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Bake Day - January 14
What a perfect, sunny day. We turned out pumpernickel, French Bread, whole wheat, yam bread, pumpkin bread, and more. Overnight, there will be pots of chili, vegetables and oatmeal cooking. Sign in to our Facebook page (Carbondale Community Oven) to see photos of today's celebration. Or click on: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.339337456089918.87994.222663164424015&type=1&l=de9bd36f3
BAKE DAY - SATURDAY, JANUARY 14 Bread to go in somewhere between 1-4 PM. Stop by to check. Email us for more details. comoven@gmail.com
The Firemasters
The Firemasters are volunteers who have gone through a program that qualifies them to build and maintain a baking fire. Each firing takes upwards of 4 hours and requires fire building, temperature monitoring and oven preparation. Usually, at least 2 people (such as a Firemaster and a trainee) are present for the firemaking. Community bake days are organized around the Firemasters' availability, so the dates and times vary. We try to give at least a few days' notice to people who want to bake at those times. If you are interested in becoming a Firemaster OR in baking, drop us a line for the details.
The Firemasters are volunteers who have gone through a program that qualifies them to build and maintain a baking fire. Each firing takes upwards of 4 hours and requires fire building, temperature monitoring and oven preparation. Usually, at least 2 people (such as a Firemaster and a trainee) are present for the firemaking. Community bake days are organized around the Firemasters' availability, so the dates and times vary. We try to give at least a few days' notice to people who want to bake at those times. If you are interested in becoming a Firemaster OR in baking, drop us a line for the details.
PLEASE DONATE TODAY
Send your tax-deductable contribution to
Slow Food Aspen Roaring Fork
Carbondale Community Oven
% 837 Sopris Ave
Carbondale, CO 81623
Please write "Oven" on the memo line of your check.
THANK YOU!
Slow Food Aspen Roaring Fork
Carbondale Community Oven
% 837 Sopris Ave
Carbondale, CO 81623
Please write "Oven" on the memo line of your check.
THANK YOU!
December Snow
Saturday, December 3. The Community Oven, behind the Third Street Center in Carbondale, Colorado. No baking today, BUT go over to the Center for the Whimsical Women of the West Handicraft Fair.
| Firemasters
A small but devoted group of volunteer Firemasters start and maintain the oven fires for baking. It is a very special job, one on which the bakers depend. Firemasters go through a training process, and put in many hours of time on each bake. Would YOU like to be a Firemaster? Send us a note to get the details.
|
Bake Day November 17, 2011
The Carbondale Community Oven will be fired up on Thursday, November 17. Due to early darkness, the bread will go in between 3 and 3:30. Please bring stiff yeast doughs of about 1.5 lbs that can be placed right on the hot hearth...OR bread in a small metal pan. No cookie sheets, please.
After the bread comes out, the oven can be fired up for a pizza-bake if someone would like to organize it.
After the bread comes out, the oven can be fired up for a pizza-bake if someone would like to organize it.
October 20 - BAKE DAY
Schedule:
1:30 pm: build fire in oven
1:30-4:30 pm: feed and maintain fire
5:00 pm: bread goes in
5:45 pm: bread comes out
Oven will be approximately 425 degrees, suitable for baking a 1 1/2-pound loaf of yeast bread. You may bring more than one loaf.
To sign up for helping with firing OR baking, email: mailto:comoven@gmail.com
1:30 pm: build fire in oven
1:30-4:30 pm: feed and maintain fire
5:00 pm: bread goes in
5:45 pm: bread comes out
Oven will be approximately 425 degrees, suitable for baking a 1 1/2-pound loaf of yeast bread. You may bring more than one loaf.
To sign up for helping with firing OR baking, email: mailto:comoven@gmail.com
Story in the Glenwood Post Independent-click here
Weather permitting, we will be firing up the oven on Friday, October 7, from 1:30-5:00 pm. There won't be a drum circle, as the forecast calls for rain and snow! if the weather is bad, we will fire up the oven at a later date instead. You are invited to bring your yeast breads over to the oven by 5 pm, if you want to bake them in the oven. Call Linda's cell to find out if the firing is on! 970 306-1015.
Linda and Kaie taste the first Community Oven bread.
Volunteers, celebrating the first firing on September 14, 2011
When? October 7
The Carbondale Community Oven will celebrate its Grand Opening on Friday, October 7. Come and taste fresh bread right off the brick hearth. Meet the crew, donors and sponsors and find out how you, too, can bake magnificent Old World bread . And it's a community oven, available to all.
What's so special about a wood-fired masonry oven?
Come and find out! Bring your taste buds!
What's so special about a wood-fired masonry oven?
Come and find out! Bring your taste buds!
Work Session-Saturday, September 10
See the progress, mix some concrete, bring refreshments for the crew.
