A few weeks back, I posted this video on Instagram. It shows Mildrith’s magical ability of springing to life in the morning when it’s time to bake bread.
She’s fired to about 900ºF the night before. Just before I go to bed, I shut her down with enough wood to smoulder through to the early hours. I close the air vents and damper. I plug the oven entrance with a heavy wood-steel door plug.
When I open the oven at about two a.m., I can see a few embers glowing inside. The rush of air brings immediate life to the fire, though, without my even touching it! A spark, a blue flame, and before you know it, the fire is roaring and ready for more wood!
I love Mildrith, but her high heat efficiency has taken its toll on the wood door plug!
Damaged oven door plug
A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a corner of the oven door plug had burned away. And last week, there was more evidence of burning along the top. So much, that the screws attaching the wood to the stainless steel shield had broken loose. There was even a small flame visible inside the plug which I doused with water. It continued to smoulder for another half hour.
The oven plug is a crucial part of Mildrith’s functioning. It takes the brunt of her substantial heat. Without it, heat leaks away, even with the air vents closed and the damper shut. The steel doors aren’t the greatest at retaining heat inside the oven. Without the oven plug, Mildrith’s baking ability is compromised.
Some customers may have noticed their loaves weren’t as dark-coloured as usual. Mildrith wasn’t hot enough because the oven plug wasn’t able to keep as much heat inside as usual!
Jacques to the rescue!
The plug was designed by Jacques Marmen, who built Mildrith with my minimal assistance 1. It’s made of charred Pender Island fir with an attached shield of stainless steel fabricated by Callum McKay of Stainless by Design. A layer of rock wool insulation makes it a solid thermal seal.
But six months of high heat and regular firings finally wore it down.
I’m lucky Jacques lives here on Pender. He responded immediately, even though he’s busy with another project. In the next day or so, we’ll be back in business with a fresh new oven plug … and Mildrith will be back to turning out the chestnut-coloured loaves we’re used to.
In the mean time, we’ll be turning our minds to designing a new heat plug that won’t have to be replaced every six months!
This is as dark as these loaves are gonna get in the falling heat of Mildrith, the wood-fired cob oven. They’re good enough for me. She’s already baked 53 loaves throughout the morning, and this will be her last labour of the day. Right now, the clay walls are about 420ºF, not enough heat for another load. If I were more organized and more energetic, I’d have a bunch of cookies lined up to bake or, better yet, a few pan loaves of dark rye bread that could bake the rest of the day. She’s a miracle, Mildrith is, and she’s helped feed hundreds of Pender Island residents over the past two-and-a-half years. Saturday is a rest day for the Happy Monk baker and a day of gratitude. And this Saturday, I’m directing my gratitude at Mildrith, the wood-fired oven!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
#woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredbaking #woodfiredbread #clayoven #clayovenbaking #coboven #cobovenbaking #sourdoughbread #sourdoughbaking #breadmaking #breadbaking #breadlove #bread #seedbread #bakersofinstagram #bakerslife #penderisland #southpenderisland #southerngulfislands #southerngulfislandsbc #happymonk #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbakery
Moonset and high tide, South Pender Island at 3:50 a.m.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
#woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredbaking #woodfiredbread #clayoven #clayovenbaking #coboven #cobovenbaking #sourdoughbread #sourdoughbaking #breadmaking #breadbaking #breadlove #bread #bakersofinstagram #bakerslife #penderisland #southpenderisland #southerngulfislands #southerngulfislandsbc #happymonk #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbakery
Happy Monk Tidings - July 21, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Bird Seed Bread; Blog: Rye Bread: The Agony and the Ecstasy [ See link in profile ]
Whole Rye and Spelt Sourdough with generous scoops of seeds and great texture. Mildrith loves these rye loaves … I wish we had smell-o-vision to smell you what I mean.
.
.
.
.
.
#ryebread #wholegrain #wholegrainbread #speltbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #clayoven #clayovenbakery #clayovenbread #woodfiredbaking #woodfiredbread #sourdoughbread #sourdoughbaking #breadmaking #breadbaking #breadlove #bread #bakersofinstagram #bakerslife #penderisland #southpenderisland #southerngulfislands #southerngulfislandsbc #happymonk #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbakery
In the early light of dawn, Mildrith oven-springs sourdough, caramelizes crusts gold and brown and leaves heavenly smells as evidence. Inside her hot clay dome, 12 boules of Salish Sourdough are on the final stage of their journey. Behold the steam rising out of the chimney!
.
.
.
.
.
.
#woodfired #woodfiredoven #clayoven #clayovenbakery #clayovenbread #woodfiredbaking #woodfiredbread #sourdoughbread #sourdoughbaking #breadmaking #breadbaking #breadlove #bread #bakersofinstagram #bakerslife #penderisland #southpenderisland #southerngulfislands #southerngulfislandsbc #happymonk #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbakery
Happy Monk Tidings - July 14, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice this week: Rye and Spelt Sourdough; Blog: Pleasure and Worry in the Summer Heat; Gratitude for Pender Island Fire Rescue; Happy Monk Search-Ability [ See link in profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - July 7, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Sourdough Sandwich Loaf; Blog Redux: Aunty Betty's "Brown Bread"; [ See newsletter link in Profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - June 30, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Spelt and Honey Loaf; Blog: These Waters, This World Around Me - [ See Link in Profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - June 23, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Deli Rye Bread; Blog: Summer Stars; and Who invented No-Knead? [ See link in profile ]
Dawn at the Happy Monk Baking Company, Friday 4:18 am. Olive loaves tumbling out of Mildrith, the wood-fired oven, and a few beautifully shaped Salish Sourdough.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
#woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredbaking #woodfiredbread #olivebread #olivebread🍞 #oliveoilbread #sourdoughbread #sourdoughbaking #breadmaking #breadbaking #bbga #breadbakersguild #breadlove #bread #bakersofinstagram #bakerslife #penderisland #southpenderisland #southerngulfislands #southerngulfislandsbc #happymonk #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbakery
Happy Bloomsday from the Happy Monk - June 16, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice: An Earthy Olive Loaf; Blog Redux: The Terroir or Wine and Wheat; A Letter from Carrie and Leighton; [ See link in profile ]
Cinnamon-Raisin loaves, they get it on! Can’t keep their hands off each other when they’re a little too close in the oven. Monkey business!
