an idea for a pizza that I wanted to try:  black and white pudding with a chutney puree.  Given that I’ve been on a sugar free kick recently I wanted to make my own chutney so this involved a little cooking: some tomatoes, onion, garlic, chillies, herbs and a splash of apple cider vinegar – gently simmered and then lightly blended into a puree:  the result was superb.  Boy was it delicious with a good kick!

So the first pizza contained a base of my homemade chutney, crumbled black and white pudding, red pepper, basil and a light grating of mozzarella.  But this is also where I made my first mistake.  The oven took longer to light and reach temperature than I had planned.  This meant that I made the pizza way too early.  Which meant that by the time I tried to put it into the oven, I had to wrestle it off the counter top – so it wasn’t round by the time it made it to the oven!!!  I must admit, I was a little annoyed by this as I had a utopic vision in my head of the perfect pizza first time!

And what about the taste?

Wow!  Any misgivings I had about the shape disappeared as soon as I tasted it!  What a difference the wood fired oven makes.  I’ve made pizzas with fresh dough before, and cooked them in our electric oven,  but they’ve never tasted this good.  It was gorgeous – way nicer than anything we’d have made previously or ordered in from anywhere.

And what next?

Well, why stop with one pizza?  I made a second pizza which had a drizzling of olive oil, sliced potato, cream cheese with parmesan and lemon juice,  parma harm and rosemary.  This time I put it straight into the oven.  Second time around was much more successful:  it stayed reasonably round and again tasted absolutely lovely!  The downside: I’m now totally stuffed!!!

So now that you’re stuffed – you called it a night?

Absolutely not!  Normally at the weekend I cook up something for breakfast for the following week.  Why fire up the electric oven when the Baby V still has plenty of heat?  So in went a tray of 12 bacon, egg, broccoli and pea muffins!  Breakfast for myself and Sinead sorted!

Now you’re done?

Nope!  Time for bread.  Earlier in the day I mixed up dough for two small pano rustico loaves.   Apparently to cook bread you should remove the heat source so the bread cooks evenly,  With the peel I removed the ash and once again cleaned the oven floor.  After letting the oven cool a bit more, I loaded in the two loaves and went and had a glass of vino.  Twenty minutes later they were ready!  Sadly, I’m still too stuffed to test them so I’m saving them for tomorrow!

So let’s recap:  two pizzas, twelve breakfast muffins, two loaves… now you’re done?

Nearly.  Last thing I’d planned was a joint of pork and two chicken legs that I had in the freezer.  I had been planning to slow cook these on Sunday but I’d read somewhere that the cooling Baby V is perfect for slow cooking…  so why not give it a go?  I’d already prepared the pork with a generous dry rub seasoning and defrosted the chicken legs.  Now all I had to do was pop them into two dishes, add a little stock, cover and wait several hours!   I’ve now popped them into the Baby V and closed the door.  Hopefully in the morning I’ll have succulent pulled pork and chicken.  Yummy.

So what happened in the morning?

Well, with trepidation I opened the door of the Baby V and was amazed to discover that 12 hours later the oven was still at 70 degrees centigrade - made even more impressive when you realise the outside temperature dropped last night to freezing!  The pork and chicken was cooked to perfection.  Using a couple of forks I pulled the pork apart and it was so succulent.   Would it be wrong to have spicy pulled pork for breakfast?

Do you want us to take the oven back now?

Well…. If you could let me hang onto it a little longer… there’s plenty of other things I’d like to try.  If they all work out as well as tonight’s cooking session did – you might never get it back!!!!

About Stephen Clements: 

Stephen is a Senior Manager and Engineering Lead with Accenture.  He’s also registered as a Chartered Engineer and Chartered Manager.  When he’s not working or playing with technology, he loves cooking, photography and running.   The views expressed in this article are his own personal views.  Find him at www.stephenclements.ie