Friday, September 2 - YOU ARE INVITED
THIRD STREET CENTER
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2
6:00-7:30
Friday evening, September 2, come by the oven to meet the gang, sign up to volunteer or bake, and see the progress! On Saturday, the chimney will be built, bringing us one step closer to completion. Target date: late September. That's THIS MONTH.
Progress report: (continued from "Progress," below)
Week 6 - Build the dome - Done!
Week 7 - Install ornamental stone and decorative arch! (see photo above.) THANK YOU, GALLEGOS CORPORATION!
Have a party.
Saturday, September 3 - Build Chimney & form for concrete cladding.
Local fourth graders
getting ready to bake
in the Community
Oven. They ground
their own flour, too!
Progress...
Week after week at Saturday work sessions, the oven is coming along.
Week 1 - Excavation and slab Done!
Week 2 - Build the base Done!
Week 3 - Pour the hearth slab Done!
Week 4 - Lay the firebrick hearth Done!
Week 5 - Set the front apron
Lay the dome base Done!
Week 6 (coming up!) - build the dome
Week 1 - Excavation and slab Done!
Week 2 - Build the base Done!
Week 3 - Pour the hearth slab Done!
Week 4 - Lay the firebrick hearth Done!
Week 5 - Set the front apron
Lay the dome base Done!
Week 6 (coming up!) - build the dome
Thank you to our sponsors
  |  BKS Charitable Foundation Whimsical Women of the WestTown of Carbonale, Colorado |
Building from the ground up
Ben and Ben Sellers pour the slab.
The work has begun! Visit Carbondale's Third Street Center and see exactly where the oven will be located. The slab has been poured and we are ready to build. Many thanks to the folks who have helped us so far: Alejo, Ben and Ben Sellers, Russ, Katie, Larry, Sean, Mike...and all the others. Work sessions are being planned for Saturdays, and we will post a schedule soon. If you would like to receive regular updates, send us an email to get on the list of valley locals who are rolling up their sleeves and helping with construction.
How can you help? Build, get donations, fund raise, bake goodies for our friends and helpers, spread the word, distribute brochures, talk it up! And donate! Send checks to: Slow Food Roaring Fork - Community Oven - 395 Boundary Lane, Carbondale, CO 81623
How can you help? Build, get donations, fund raise, bake goodies for our friends and helpers, spread the word, distribute brochures, talk it up! And donate! Send checks to: Slow Food Roaring Fork - Community Oven - 395 Boundary Lane, Carbondale, CO 81623
LET'S BUILD IT!
May 2011: The Oven has received a green light from the Carbondale Board of Trustees!
This means...we can build it!
The volunteer meeting begins promptly at 6 pm at the Third Street Center on Wednesday, June 1. Bring a potluck contribution. Plenty of time for socializing after the meeting. Be ready to sign up for a committee. Construction? Fund raising? Outreach? Operations? We need you! If you are not on our mailing list, send us an email with all your contact information and we'll be sure you're kept in the loop.
Oven location: On the south side of the former gym (Now PAC3 Performing Arts Center), next to the proposed Community Garden and picnic area, and close to the playground. Perfect!
May 2011: The Oven has received a green light from the Carbondale Board of Trustees!
This means...we can build it!
The volunteer meeting begins promptly at 6 pm at the Third Street Center on Wednesday, June 1. Bring a potluck contribution. Plenty of time for socializing after the meeting. Be ready to sign up for a committee. Construction? Fund raising? Outreach? Operations? We need you! If you are not on our mailing list, send us an email with all your contact information and we'll be sure you're kept in the loop.
Oven location: On the south side of the former gym (Now PAC3 Performing Arts Center), next to the proposed Community Garden and picnic area, and close to the playground. Perfect!
Thanks to our supporters
Many thanks to the TOWN OF CARBONDALE, for their donation of $700 to the Oven Project! According to the Parks and Rec board, we should be able to begin construction as early as MAY. Finally! We're very excited!
Also, thank you to the BKS Charitable Trust and Kay Brunnier in particular for a generous donation. You guys are great!
And...to all those who stuffed bills and coins into our collection jars around town, thank YOU, too!
< At left, oven supporters gather for an alley party, July 2010.
Also, thank you to the BKS Charitable Trust and Kay Brunnier in particular for a generous donation. You guys are great!
And...to all those who stuffed bills and coins into our collection jars around town, thank YOU, too!
< At left, oven supporters gather for an alley party, July 2010.
The Oven in Cyberspace
Never in a million years (or at least in the last 6000, since bread came upon the scene) did bakers think their wood-fired ovens would appear in a land called Cyberspace. But here we are...The Carbondale Community Oven on the Net. If you have Google Earth, write "Third Street Center Carbondale Colorado" in the "search" box. As you zoom over Carbondale and land on the Center, look carefully on the south side lawn. Zoom in to the site of the community oven (illustrated in 3D--what a world we live in.)