.
.
.
.
.
#woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredbaking #woodfiredbread #sourdoughbread #sourdoughbaking #cinnamonraisin #cinnamonraisinbread #cinnamonraisinsourdough #breadsex #breadporn #showusyourfuckedloaves #breadmaking #breadbaking #breadlove #bread #bakery #bakersofinstagram #bakerslife #bakersandspice #penderisland #southpenderisland #southerngulfislands #southerngulfislandsbc #happymonk #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbakery
Happy Monk Tidings - June 9, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Cinnamon Raisin Sourdough; Blog: Chasing the Perfect Loaf - [ See link in profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - June 4, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Metchosin Wheat and Honey Pan Loaf; Happy Monk Favourite: Salish Sourdough; Blog: Gratitude and the Joy of Chopping Wood - [See Link in Profile ]
Look what I found in the back of the wood-fired oven last Friday morning. A mighty Seed Feast from last week, no longer so mighty, burned to a crisp. Knew I was one loaf short, but no idea where it went. Mystery solved. The ravens will appreciate it ... it’ll need a hammer to break it up!
Happy Monk Tidings - May 19, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Double Fermented Oat Bread; Blog: Dreams of Bread; Introducing a New Way to Order Happy Monk Bread - [ See link in profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - May 12, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Rye and Currant Sourdough; Happy Monk Blog: No-Knead Bread Revisited [ See link in profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - May 5, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Whole Wheat and Spelt Pan Loaf; Blog: This Bread You Eat, This Poem You Digest - [ See link in profile ]
Here’s a Purple Barley Loaf made with purple-tinged barley, soaked in water overnight along with a handful or two of sunflower and flax seeds. So delicious, nutty! The variety is Ethiopian Purple Barley, grown by Against the Grain Farms of Mountain, Ontario. Really happy to be using this heritage grain from a real Canadian regenerative farm operation! Nice to make your acquaintance, @againstthegrainfarm!
.
.
.
.
.
.
#barley #purplebarley #barleybread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #organicgrain #organicgrains #bread #breadbakers #baker #breadlove #woodfired #woodfiredbread #happymonkbaking #happymonkbaker #penderisland #southpenderisland
Happy Monk Tidings - April 28, 2021 🍞 - Happy Monk Blog Redux: Life in small-town Burgundy: The French Factor; Bread of the Week: Baker's Choice, Purple Barley Bread, PLUS return of the mighty Seed Feast [ See Link in Profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - April 21, 2021 🍞 – Happy Monk Blog: Read about one of my greatest bread teachers: “A Bread Teacher With No Recipe” Also: This week’s Baker’s Choice: Danish Black Rye Bread.
.
[ See link in Profile ]
.
.
.
.
.
.
#teachers #breadteachers #bread #breadlove #breadlife #norecipe #happymonkbaking #happymonkbaker #happymonkbakery #penderisland #southpenderisland
Raw dough, scored and ready for Mildrith’s heat. A thing of beauty!
.
.
.
.
#woodfired #woodfiredbread #bread #breadlove #dough #breaddough #breadmaking #breadbaking #sourdough #sourdoughbread #sourdoughbaking #breaddoughrising #happymonkbakery #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbaker #southpenderisland #southpender #penderisland #pender #woodoven #woodovenbread #woodovenbaking #clayoven
G&T and HT - C’est necessaire after a long day and night at the Happy Monk Baking Company.
.
.
.
.
.
#ginandtonic #gin #G&T #BoundaryPass #SouthPender #SouthPenderIsland #HappyMonkBakery #HappyMonkBaking #HappyMonkBaker #cestnecessaire #cestnécessaire #cestnecessaire😍
First attempt at Nina’s Pain Sauvage, wild bread. Borne of simplicity: coarsely milled grain (I used spelt), freshly milled red fife flour, water and salt. No yeast, wild or commercial. A few flax seeds sprinkled on top, baked in bread tins. Tastes of grain and earth. This is Nina Raginsky’s bread. She lives on Salt Spring Island BC in an old house that she calls her Maison Sauvage, and she tends her garden, her Jardin Sauvage. She prefers living with a small footprint; loves the aimless life, but is an Officer of the Order of Canada for her photography. Read the latest Happy Monk blog post for more about Nina. Thanks to Sophie Williams @ravenbreads for sharing about her conversations with Nina back in January — a meeting of like minds and hearts, I think. Today is Nina’s 80th birthday! Happy birthday, Nina!
.
[ See link in profile ]
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
#bread #wildbread #painsauvage #baker #bakers #baking #bakinglife #ancientgrains #heritagegrains #yeastfree #nosourdough #tassajara #tassajarabreadbook #edwardespebrown #woodfired #woodfiredbread
See How I Built My Wood-Fired Oven for a recap.↩