Cooking over fire seems so cave-man like and awesome all at the same time-doesn’t it?!
Choosing A Wood-Fired Oven
When we were designing our dream kitchen for our new home, we knew from the start that we wanted to incorporate some type of wood-fired cooking center. On a vacation to Italy in 2011, we had the opportunity to use one of these wood-fired hearths first hand. Once you use one & devour the food that comes from it…your cooking life is forever changed!
Why Mugnaini?
After much research, my husband settled on a Mugnaini oven. Mugnaini- located in Healdsburg, CA, the gorgeous mecca of food & wine-has been the leading industry standard for wood-fired ovens. They not only create several residential models, but also have portable & commercial models available. Mugnaini is a big deal–even Guy Fieri himself puts his seal of approval on these! Click on Mugnaini’s video below to learn why nothing cooks like a Mugnaini!
Once we decided on the Medio 110 model, the masonry kit arrived at our construction site ready to be installed. We chose the Medio 110 model because of its size and capabilities. It is large enough for entertaining, yet a small enough footprint that our kitchen could handle.
Check out the Mugnaini video below! It explains how to buy a wood-fired oven and which of their options could be right for you!
Our next challenge was going to be how to properly learn how to cook in it! After all, wood-fired cooking is not as simple as “build a fire and put food over it.” I wish it were that easy! There really is a lot of technique that goes into cooking food well & maximizing the benefits in these Mugnaini ovens.
Learning To Use The Mugnaini Wood-Fired Oven
We enrolled in a Wood-Fired cooking class, a hands-on variation in particular, taught by none other than the master of open-hearth cooking, Andrea Mugnaini herself. She is also the owner of Mugnaini Imports Co. Mugnaini offers several styles of wood-fired cooking classes to meet the needs of anyone interested in this style of cooking. These classes range from an Introduction to Wood-Fired Cooking, Demonstration-only style, to Hands-On Cooking and Culinary Getaways near their Tuscany, Italy headquarters. Private classes are even available to specifically meet your every need.
Friends…THIS class. This Hands-On Wood-Fired Cooking Class in Healdsburg, California was the most enjoyable & impeccably designed culinary experience I’ve ever experienced. And…I’ve taken just a few culinary classes in my day.
From the moment I set my starry eyes upon her Sonoma County villa on the drive up (this was back when she used to teach out of her home just outside the Mugnaini headquarters in Healdsburg, California), to being greeted by her adorable dog and meeting her unbelievably kind husband who bonded instantly with my husband (they are both Dental professionals!)…I knew this was going to be a culinary vacation to remember.
The Cooking Class
We started the morning off with drinks and a quick tour around her home. The beautiful grounds that surround her property are amazing! Andrea’s gorgeous property even boasts their very own private vineyard. They have harvested grapes & made it into some pretty spectacular wine as well. We may or may not have purchased a few cases to be sent home after the class. (Ha!)
After all of the class participants arrived, we did a meet and greet and learned why each of us was there. Some participants were just in the planning stages or still thinking about purchasing a wood-fired oven. Others, such as ourselves, had already purchased Mugnaini models but were in the market to learn how to use it! There was even a couple there who had purchased a model two years prior and were still looking to learn how to more effectively use it! It was great to hear that even after owning it for a while, that it was okay to have questions and still want to come back to her cooking school to learn more! (As I write this, I know I want to return to her cooking school someday & take more classes!)
Meet and greets turned into pleasant conversations as Andrea and her staff swiftly ran through the itinerary of the class. After all, there was A LOT to learn & master in this 4-hour hands on culinary adventure!
Starting The Fire
Andrea began by teaching us probably the most important & simple thing: How To Fire the Oven: 101. Click on the Mugnaini video below to watch how to properly fire a Mugnaini wood-fired oven.
As I mentioned before, I wish it were as simple as throwing logs into the oven and lighting a match. It’s not. There is an actual protocol for setting up the kindling and logs in a properly stacked fashion and using a food-grade product to light the wood, such as Weber Fire Starter Cubes. Once you use these, you’ll never go back.
Andrea had an oven available for each of us to use. We each had an opportunity to learn how to properly start the fire and let it burn. She taught us what attributes of the fire to look for, when and how to spread the coals and then finally, when/how to bank the fire.