All this means that we have arrived at a site for the Oven and we hope to begin building soon. At this writing, we have one more permission process to go through. Additionally, we are asking our wonderful town for a small start-up grant. After all...who doesn't love homemade bread?
All this means that we have arrived at a site for the Oven and we hope to begin building soon. At this writing, we have one more permission process to go through. Additionally, we are asking our wonderful town for a small start-up grant. After all...who doesn't love homemade bread?
Marking Off the site...
August 4, 2010 - Today we met with the Site Planning Committee of the Third Street Center, and walked around the area where the oven will be located. We viewed the location from all angles, and chose a spot that is well away from the building and trees, but close enough to the building to make it a part of the proposed community park area and gardens. Using the dimensions recommended by Alan Scott in The Bread Builders, we marked out the area on the grass that will be taken up by the oven and foundation. The Site Planning Committee, after looking at various designs, preferred an oven like the one pictured here. It was decided to use portable tables for work space, so we can determine where we would like the permanent tables to be built, later on. And there is a good chance that the oven will have a roof to protect it from the elements. For now...we are concentrating on the oven itself.
Building schedule-When will we have an oven?
The Oven Committee recently gathered to talk details.
Click here to read the minutes.
Questions we discussed were: when, where exactly (at the Third Street Center, but where?) fundraising, wood gathering, scheduling.
In the meantime, if you wish to help build the actual oven (bricks, cement, etc,) please send us an email to be sure you are on our list.
Also--we need a name and logo, something that projects the image of the oven being for the COMMUNITY, for everyone. Please help!
Click here to read the minutes.
Questions we discussed were: when, where exactly (at the Third Street Center, but where?) fundraising, wood gathering, scheduling.
In the meantime, if you wish to help build the actual oven (bricks, cement, etc,) please send us an email to be sure you are on our list.
Also--we need a name and logo, something that projects the image of the oven being for the COMMUNITY, for everyone. Please help!
Whimsical Women With Hearts of Gold
Thank you, WHIMSICAL WOMEN OF THE WEST! This eclectic group of local artists and craftswomen has pledged a portion of the profits from their Winter Show to the Carbondale Community Oven Project! Our first donors! We are grateful for their support and interest in the oven project.
Shop at the Whimsical Women's Annual Holiday Show on December 4 and 5th at 432 N. 8th Street. Their phone number is 970.963.0977.
Click on the invitation to the left for more details. See you there!
Shop at the Whimsical Women's Annual Holiday Show on December 4 and 5th at 432 N. 8th Street. Their phone number is 970.963.0977.
Click on the invitation to the left for more details. See you there!
What do we want to be called?
At the present time, we're going by "Carbondale Community Oven." That seems to describe our group well enough. Do you think, though, that a catchy name would be better, cuter, easier to remember? Like...maybe we should name the oven itself. At any rate, we're looking for an identity. Can you help? Send your ideas to branch@sopris.net. Thanks!
First Donation
Many thanks to Steve Vance of Snowmass Village, Colorado, for donating a huge stack of red bricks for the oven! Volunteers Charlotte Graham, Anibal Guevara, Linda Criswell, and Fred and Dolores Pulver are shown in the photo. The bricks are safely stored inside the Third Street Center for the winter. Thank you to Carlos, Russ, Cameron and all the crew for transporting and stacking!
More Donations Needed:
___ 90-lb bags of sack mix or equivalent concentrate (16 bags needed)
___ Cinder Blocks 16" x 8" (53 needed)
___ Mortar
___ One sheet 3/4' CDX plywood
___Standard-duty firebricks (96 needed)
Please call 970 963 9371 or write to branch@sopris.net if you can donate materials. Thank you!
More Donations Needed:
___ 90-lb bags of sack mix or equivalent concentrate (16 bags needed)
___ Cinder Blocks 16" x 8" (53 needed)
___ Mortar
___ One sheet 3/4' CDX plywood
___Standard-duty firebricks (96 needed)
Please call 970 963 9371 or write to branch@sopris.net if you can donate materials. Thank you!
October Harvest Luck
On October 14, the Third Street Center hosted a Harvest Potluck for folks interested in how to develop the "food" aspect of the nonprofit facility. A former public school, the Third Street Center has a large kitchen that can be utilized in many ways. They're looking for ideas, participation, grant money and public support. If you or anyone you know would be interested in being part of this exciting aspect of the Third Street Center, please write Colin Laird, Director, at claird@rof.net. The Community Oven folks are happy to be part of this important public project.
