Customer of the Month: Anne Briggs

Meet our Customer of the Month for April, Anne Briggs, of "Anne of all Trades". She owns TWO of our best sellers the Rustic Pizzaioli Premium oven and our Maximus Prime in Black.

We are super excited to highlight Anne because she is truly a woman of many talents including her mastery of fine woodworking skills! Check out how she built her outdoor kitchen on her homestead, and how it's become a staple in moving towards off-grid living and sustainability.

When you have time take a look at her Instagram @anneofalltrades. She’s really quite remarkable!

Check out her tutorial video on how she transformed her outdoor kitchen, featuring her own Authentic Pizza Oven.

Can you tell us about yourself?

I’m Anne, in Nashville, TN, and I’m a farmer, woodworker, and educator. I raise dairy cows and goats and tend a large garden in my “spare time,” and my day job is making educational materials about homesteading and fine woodworking. You can find me just about anywhere online by looking for “Anne Of All Trades.” 

Which oven did you choose and why did you choose an APO?

I actually have TWO pizza ovens! The Rustic Pizzaioli Premium oven and the Black Maximus Prime. The Maximus Prime oven is located at the house to use for family dinners. It makes pizza every week for our Sunday family/friend dinners and we love it.

Our Rustic Pizzaioli Premium oven is located down by the barn for our farm-to-table dinners. It is big enough to serve a crowd and has that traditional look I was going for in that space. We picked Authentic Pizza Ovens because they had exactly what we were looking for, we knew they were quality and would last a lifetime, and, a huge plus, Penny offers the best customer service around 

Did you build a setup or have someone else do it?

I built the setup for the Rustic Pizzaioli with my good friend, Greg. We milled the sassafras tree ourselves and built the stand with traditional timber frame joinery. This little pizza shed isn’t going anywhere anytime soon!

What is your favorite thing to cook in your oven, and have you tried other foods besides pizza? 

My favorite pizza is made with farm-fresh goat milk mozzarella, on an olive oil and garlic “sauceless” pizza, with fresh-picked chanterelles. 

A close second is a thinly sliced potato, broccoli, and arugula pizza.

But a pizza oven isn’t JUST for pizza, we love grilling steaks, making cowboy dinners in cast iron, making chilis and other stews, and baking bread. There’s nothing quite like the flavor you get from wood-fired cooking, especially since we’ve got tons of great hardwoods to choose from when really dialing in that flavor. My favorite woods to use are oak and hickory when we need tons of heat and fruit woods when we want more flavor- apple, cherry, and pear are all great.  

Anne's Homemade Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

1 ½ - 2 cups warm water - The water needs to be just warm enough to dissolve the yeast. Do not use boiling water…it will kill the yeast!

1-2 tablespoons active dry yeast - Store yeast in an airtight container in the freezer to prolong the shelf life.

1 tablespoon sugar - This is not used to sweeten the dough, but to activate and feed the yeast.

1 teaspoon salt

4-5 cups flour - All-purpose or bread flour will work for this recipe. Just be aware that, due to the higher protein content, bread flour will absorb more water, so you will need to adjust the water as needed.

2-3 tablespoons olive oil - Any oil can be used in this recipe, but olive oil is recommended because it is a healthier choice.

Procedure:

1. Dissolve the yeast

Sprinkle yeast over warm water, and stir to combine. Add in the sugar, salt, and oil. Stir well, and set aside waiting for the sugar to activate the yeast. When activated, the combination will form bubbles, and the yeast will begin to look like foam.

2. Mix the dough

In the meantime, add flour to a bowl. A stand mixer with a dough hook works well, but you can just as easily use any bowl and spoon. Once the yeast is activated, add the yeast mixture to the flour, and mix until it forms a dough.

If mixing by hand, feel free to use your hands to knead the dough once the dough becomes too thick to stir. Use additional flour or water until you reach the desired consistency which is sticky to the touch, but won’t transfer to your hands as you handle the dough.

3. Allow the dough to rise

In a clean bowl, pour about a tablespoon of oil into the bottom. Place dough into the bowl, and turn to cover the dough in oil. Cover the bowl with saran wrap, and allow to rise at room temperature until doubled in size.

The longer the dough is allowed to rise, the thicker and fluffier in texture the end result will be, so for a thin crust pizza, allow the rise time to be about 30 minutes.

4. Shape the crust

Remove the dough from the bowl, and either stretch or roll out pizza crust to desired size and shape onto a pizza pan, or pizza peel. Top with desired toppings.

5. Bake the pizza

When using a conventional oven with a pizza pan, bake at a 425 degree preheated oven for 12-15 minutes.

When using a wood-fired oven, bring the oven up to temperature for at least 25 minutes. Move the majority of the fire to the back with a few coals on the sides of the oven.

Using the pizza peel, place the pizza in the oven to bake. Using tongs, turn the pizza to bake evenly. This process requires constant attention. The pizza will be cooked using different times every time.

Remove pizza from the oven, and enjoy!

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BEING FEATURED AS CUSTOMER OF THE MONTH - please email Amber@authenticpizzaovens.com

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