After spending significant time learning how to do this correctly, I deemed that I would’ve been COMPLETELY LOST had I not taken this class. In fact I’m certain I would’ve just lit my house on fire. It all would’ve ended right here, my friends.
In my next breath, I should tell you that my husband had the situation completely under control. There would have been NO lighting the house on fire. He had it figured out from: Moment #1. He was a good Boy Scout & learned sound fire-making skills at age 6.
Now that we had this technique and very important component to wood-fired cooking mastered, we got to move on to the really fun stuff-the cooking!
Cooking Great Food
Pizza
Pizza: When you hear about wood-fired cooking, typically images of Italian wood-fired pizzas come to mind. Quite often we have to explain to people that we didn’t just spend a bunch of money on a wood-fired oven to make pizza. We cook so.much.more!
However, opening the cooking class with a proper introduction to Neopolitan-style pizza seemed logical, so here we were! Again, there is actually a lot of technique involved in creating a Neopolitan-style dough that works well inside a wood-fired oven. Andrea discussed correct flour choice, mixing techniques and proper dough handling and stretching. She wanted to ensure that we created the best pizza crust to be placed in the Mugnaini oven!
After learning the proper techniques for creating and handling the dough, we each had the opportunity to create our own pizza and cook it in the Mugnaini wood-fired oven.
As you can imagine, there was technique involved in every step of the way. Andrea and her staff went above and beyond to help us all achieve perfect wood-fired pizza success!
All.The.Other.Foods (There Was A Lot!)
Now that we were all primed with bellies full of pizza, Andrea split us up into small groups. That way, we could maximize the time we had with her that day. She thoroughly discussed each of the appetizers, entrees and desserts that would be cooked and how to prepare and place them in the wood-fired oven for proper cooking.
Some of the other foods we learned to prepare: Roasted pepper with smoked mozzarella rolls, garlic butter prawns (these were some of the most beautiful prawns I’ve EVER laid eyes on), Homemade breads including a beautiful sourdough that took my breath away, Italian 7-Bean Soup and more pizzas. We also learned a few main dishes besides pizza including Brick Chicken and a Standing Rib Roast.
And…last, but not least, let’s not forget dessert. Yes…dessert! We can even make dessert in the wood-fired oven!
Andrea jokes that she has an oven in her home (that should be on the cover of Bon Apetit Magazine, btw…it’s SO pretty), that she’s used once! She burned herself using it, so she swore it off and went back to wood-fired cooking! I love this story! We all thought that was absolutely hilarious…seems rather ironic, don’t you think?
The Best Part…
Of course, near the end of the class, we sat around her HUGE outdoor table and enjoyed the fruits of our labor. We ATE. SO. MUCH.
WHO can eat all of this?!
It was so fun! What an enjoyable experience! Erick and I have mentioned that we would take the Mugnaini Hands-On Culinary Class regardless of preparing to own a Mugnaini oven ourselves. The experience that Andrea and her staff put on was that good. It was a culinary delight that couldn’t be duplicated anywhere else.
Where Are We Now?
Now, a few years later, we have come to enjoy our Mugnaini wood-fired oven in our own home to the ends of the Earth. We use it for ALL of our holiday cooking and entertaining! Come to think of it, I don’t think there’s been a holiday without it! We also use it as much as we possibly can during the other weeks of the year as well.
Thank you so much for reading about our trip to Mugnaini Imports at the Mugnaini Cooking School. If you’d like to learn more about the exciting world of culinary vacations, check out my blog post about our exceptional culinary experience in Sardinia, Italy.
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What a trip! You’re right, we do tend to think of these types of ovens as pizza ovens. Thank you for showing us there is a lot more to them. Your photos made my mouth water!
I’m glad you enjoyed the photos! It’s a pretty fun ‘appliance’ to cook with!
That looks so fun and handy! I love the flavor that a wood-fired oven gives, but I never would have imagined purchasing one myself! Usually I think that would be found in an authentic Italian restaurant, but you both took the initiative to not only purchase one, but also learn how to use it the right way! Kudos to you!
Thank you!! We use it regularly so we are getting pretty good at making good food and making it efficiently now! It’s quite an art-form, but the food is out-of-this-world!