Bread Books at the Library
Carbondale's Gordon Cooper Public Library has puchased a number of books about wood-fired ovens, which are available to be checked out. The library is located at 76 S. 4th Street, Carbondale, Colorado--Phone: 970 963 3889.
Potluck - September 9
Report on September potluck meeting--our first!
Report on the meeting - Twenty-two bakers, bread-lovers and other miscellaneous community members attended our first potluck get-together. We talked about our vision for the community oven and our contact with government officials and other ovens around the country. The Third Street Center, Carbondale's new nonprofit center, seems to be an excellent fit for our project. Everyone (almost!) signed up to help with various aspects of the oven, which include planning, construction, being on a board, community liaison, operations, fuel, publicity, taking lessons, giving lessons, fundraising and event organization. Phillip Salambier shared his slides of the oven he built in Paonia, Colorado, 60 miles to the south of us. Seeing the step-by-step photos made the project seem much more possible, no longer just a dream!
We are especially excited about the community aspect of the proposed oven, about how it will be used by many people with different needs, recipes and levels of expertise. After the business portion of the meeting, attendees were given a tour of the facility, including the large commercial kitchen.
Report on the meeting - Twenty-two bakers, bread-lovers and other miscellaneous community members attended our first potluck get-together. We talked about our vision for the community oven and our contact with government officials and other ovens around the country. The Third Street Center, Carbondale's new nonprofit center, seems to be an excellent fit for our project. Everyone (almost!) signed up to help with various aspects of the oven, which include planning, construction, being on a board, community liaison, operations, fuel, publicity, taking lessons, giving lessons, fundraising and event organization. Phillip Salambier shared his slides of the oven he built in Paonia, Colorado, 60 miles to the south of us. Seeing the step-by-step photos made the project seem much more possible, no longer just a dream!
We are especially excited about the community aspect of the proposed oven, about how it will be used by many people with different needs, recipes and levels of expertise. After the business portion of the meeting, attendees were given a tour of the facility, including the large commercial kitchen.
Progress Report
In the short few weeks since the Carbondale Community Oven got off the ground, we're making progress. We've found a magnificent, centrally-located site, at the new Third Street Center, located in the former elementary school, an easy walk from the center of town with bike path and highway access as well. Sitting at the foot of Mount Sopris, the oven will be located in the common area, with plenty of room for landscaping, picnic tables, and even a playground for the kids. At least one of the resident nonprofit organizations in the center has expressed an interest in working with us to create a wood-fired baking project for kids.
Our committee has visited two nearby ovens, both of the Alan Scott Ovencrafters design, and participated in baking pizza and bread in them. Our plan is to build this type of oven, as our research has shown that heats well and makes beautiful bread.
Our committee has visited two nearby ovens, both of the Alan Scott Ovencrafters design, and participated in baking pizza and bread in them. Our plan is to build this type of oven, as our research has shown that heats well and makes beautiful bread.
How does it work?
Wood burning oven in Michoacan, Mexico
The stove is heated with wood, something that is free and abundant in our part of Colorado. After it burns for about two hours, the remains of the fire and ash are swept out of the oven and the bread is put inside, set in pans or placed directly on the brick or clay oven floor. Then the door of the oven is closed tightly, wet rags close off any air holes, and the bread bakes for approximately an hour. After that..voila!...the bread is removed to cool. Crusty, amazing artisan bread.
"But I'm not a bread baker! It's much too difficult!" Don't believe it! Bread is the oldest, simplest food a person can bake. And to help you get started, there will be free or low-cost beginners' bread-baking classes offered in connection with the Oven Project. Combine a lesson with the extraordinary opportunity to bake your loaves in the community oven, and you'll take home not just any bread...but chewy, aromatic artisan bread that is both wholesome and beautiful to look at.
"But I'm not a bread baker! It's much too difficult!" Don't believe it! Bread is the oldest, simplest food a person can bake. And to help you get started, there will be free or low-cost beginners' bread-baking classes offered in connection with the Oven Project. Combine a lesson with the extraordinary opportunity to bake your loaves in the community oven, and you'll take home not just any bread...but chewy, aromatic artisan bread that is both wholesome and beautiful to look at.
What will it look like?
Wood fired ovens come in a variety of shapes and sizes. There is the beehive-shaped oven, called an horno, of the Southwest. Or, the squarish brick masonry oven seen in bakeries of Europe and Latin America. Our volunteer researchers have recommended a masonry oven with an off-the-ground chamber, of the Alan Scott design that has worked so well for many bakers. Such an oven stays hot for a long, long time--even overnight and into the next day--meaning that bakers can schedule pizzas, loaves, quick breads, cookies, casseroles and even long-cooking meat dishes.
Monica's oven in Paonia, CO
Mike's oven near Glenwood Springs, CO
